This text was found in a box of newspaper clippings by Dorothy St.Clair Essex. I may be wrong, but it bears similarities to other essays by Mary Pat Talton as seen in The Heritage of Autaga County.
How Did the Gibbons Family Become Protestants?
The first of our Gibbons ancestors to arrive in the state of Alabama came from Maryland. As our country was settled, each of the different colonies became havens for different religious groups. Maryland became the home of Catholicism in Colonial America. Officially the colony is said to be named in honor of Queen Henrietta Maria, the wife of King Charles I. Some Catholic scholars believe Maryland was named after Mary, the mother of Jesus, by George Calvert, 1st Lord Baltimore prior to his death in 1632. The original intent may never be known. The specific name given in the charter was phrased Terra Mariae, anglice, Maryland. The English name was preferred due to undesired associations of Mariae with the Spanish Jesuit Juan de Mariana, linked to the Inquisition. (Wikipedia)
It is believed that our ancestor, Benjamin Turner Gibbons, was the son of Thomas Gibbons. He married first Ann Catrico about 1797 in Charles Co., MD and he married second Susanna Levi on 25 June1805 in Charles Co., MD. He migrated to Autauga Co., AL in 1828. When Benjamin Turner Gibbons came to Alabama, the diocese of Alabama covered the whole state and the only parish was in Mobile. The Catholic priest was only able to come to Autauga Co. a couple of times a year which made it difficult to maintain a connection. However, there was a small church in the community that was visited by circuit riding preachers from several different protestant denominations.
This next part is the best of my memory of how the story was told to me so anything 1acking in veracity can be blamed on my misremembering.
One of the Gibbons children was ill and the patriarch was not able to get a priest to come up the river from Mobile to offer last rites. The local doctor had said that there was nothing that could be done and that the child would surely die. The circuit riding Methodist minister was able to come and visit with the family and the child who was on death’s door (or who was thought to have already died). The Methodist minister prayed a spirit filled prayer over the child and the child recovered. The family patriarch said, “That faith is real and I want to be what he is.”
An alternate story is that when Benjamin Turner Gibbons came to Alabama his father told him that there might not be a catholic church where you are going. If there isn’t a catholic church to go to, you need to go to the church that is there.
Both of these stories represent important things to consider in finding a church. The first story shows the importance of belong to a church where the Spirit of God is at work. The second story shows the importance of being involved in worship in your local community
