George Washington Gideon was the son of John Gideon and Mary Evans; and the grandson of James Isham Gideon and Martha "Pattie" Mills. James Isham was born in 1748 in Cork, Ireland, and came to Norfolk, Virginia in 1764. As an Irishman, he felt persecuted by the British back home and happily served in the Continental Army under George Washington during the American Revolution. (from "The Descendants of James Isham Gideon and Allied Families, 1764-1969" by Gertrude Cleghorn Josserand.)