Bio-Sawyers
SURNAMES: EVANS, BURNETT, JAYNES, LIPPINCOTT

Continuously associated with the commercial life of Palo Alto for over thirty years, L. W. Gibson is a pioneer blacksmith and machinist of the city, his place of business being at Emerson Street and Palo Alto Avenue. His partner, and brother-in-law as well, is G. L. Evans, the son of a Milpitas farmer and among the leading pioneers of Milpitas. Our subject comes from a prominent pioneer family of Santa Clara County, and he settled in Palo Alto in the early days when there were not more than fifteen families living there.

Mr. Gibson was born at Milpitas, Cal., on October 3. 1877, a son of the late Edward 0. Gibson, well-known pioneer farmer and stockman. His father, who was extensively engaged in grain farming and did threshing throughout the Santa Clara Valley, was a man of sterling characteristics and very successful in his operations. Several years before his death, he was totally blind, having met with an accident which caused the loss of his eyesight. He continued to do business, however, until he passed away in April, 1915. 

He was a native of Canada and came to California in the early days where he married Miss Annie Burnett, a native of Mountain View, Cal., and a relative to California's first governor. Grandfather Burnett, who died while crossing the plains to California, married a Miss Jaynes and settled in Mountain View. When the Southern Pacific railroad was surveyed through that city, the right-of-way passed through the Jaynes' house. Our subject is one of six children, three boys and three girls, all living in Palo Alto, where his mother also resides. When he was two years old his parents removed to Santa Clara and settled on a farm and there he grew up and received valuable experience in farm work, driving the big harvesters, and mowers. His father always maintained a blacksmith shop in connection with his extensive farming operations and there Mr. Gibson learned to do blacksmithing. repairing machinery, etc. He settled in Palo Alto in 1891 and soon thereafter opened a shop and has been in business continuously since that time, at one time being associated with George W. Harms, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work. For a long time Mr. Gibson knew every person in Palo Alto and he is justly popular here. Mr. Gibson's marriage, which occurred in 1920, united him with Miss Elsie Lippincot, and they are the parents of one child, Phyllis. The family resides at Mayfield.

 from Eugene T. Sawyers' History of Santa Clara County,California,  published by Historic Record Co. , 1922. page 1456

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