Gibbins Cemetery and Homestead Site

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, here's the story of the Gibbins Cemetery and Homestead Site, out in Tarrant County. Now, James Gibbins was a man who knew how to make a move. Born in 1817, he waited until 1857 to pull up from Arkansas and head down to Texas.

And when he finally got here, he wasn't in any particular hurry about the land either. He let a few more years roll by before he bought a piece of ground near what we now call Arlington, and he did that in 1863. Some folks plan, some folks drift, and some folks just seem to know when the timing's right.

He passed a portion of that land down to his son, Thomas Jefferson Gibbins, born in 1841. Thomas didn't let it sit idle. He enlarged the homestead, built something worth inheriting.

And it's on that land that this family's story takes its most solemn turn; because the cemetery on the property was first used for the burial of Thomas's first wife, Amanda C. Gibbins. She was born in 1846 and died in 1877.

That quiet patch of earth, the first soul laid to rest there, hers. Thomas himself lived until 1891. His second wife, Martha H.

Gibbins (born in 1856, died in 1924), she's the one who held it all together after he was gone. For three decades after her husband's death, Martha maintained that land. Three decades.

That's not caretaking, that's devotion with her boots on. And the Gibbins family didn't just keep to themselves. They donated land for a public school.

They gave land for the Rose-Brown-May Park. James Gibbins came out of Arkansas with not much more than the intention to stay, and what that family planted here (in the ground, in the community) is still standing. That's the kind of roots that earn a marker.

What the marker says

James Gibbins (1817-70) migrated to Texas from Arkansas in 1857. He bought land near present-day Arlington in 1863. Gibbins deeded part of this land to his son Thomas Jefferson Gibbins (1841-91), who enlarged the homestead. This family Cemetery was first used for the burial of Thomas' first wife, Amanda C. Gibbins (1846-77). His second wife, Martha H. Gibbins (1856-1924), maintained the land for three decades after the death of her husband. The Gibbins family has contributed much to this area including the donation of land for a public school and the Rose-Brown-May Park. (1982)