William Hamilton Gibson
Age, 23
will come along as fast as I want them; and will amount to about $400 worth of work. Besides this I have plenty of work from Filmer, in a hurry, another very large job from Appleton (on stone), stacks of work for Leslie and plenty else besides, scarcely knowing where to begin. My bill to D. App. & Co. for my trip was considerably over $100, which they paid without a word not even wishing an item.
“It does seem rather strange to me that whatever I undertake to do, always ends in success, and in unexpected success. To be sure it is done by hard work and I do not see why any one cannot succeed who will put their shoulder to the wheel, be ambitious and full of resolution to surmount all difficulties. So far I have not made a failure, and one reason has been that I have not attempted a thing to which I did not feel equal. I am thankful that I do succeed, and I recognize, through all my experience in business, and in my efforts to advance, the ever present help and guidance of a good and kind Providence.”
On the 29th of October, 1873, he was married to Miss Emma L. Blanchard of Brooklyn. The occasion was made the more interesting by the marriage of his sister Juliet, and the double service was performed by Mr. Beecher. In the following spring he made a sketching trip to Washington, D. C., making pictures for “Picturesque America.” He was now doing good work and receiving constant employment. He says of the Washington sketches, especially having in mind a “combination” which included many of the public buildings:
“Brooklyn, Apr. 19, 1874.
“My Dear Mother:
“I am only going to write you a few lines to-night (which by the way has generally been my expressed intention every time I have written) and for fear that I may possibly overstep that intention I have selected a larger sheet of paper than usual, and expect at least to confine the limits of my letter therein.
“Mr. Bunce was very much pleased with my rendering of a difficult subject, and one which had worried him considerably. I took him the drawing yesterday, and received another commission from him, more work for the ‘Picturesque America.’ My drawings will already appear under three heads, viz.: ‘Providence and Suburbs,’ ‘Connecticut Shore,’ and ‘Washington and Mt. Vernon,’ and now there is still another to be added. I am to proceed immediately with Brooklyn and Prospect Park, and expect to begin my sketching to-morrow, of course being paid as I am usually, for my time. The series will not be very extensive, probably a combination or two with a few small separate pictures. I hope that this new work will not interfere with my intended visit with you during arbutus season. I will try and manage so as to bring my work up there for I hope to spend three or four days with you. Be sure and let us know when the arbutus is in bloom.”
In the fall of 1876 Gibson published through James Miller a book for boys, of which a fuller word will be said later in these pages. It bore the title, alluring to any boy, “The Complete American Trapper; or the Tricks of Trapping and Trap-Making.” It was republished by two other firms, and still has a market.