Edward Mortimer HIBBARD

Edward married Carrie Adelle SERVOSS on 20 Feb 1880. Carrie died on 2 Jan 1891. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Marie Josephine HIBBARD was born on 12 Apr 1881 in Shepherd, MI; and died.
2. Emma Alice HIBBARD was born on 3 Nov 1882 in Shepherd, MI; and died.
3. Mortimer Daniel HIBBARD was born on 9 Jun 1885 in Shepherd, MI; and died.
4. Carrie Adelee HIBBARD was born on 2 Jan 1891 in Shepherd, MI; and died.

Notes:

Mortimer & his wife Mary (Polly) were the founders of the village of Spring Hill (now Tedrow), Fulton County, Ohio, arriving in 1838. The Hibbards were among the first families to settle this particular area of Northwestern Ohio. Among the others to settle what is now Dover Township, Fulton County were Jacob Hoffmire, J. H. Schnall, Moses Ayers, N. Bennett, Elijah Bennett, & Peter Lott. Mortimer had once planned on a stage route and plank road connecting Toledo and Angola, Indiana, via his village of Spring Hill. The plan, however, was never realized and Spring Hill remained just another small village whose main income for many years came from agriculture.

From HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY, by Frank Reighard:

"Mortimer D. Hibbard had [a] leading part in both township and county organization. The first election in Dover Township was held in his house; and he and his father ably furthered the project which eventually resulted in the erection of Fulton county. He was the first county auditor; and he surveyed and platted the village of Spring Hill, upon land bequeathed to his children, Oscar and Jason, by their granduncle, Judge Rice, who only spent a few years in Dover Township, being "troubled with a cough," and going eventually to a warmer climate, dying in New Orleans in1841, "of Hemorrhage."

From FULTON COUNTY, OHIO: A COLLECTION OF HISTORICAL SKETCHES AND FAMILY HISTORIES, pg. 101:

"Mortimer D. Hibbard, in 1844 held a meeting in his home in that area [Spring Hill] and invited certain gentlemen from Maumee and Angola asking them to consider putting in a line of stages to travel between the two places via the Maumee-Angola Road, so called. this road is the Ottokee-Tedrow road and is today, within the confines of Fulton County, called "J" road. Mr. Hibbard apparently harbored an ulterior motive, it being his plan to establish a village to be called Spring Hill, the place presumably to be a stopping off place for the hoped for stages while en route to the east or the west. Reighard secured from Mrs. Hibbard's diary, the following statement: "Took a walk to the village of Spring Hill that is to be." The entry was dated, April 20, 1844. Under the date, March 18, 1851, Mrs. Hibbard had recorded,
"Mortimer had his village of Spring Hill surveyed today." Most of the land was purchased for the purpose and re-sold as lots, but Mr. Hibbard donated the four central lots for a "town square." (note:-- Mortimer D. Hibbard also donated the land for the village school house.)

From HISTORY OF HENRY & FULTON COUNTIES, by Aldrich; pg. 312:

"It was out of the throes of this very eventful struggle [the Ohio-Michigan War] that Lucas county was formed, in theyear 1835, from portions of Wood and Sandusky counties in Ohio, and of what had been Monroe and Lenawee counties in Michigan, over which territory, however, Wood county had exercised jurisdiction from April 1, 1820, then being one of the fourteen counties at that date, by the legislature, organized from Indian territory, the county seat being at Perrysburgh on the Maumee River. In the year 1849, there arose a demand for a new county in northwestern Ohio, the projectors of which were such prominent men as Nathaniel Leggett, of Swan Creek; William Hall, Hon. A. C. Hough, of Chesterfield; Stephen and Isaac Springer, Samuel Durgin and others, of Fulton; Michael Handy, Hon. D. W. H. Howard, Robert Howard and Lyman Parcher, of Pike; Mortimer Hibbard and Reuben Tiffany, of Dover; Ezekiel
Masters and Joseph Ely, of Franklin; [and a number of other names] ...to be composed of parts of Williams county, Henry county, and the larger part of Lucas county."

From HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY, Mikesell; pg. 104:

"The first political convention of which there is any account, was composed of people of both political parties, and met in convention at the house of Daniel Knowls, in Pike township, about the last of March, 1850, for the purpose of nominating candidates for the official positions in the newly-erected county, which positions were to be filled at the ensuing April elections. This convention was not fully characterized for harmony of purpose, but in consequence of the weakness of the then old Whig party, and its inability to succeed in the election of a party ticket, the members thereof quietly submitted to a portion of the choice of said convention. The successful ones at this convention were Mortimer D. Hibbard of Dover, for auditor; George B. Brown of Royalton, sheriff; C. C. Allman of Delta, recorder; Nathaniel
Leggett of Swan Creek, treasurer; William Sutton of Gorham, Christopher Watkins of Fulton and Jonathan Barnes, commissioners. These gentlemen were duly elected and qualified as officers of the new county, severally entering upon the duties of their respective positions."

Mortimer married Polly Rice GREENE on 30 Jul 1829. Polly (daughter of William GREEN (OR GREENE) and Deborah RICE) was born on 25 Jun 1809; died on 3 Sep 1868. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

In July, 1841, he moved from Athens, Ohio, to Fulton County, Ohio, then a part of Lucas. Later he was a delegate to Columbus to use his influence in having the new county organized. Although he did not live to see the completion of this, his efforts and the able articles written by him and published in the Maumee River Times, supplemented by the work of his son, Mortimer D. Hibbard, Stephen Springer, Nathaniel Leggett, Alfred C. Hough, Michael Handy, and other prominent men, finally brought about the separation from Lucas in 1850.

He was a strong temperance worker, and the first temperance address delivered in that township was given by him to over a hundred pioneer settlers, at the home of his son, Mortimer Hibbard, July 24, 1842.

He was also a strong anti-slavery man, and his house in Southern Ohio was sometimes used as one of the stations on the "Underground Railroad" from the Ohio River to Canada. One young colored boy, Robert Flynn, who came to him in this way, remained for many years, following the family north and finally enlisting as a soldier in the Civil War.

Elisha Hibbard, with his second wife, Selah, is buried in the little cemetery east of the village of Spring Hill, both village and cemetery occupying a part of a tract of about six hundred acres, once the property of his oldest son, Mortimer, and two grandsons, Jason and Oscar.

Elisha married Abbie (or Abby) OWEN on 7 Feb 1808. Abbie was born on 16 Nov 1787 in Rutland County, Vermont; died on 14 Sep 1811 in Ellisburg, New York. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

William married Deborah RICE. Deborah and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

He was buried by the Masonic order of which he was a member and which he highly commended to the day of his death.

He became interested in the subject of religion in his youth under the preaching of the noted George Whitefield and entered the ministry while young. He became the first Congregational minister in Poultney, Vermont. He was a self-made man of much independence, and is remembered as an orator of great power. His presence was attractive, as he had a handsome form, rather larger than the average stature, and a fine musical voice. He wrote hymns, and among them there may be found in The Collection of Hymns and Spiritual Songs, by Joshua Smith and others, eighth edition, 1797, Hymn 163, dedicated to the hills, or "The Mountain Song." His well-worn leathercovered hymn-book, used by himself for many years, is in the possession of his great-grand daughter, Ellen Lucretia Douglas Hibbard, of Boston, Massachusetts.

He was a man of strong and enduring attachments. As a politician he was a most uncompromising Whig in the days of the Revolution. He served as Chaplain of Col. Samuel Herrick's Regiment, and was Brigade Chaplain at the time of the famous retreat from Fort Ticonderoga, and was also present at the battle of Bennington.

By the rules of the army service he was entitled to a servant, but when orders came to retreat from Ticonderoga his servant was sick, unable to do more than walk. Chaplain Hibbard took his servant's baggage in addition to his own upon his shoulders. When the army moved at night from the fort to the floating bridge upon which they were to cross the lake, Gen. St. Clair, who had command, came riding through the ranks as they were marching on the bridge and running against the Chaplain knocked him off into the water. He was loaded with two old-fashioned saddle-bags full of clothing and provision, a heavy cartouch-box, full of ammunition, belted to him, and a heavy musket on his shoulders. His bodily strength, coolness and energy were such that he gained the bridge and lost nothing of his load but the musket.

He always took a great interest in public affairs, and in the History of Vermont, by [Ira] Allen, published London, England, 1798, there is an account of interviews upon questions of importance with him. He was often called upon to counsel with Ethan and Ira Allen, Seth Warner, Remember Baker and others of the leading men of Vermont. He was elected representative to the Legislature, or General Assembly, in 1778, and served several years. A gallant soldier, a man of noble spirit, faithful in all religious duties, without bigotry or superstition.

NOTE: Ira Allen's book, THE NATURAL AND POLITICAL HISTORY OF VERMONT, published in London in 1798, is available online at the following address: http://members.aol.com/chalidze/vermont.html

Ithamar Hibbard fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill with his two brothers, Ebenezer, who at age 20 lost his life at Bunker Hill and Elisha, who joined Ithamar and fought in Vermont / New York State (Battle of Fort Ticonderoga)

Ithamar was a chaplain and advisor to Ethan Allen and his brothers and was a member of the Bennington Congregational Church (1772) from which he and a small group of followers moved north to Poultney, Vermont. They established a Congregational Church in Poultney, Vermont, with Ithamar Hibbard as its minister.

The History of Poultney by Joslin & Frisbie to commemorate the Bicentennial of Vermont's Statehood (1791-1991) was originally printed in 1875 by the Journal Printing Office, Poultney, Vermont. The book has many details about Ithamar Hibbard.

The Poultney Historical Society, Inc sells a reprinted copy (1990) by the Journal Press with many clarifications of the role of Rev. Ithamar Hibbard. It follows Ithamar from 1772 (Bennington, VT) to 1802 (death burial in Hubbarton, VT).

Personally, I, Ora Wry, am a descendent of Elisha Hibbard (b. 1749), brother of Ithamar. They came from Connecticut, fought in the Revolutionary War, and apparently lived together for a while in Poultney. Elisha went north to the Hero's, his family settling in North Hero (Hibbard's Point and Hibbard's Bay).

Ithamar married Hannah WOOD on 6 Dec 1785. Hannah (daughter of Nathaniel WOOD) was born on 5 Mar 1764 in Norwich, Connecticut; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]