This volume treats the maternal ancestors of Churchill Gibson Franklin, tracing the descendants of the American founders of his mother Elizabeth Lloyd Gibson’s Gibson, Stuart, Lloyd, and Blackford lines. Though the roots of Elizabeth Lloyd Gibson could best be described as deeply Southern, three of the four first-generation ancestors treated in this work initially arrived in Pennsylvania. Archibald1 Stuart purportedly spent time in Lancaster County before moving south to Augusta County, Virginia. Thomas1 Lloyd was one of many Welsh Quakers enticed to settle in the colony under William Penn’s original promises. Benjamin1 Blackford was born in Pennsylvania but moved to Maryland and then Virginia. Only Patrick1 Gibson, a Scotsman who immigrated to the United States via Rotterdam, Holland, settled immediately in the South, taking up residence at Richmond, Virginia.
The Gibson, Stuart, Lloyd, and Blackford families all have their origins in the British Isles: The Gibson family were Scottish, the Stuarts were Scots-Irish, the Lloyds were Welsh, and the Blackfords (though unproven) presumably were also Scottish. In each of the four families, individuals made their mark on their local communities. Many were merchants, doctors, lawyers, and teachers. A strong religious tradition became apparent—the Gibsons and Blackfords tended to be Episcopalians, the Stuarts were largely Presbyterian or Episcopalian, and the Lloyds were split between Quakers and Episcopalians. In particular, the Gibson and Lloyd families both counted among their numbers several clergymen who rose to the position of Episcopal bishop: Robert Atkinson3 Gibson, Arthur Selden6 Lloyd, and (by marriage to Mary Robertson7 Lloyd) Edmund Pendleton Dandridge. This strong sense of faith must have bolstered family members and seen them through difficult times, allowing them to proliferate and prosper.
Together for the first time in publication, the stories of these four families reveal major and minor players in historical events spanning more than 250 years of American history.
by Hallie Kirchner
Published June 2026
8-1/4 x 10-1/4 hardcover, 520 pages, illustrated
