I am particularly intrigued by the amount of back round information and detail you have on these families! I find myself stretching my imagination and logic trying to make a connection with my Gibson folks--however they are found first in the 1870 census in Milledgeville, Baldwin County, GA.

Elouise GIBSON
b. abt 1825
children:
James b. 1856 unk death
John b. 1858 unk death
Cora b. 1858 d. before 1900

I do not see my ancestors included in any free blacks publications so far, so I am assuming that they were enslaved.
Patience Gibson was a slave owner during the antebellum period. Would you know about the slave owning GIBSON families in GA?
Thanks so much for your attention to this reply.