Editing Gibson County, Tennessee (section)

==History==
{{Infobox law enforcement agency
|agencyname	= Gibson County <br /> Sheriff's Department
|patch		=
|imagesize	= 
|subdivtype	= County (United States)
|subdivname	= Gibson
|divtype	= State
|divname	= Tennessee
|country	= United States
|legaljuris	= opsjuris
|police		= yes
|local		= yes
|stations 	= 1
|lockuptype 	= Jail
|lockups	= 1
|boats1		= 
|chief1name	= Paul Thomas
|chief1position = Sheriff
|chief2name	= 
|chief2position = 
|vehicle1type   = Car
|vehicles1      = 
|sizearea       = 604&nbsp;sq&nbsp;mi
}}
Gibson County is located in what was known as "Indian Land": territory that was legally occupied by [[Chickasaw]] [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] people. The Chickasaw Cession, proclaimed on January 7, 1819, eliminated those rights and opened the region to settlement and exploitation by white settlers and speculators.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tngenweb.org/cessions/18181019.html|title=TNGenWeb: Text of the Chickasaw Cession|access-date=December 8, 2010}}</ref>

Soon after the Chickasaw Cession, the first log cabin in what was to become Gibson County had been built by Thomas Fite about {{convert|8|mi|km|spell=in}} east of present-day [[Trenton, Tennessee|Trenton]].
From 1819 the area was part of [[Carroll County, Tennessee|Carroll County]] but, as settlement progressed, citizens petitioned for the formation of a new county. The county was established by private act on October 21, 1823, and was named in honor of Colonel John H. Gibson<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tennessee.gov/tsla/history/county/actgibson.htm|title=Tennessee State Archives: Formation of Gibson County|access-date=December 8, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529030519/http://www.tennessee.gov/tsla/history/county/actgibson.htm|archive-date=May 29, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> who had died earlier that year. Gibson was a native of [[Bedford County, Tennessee]] who was commissioned Lieutenant in the Tennessee Militia; he took part in the [[War of 1812]], the campaign to Natchez of 1813, and fought in the [[Creek War]]s of 1813.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tn-roots.com/tngibson/Colgibso.htm|title=TNroots: Gibson County Genealogy: John H. Gibson|access-date=December 8, 2010}}</ref>

In its early years, Gibson County grew rapidly, chiefly because the land had less dense forest growth than some adjacent areas and was therefore more easily prepared to farm [[cotton]] and [[Maize|corn]]. By the end of 1824, the county had {{convert|273,143|acre|km2}} of taxable land. The county's first [[cotton gin]] was built in 1826.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tngenweb.org/records/gibson/history/goodspeed/index.html |title=TNGenWeb: ''Goodspeed's History of Tennessee'' |access-date=December 8, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101206062921/http://www.tngenweb.org/records/gibson/history/goodspeed/index.html |archive-date=December 6, 2010 }}</ref>