Gibson was born near
Centreville, Maryland, and attended the Centreville Academy and the Archer School in
Harford County. He graduated from
Washington College in
Chestertown, Maryland, engaged in the study law, and was admitted to the bar in 1864, commencing practice in
Easton, Maryland. President
Andrew Johnson appointed Gibson as collector of
internal revenue for the
Maryland Eastern Shore district in 1867, but Gibson was not confirmed. He became auditor and commissioner in chancery in 1869 and resigned in 1870 to accept the appointment of State's attorney for
Talbot County, Maryland, serving from 1871 until 1875. Gibson was elected as a Democrat to the Forty-ninth, Fiftieth, and Fifty-first Congresses from
Maryland's 1st congressional district, serving from March 4, 1885, until March 3, 1891, but was not a candidate for reelection in 1890. He married Marieta Powell Hollyday in 1889, and the couple lived at
Ratcliffe Manor in Talbot County. He was appointed and subsequently elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of
Ephraim King Wilson II, and served in that position from November 19, 1891, until March 3, 1897. As senator, Gibson served as chairman of the
Committee on Manufactures (Fifty-third Congress). After his service as U.S. senator, Gibson resumed the practice of law, and later died in
Washington, D.C., in 1900. He is interred in Chesterfield Cemetery in his home town of Centreville. ==References==