Monroe D. McGibeny (1911-1975)

Monroe Dryden "Mack" McGibeny
Aka Monroe D. McGibney
Né Rowe Dryden Draper
Draftsman, Architect, Kitchen & Bath Designer, Poet
Born March 3, 1911, Thomasville, Georgia
Died February 3, 1975, presumably in Decatur, Georgia

Here is how I found Monroe D. McGibeny, also known as Monroe D. McGibney:

From a court case, Draper vs. Van Leer, March 3, 1941, Parish of Caddo, Louisiana:

"Action by Rowe Dryden Draper against Mrs. Harriet D. Van Leer [his half-sister] to reduce an  excessive donation mortis causa. From a judgment for defendant, plaintiff appeals. [. . .]

"On February 19, 1940, the present suit was filed by the plaintiff, who alleges that he is the son of Charles Draper and Mary Louise Smith Draper, the second wife of Charles Draper. That he was born in Thomasville, Georgia, on March 3, 1911, and that Charles Draper and his mother were divorced July 8, 1911. It is also alleged that his mother died in 1912, and that thereafter he lived with his aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. C.D. McGibney and adopted the name of Monroe D. McGibney. Plaintiff attacks the validity of the proceedings in the Succession of Charles Draper. He avers that he received no notice of the death of his father or of the succession proceedings until December 1, 1939. [. . .]

"The plaintiff was born in Thomasville, Georgia, but his mother immediately returned to Kalamazoo, Michigan, and made her home with Mr. and Mrs. C.D. McGibney. Shortly thereafter she committed suicide. The child continued to live with his aunt and uncle and became known as Monroe McGibney. In 1921, the McGibneys moved to Detroit, Michigan, where they lived until 1930, when they returned to Kalamazoo. The plaintiff in this suit was living with them during this period and continued using the name of Monroe McGibney."

Click here to read the full text of the case. 

So, Monroe D. McGibeny or McGibney was born Rowe Dryden Draper on March 3, 1911, in Thomasville, Georgia. His parents were Charles and Mary Louise Draper. As the text of the court case reads, his parents were divorced in 1911, his mother died by suicide in 1912, and he went on living with his aunt and uncle thereafter. C.D. McGibney was Clyde Duane McGibney. His wife was Natalie Dryden McGibney. McGibeny kept his middle name, adopted his aunt and uncle's surname, and took (or was given) the Christian name of Monroe.

In 1930, Monroe D. McGibeny was in Detroit with his adopted parents. At age twenty, he was working as a draftsman.

On December 18, 1937, he married Virginia Baker, a waitress, in Wood County, Ohio.

In 1940, he was living alone and working as a draftsman in Detroit.

On November 8, 1947, McGibeny, allegedly an employee of the secret A-bomb base at Los Alamos, New Mexico, was arrested for firing a high-powered rifle from his room at the Kings Hotel in Albuquerque. He said he was shooting at a pigeon. Police found his rifle, still warm and equipped with a telescopic sight, plus "a number of blueprints," in his room. "[N]o one could be reached at Los Alamos who could give any information concerning McGibeny." That all sounds really suspicious and intriguing, but we don't know what it was all about or how it all turned out. It makes for the beginnings of a story plot, though. Hmm . . . (Source: "A-Bomb Employe Arrested Here" in the Albuquerque Journal, Nov. 9, 1947, p. 1.)

On July 17, 1948, McGibeny married Joan Veronica Loranger in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She was descended from a founder of Detroit, attended Wayne State University, and worked as a realtor and a kitchen and bath designer. Their only child, a daughter named Ann Nora McGibeny, died in 1975 at age twenty-five.

The McGibenys lived in Mobile, Alabama. In 1969, they moved to Decatur, Georgia, and worked together as designers of kitchens and bathrooms. McGibeny was by profession an architect and a member of American Institute of Architects.

Monroe D. McGibeny died on February 3, 1975, presumably in Decatur, Georgia. He was buried at Decatur Cemetery.

Monroe D. McGibeny's Poem in Weird Tales
"Death-Gate" (Nov. 1929)

Note: Jaffery and Cook spelled McGibeny's name correctly in one place in their index of Weird Tales but incorrectly in another, depending, of course, on what you think of as the correct spelling.

Further Reading
The court case I cited above.

Central Avenue, Albuquerque, New Mexico, with the Kings Hotel on the right. Date unknown, but it looks like the 1940s. Note the movie marquee on the left. It could read "Crimson Ghost," a movie serial released in 1946. My dad would be able to tell us the year. He recognized every car, by year, made from the 1930s through the 1950s. He would have turned eighty-five last week. We miss you, Dad.

Original text copyright 2022 Terence E. Hanley