Alexander Giboney was born about 1750 in Dilltown, East Wheatfield Township, Pennsylvania, to Alexander and Ann (Seaver) Giboney (commonly misspelled Gibboney). Alexander married Rebecca Ramsey in 1777 in Virginia. They were living in Hampshire County, Pennsylvania, during the Revolutionary War. Alexander is credited with furnishing supplies, probably supporting the war because his brother John served as a Corporal in the 7th Pennsylvania Line. He’s shown in Captain Robert Wilson’s Company on January 2, 1777, when the army was in camp at Morristown, New Jersey.
Some histories recount that as the colonies became too crowded the Giboney and Ramsay families moved first to the Henderson, Kentucky, area for several years and later to the Spanish Territory near Cape Girardeau. The family’s travels can be traced through land records and the birth of children. The first child, Robert, was born in Virginia, the middle children were born in Henderson, Kentucky, and the last child, Margaret, was born in Missouri.
The Giboney family received a 1200-acre Spanish land grant in 1797, and buildings of poplar and cypress logs were built. Alexander died in 1804, so the care of the children and the estate (Spanish grant) fell upon the widow, Rebecca (Ramsay) Giboney. "She was a remarkable woman," says Douglass. "She continued to live on the Spanish grant her husband had received in 1797 until her death in 1840." The descendants of Alexander started building a permanent home in 1808 that became known as Elmwood Manor, modeled after Dalhousie Castle in Scotland. Elmwood still stands today and the Dalhousie Golf Club is located on land that once belonged to the Giboney family.
The Giboneys had at least four sons and three daughters. The sons were Robert Gibboney (married Ann or Nancy Dunn); Alexander Gibboney; John Gibboney (married Elizabeth Hannah); and Andrew Gibboney (married Mary Hunter). The daughters were Arabella Gibboney (married John Jacobs); Isabella Giboney (married Ezekial Fenwick) and Margaret Gibboney (married Lindsey De’Lashmutt).
In Cape Girardeau County, the legacy of the Giboney family can be seen today at Old McKendree Chapel. Alexander’s son, John, had a son named James who married Mary Elizabeth Williams. The William’s family farm near Jackson, Missouri, hosted Methodist Circuit Rider Ministers, and eventually James Giboney helped in the building of the chapel that still stand on the grounds today.
While the final resting place of Alexander Giboney is not known, it is believed that he would have been buried in the Giboney Family Cemetery that had been located just north of Ancell (now Scott City), Missouri. The Giboney graves were moved from the old Giboney Cemetery to Mount Zion Cemetery around 1987 or 1988. They are now located at the front of the cemetery facing Cherry Street.
Compiled by Pamela Johnson, John Guild Chapter NSDAR with great thanks to Eric Giboney.
Sources
Personal correspondence and interview with Eric Giboney, a descendant of Alexander and Rebecca Giboney. July 26, 2026
Revolutionary War Public Service Claims Index, State of Virginia: Virginia Military Record Indexes 1774-1790.
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3SK-R9VP-4?view=fullText&keywords=Alexander%2CGIBBONY&lang=en&groupId=
ABERCROMBIE & SLATTEN, VA REV PUB CLAIMS, VOL 2, P 453
“Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Births and Baptisms, 1520-1999.
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6CTB-CMSV?lang=en
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/124915617/alexander-giboney
The Southeast Missourian Nov 1, 1975. A Missouri bicentennial feature: El Bosque de los Olmos by Cheryl Evans
https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/memories/K2SW-DZX
https://www.semissourian.com/news/event-includes-the-first-public-tour-of-200-year-old-elmwood-manor-2405921
https://dalhousiegolfclub.com/
https://www.oldmckendree.org/
https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/30387/mount-zion-cemetery#view-photo=38322361
