Summary
William Gibson, born in 1881, was a son of William Gibson and Rose Ann Gibson. The held account traces him from Beaver Island fishing into work as a Charlevoix bridge tender and winter mail carrier. A February 1907 report names a William Gibson as the Beaver Island mail carrier on an eleven-hour ice crossing to Cross Village; the occupational and geographic match is recorded as supporting evidence, not as a standalone civil identification.
Evidence and limits
The article gives a birth year, death year, and occupational outline, but no exact dates, spouse, children, or burial record. Those details remain blank.
Open questions
- Which census and obituary records establish his complete life chronology?
- What were the names of his spouse and two children?
- Which route and dates document his winter mail-carrier work, and can a primary record confirm that the 1907 mail carrier was this 1881-born William?
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).Identifies William as a son born in 1881, a Beaver Island fisherman, Charlevoix bridge tender from 1934 to 1951, winter mail carrier, and a man who died in Petoskey in 1970 at age 88.
- Charlevoix County Herald, February 9, 1907, “Across the Ice.”A report reprinted from the Traverse Bay Eagle names William Gibson as the Beaver Island mail carrier who drove W. C. Germaine thirty miles over the ice to Cross Village. This is compatible with the later winter-mail-carrier account, but the newspaper does not print his age or otherwise independently prove the 1881-born identity.