- Eras
- Irish eraModern era
- Concepts
- heritageirish-arranmorecommunitydemographymaritime
- Within
- Beaver Island archipelago
Summary
The Gibson family record gathers the source-bounded relationships surrounding William Gibson’s drowning with Edward Gallagher on 13 August 1885. The article identifies his widow Rose Ann, their children Elizabeth, William, Robert, and Sarah, and Rose Ann’s parents William and Hannah Boyle.
Evidence and limits
Connie Wojan’s article is a modern local-history reconstruction based on census records, directories, obituaries, Helen Collar’s notes, a Beaver Island Historical Society family record, and an Ancestry.com search. Those underlying records are not all held here, so this family node preserves the article’s attribution and does not silently promote every detail to independently verified fact.
The 1890 federal census loss leaves a documented gap in the children’s first years after William’s death. Rose Ann’s location and fate are unresolved; the article presents the possibility that she was sent away as an inference from Collar’s note, not as an established fact.
Open questions
- What vessel and precise water location were involved in the 13 August 1885 drowning?
- Where did Rose Ann and her young children live between 1885 and 1900?
- Which held census, parish, cemetery, or land records identify the family independently?
See also
Sources
See the sources block above.
Sources
- Connie Wojan, "The Stories Behind the Names of Islanders Lost on the Great Lakes," Northern Islander, February 2026.Described in this archive: Northern Islander (1850–1856).The article identifies William and Rose Ann Gibson, their four surviving children, Rose Ann's parents William and Hannah Boyle, her sister Margaret, William J. Gallagher (Bowery), and the 13 August 1885 drowning that frames the family story.