Rebecca Gibson

Rebecca Gibson was one of the earliest settlers of Cambridge, Massachusetts.

She was born in 1613 in England; her hometown is unknown. She was possibly the daughter of a William Thompson, but evidence is required.

Marriage & Family Life

Rebecca was the first wife of John Gibson. Together, they had:

• Rebecca, born at Cambridge, MA, 1635; baptized at First Church; married (second) to Charles Stearns of Watertown on June 22, 1654
• Mary, born May 29, 1637; died at Roxbury, December 6, 1674; married to John Ruggles
• Martha, b. April 29, 1639; married November 3, 1657 to Jacob Newell of Roxbury
• John, born c. 1641 at Cambridge, married Rebecca Harrington in 1668, died October 15, 1679
• Samuel, b. October 28, 1644; d. at Cambridge, March 20, 1709 or 1710; married October 30, 1668 October 30 to Sarah Pemberton (d. October 10, 1676); then to Elizabeth (Remington) Stedman of Cambridge on June 14, 1679; then to Abigail (unknown surname)

The family is most commonly associated with Cambridge, but Rebecca was buried in Roxbury. Genealogists believe this could have been due to her living with a child in Roxbury at the time of her death, though there are no extant records of her living there for any great deal of time. Church records of her death record her as "[t]he wife of Goodman Gibson of Cambridge," so a separation from her husband seems unlikely.

Death & Burial

Rebecca died on December 1, 1661 at the age of 48. Her death was recorded by Rev. John Eliot, pastor of the First Church in Roxbury's First Meetinghouse. She is buried in Boston's historic Eliot Burying Ground in the Roxbury neighborhood.

Sources

• Cutter, William Richard. Genealogical & Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of Boston & Eastern Massachusetts. Boston: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1908.
• Crane, Ellery Bicknell. Historic Homes & Institutions and Genealogical & Personal Memoirs. Boston: Lewis Publishing Co., 1907.
• First Church in Roxbury Records, 1641-1956. Andover-Harvard Theological Library, Harvard Divinity School.
• Wilson, Mehitable. John Gibson of Cambridge, Massachusetts and His Descendants, 1634-1899. Boston: McGill & Wallace, 1900.