On the Seneca County Courthouse lawn stands the thirty-foot statue of William Harvey Gibson. The statue was created by James B. King and was erected by the Hughes Granite and Marble Co. On the base of the statue is a depiction of President William McKinley delivering the eulogy at General Gibson’s funeral. Another depiction on a plaque mounted on the monument shows General Gibson giving his famous speech in Melmore, Ohio in 1843.
William Harvey Gibson was born in Jefferson County on May 16, 1821. Before the year was over, Gibson moved to Seneca County. As a young man he was a carpenter and helped his father. Eventually he went to Ashland College to study law. He helped organize the Republican Party in Ohio. In 1855, he was elected the treasurer of Ohio. He was commissioned as a colonel during the Civil War in the 49th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. After the war he returned to continue to practice law. Eventually he set up the town of Gibsonburg. In 1894, General William Harvey Gibson died in Fort Ball.
