Gibson House (Boston)

The Gibson House, located at 137 Beacon Street, was built in 1860 and housed three generations of the Gibson family before it became an established museum and subsequent landmark. [A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, book 3, p. 1] It was established by the widowed Catherine Hammond Gibson, possibly the first female property owner in Back Bay. [A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, book 2, p. 5] The Gibson House's landmark status is due to its claim that it is the only Victorian era row house in Boston's Back Bay to maintain the integral relationship between the exterior architectural shell and the original interior plan, with its accompanying decorative schemes. [A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, book 4, p. 2] Its interior is a composite of family furnishings and pieces added to make it more complete. [ A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, book 3, p. 52]

It has been implied that Edward Clark Cabot was the architect of the Gibson House, although there is no primary source documentation to prove this. [A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, p. book 3, p. 37] There is, however, a contemporary newspaper account that lists Cabot as the architect of two houses between 135–141 Beacon Street, and the years 1860–1861 were a time when Cabot was not employed by an architectural firm. [A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, book 3, p. 38]

The Tenure of Gibsons

Catherine Hammond Gibson, born in 1804, was the niece off William Dawes, the less famous patriot who rode with Paul Revere in April 1775. [A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, book 2, p. 9] She was described by her niece Hannah Palfrey Ayer as having been "all that was expected of a woman of her background, dutiful, conscientious, but not particularly outstanding." [A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, book 2, p. 14]

Catherine's brother, John Hammond, introduced her to her eventual husband, John Gibson, a sugar merchant; their romance developed after Hammond and Gibson went to Quincy to ride on a new railroad, during which the cars derailed, resulting in a death, a broken leg, and, for Mr. Gibson, a dislocated jaw. [A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, book 2, p. 12]

After just five years of marriage John Gibson died at sea, but not before he fathered two sons. [A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, book 2, p. 12] John Gardiner Gibson, the elder, was too a maritime casualty [A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, book 2, p. 12] ; it is surmised that Catherine Hammond Gibson purchased Gibson House to increase the eligibility of her surviving son, Charles Hammond Gibson, after he passed his marriageable prime. [A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, book 2, p. 13] It was a successful endeavor; Rosamond Warren Gibson married Charles in 1871 and bore three children, Rosamond, Mary Ethel, and Charles Hammond Gibson, Jr. [A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, book 2, p. 15]

Charles Hammond Gibson, Jr.

Charles Hammond Gibson, Jr. was born at the Gibson House on November 21, 1874 [A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, book 2, p. 20] ; a lifetime bachelor, he lived intermittently at the Gibson House until he died in 1954, with only an extended gap during the years that he was estranged from his father, 1909-16. [A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, book 2, p. 24] It is inferred that this, as well as his disinheritance, was due to his bias for male companionship [A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, book 2, p. 28] ; it was during these years that he began his literary career. [A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, book 2, p. 39]

Values

Charles' conservative and romantic values were entrenched in the 19th century [A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, book 2, p. 25] ; he viewed himself as a "prominent figure in society in New York, Newport, Philadelphia, Washington, and Baltimore" and "the chief exemplar of the ode in American letters." [A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, book 2, p. 26]

Inferred Homosexuality

It has been alleged that Charles Gibson Jr. lived a flamboyant homosexual lifestyle, unorthodox for his time. [A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, book 2, p. 25] He regularly walked the Public Garden in silk pajamas, and brought men back to Gibson House whom he dressed in kimonos. [A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, book 2, p. 51] He employed a succession of live-in, personal menservants who were typically unmarried men of lower class. This lifestyle, it has been said, led him to be disinherited of Gibson House by his father. [A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, book 2, p. 25]

Literary career

Charles Hammond Gibson, Jr. established himself as a writer, never practicing another career. [A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, book 2, p. 20] Under a pseudonym he published "Two Gentlemen in Touraine" in 1899, which he called a "critical and historical study of the Royal Chateaux of France and one of the standard works on the subject" in his self-authored obituary. [A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, book 2, p. 20] He used his own name for the rest of his published works, which include a book called "Among French Inns," as well as several volumes of poetry and singular pieces contributed to newspapers. [A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, book 2, p. 20] He wrote poetry addressed to the English Royal Family. [A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, book 2, p. 20] Recordings of Charles Gibson reading his poetry are held in the Harvard University's Woodbury Collection, for which he affected old Boston intonation. [A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, book 2, p. 20] Charles Hammond Gibson, Jr. neither received acclaim as a poet in his lifetime, nor did he posthumously. [A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, book 2, p. 21]

As House

After his mother Rosamond Warren Gibson died in 1934, Charles Gibson, Jr. began to cultivate the house museum and Gibson Society. His formulation of the Society, which is structured to operate independently of the house museum if required. [A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, book 2, p. 41] , represents an attempt to construct a literary legacy. One of its purposes is to read, distribute, and publish the poetry of Charles Gibson, Jr. [A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, book 2, p. 26]

A House as a Constructed Legacy

By the time he died, Charles was charging admission to view the Gibson House, and refused to let invited guests sit on the furniture's 19th century upholstery, even during tea and cocktail parties. [A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, book 2, p. 53] It was already a museum in his mind. [A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, book 2, p. 40] He drafted catalogues of the contents of the house; written in the third person, they already refer to the house as a museum and detail the locations of his poetry and manuscripts throughout Gibson House. [A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, book 2, p. 39]

The Gibson House is more than a preservation of a Victorian period home and a memorial to his family – it forms the heritage of a man without a direct heir. [A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, book 2, p. 39] It embodies Charles Gibson, Jr. himself. [A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, book 2, p. 40]

A House in Question

Is this house a personal memorial to Charles H. Gibson, Jr.?

Is this house a static slice of a Victorian townhouse, as it was when the occupants left?

Is this house a place which should be continually upgraded to be a bettered Victorian house museum?

Is this house a living museum with actors relating to the period?

Is this house a Back Bay museum? [A study report of Gibson House Museum: 137 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts / written by Catherine L. Seiberling; based in part on research by Stephen Jerome; Publisher: Boston: Gibson House, c1991, book 2, p. 44]

References

External links

* [http://www.thegibsonhouse.org/ Gibson House Museum]
*cite press release |title=Secretary Norton Designates the Gibson House in Massachusetts as a National Historic Landmark |publisher=National Park Service |date=August 27 2001 |url=http://www.nps.gov/pub_aff/nhlpdf/nhl_ma.pdf |accessdate=2008-03-10