Robert Atkinson Gibson
| Right Rev. Robert Atkinson Gibson D.D., L.L.D. | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Virginia | |
 |
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| Church | Episcopal Church |
| See | Virginia |
| In office | 1902–1919 |
| Predecessor | Francis McNeece Whittle |
| Successor | William Cabell Brown |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 1870 by Bishop Francis McNeese Whittle |
| Consecration | 1897 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 9, 1846 Petersburg, Virginia |
| Died |
February 17, 1919 (aged 72) Richmond, Virginia |
| Previous post | Assistant Bishop of Virginia (1897–1902) |
Robert Atkinson Gibson (July 9, 1846 – February 17, 1919) was the sixth Episcopal bishop of Virginia.
Robert Atkinson Gibson was born in Petersburg, Virginia to the founder and long-time rector of Grace Church, Rev. Churchill Gibson (1819–1895) and his wife Lucy Fitzhugh Atkinson Gibson. His formal education began at Episcopal High School at Alexandria, Virginia, from where he transferred to Mount Laurel Academy, and then Hampden–Sydney College near Farmville. However, he interrupted his studies in 1864 to volunteer with Virginia's First Rockbridge Artillery, not returning to Hampton–Sydney until after the Confederacy surrendered at Appomattox in 1865. Upon graduating in 1867, Gibson enrolled at the Virginia Theological Seminary, from which he graduated in 1870 and was ordained as a deacon on July 24 by Bishop Whittle. Kenyon College in Ohio awarded him a doctorate of Divinity in 1897, as did University of the South.
As deacon, Gibson worked to revive parishes in five counties along the James River in southeastern Virginia. On July 4, 1871, Bishop John Johns ordained him as a priest in Petersburg. Rev. Gibson then served as assistant to Rev. Joshua Peterkin at St. James Episcopal Church in Richmond from 1872 to 1878. He then moved to Parkersburg, West Virginia where he served as rector of Trinity Church until 1887, when he accepted a position in Cincinnati, Ohio and continued as rector of Christ Church (which became that city's cathedral when another church was destroyed in 1937) until 1897, when his native diocese called him back to assist bishop Whittle.
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