Home | What's New | Photos | Histories | Sources | Reports | Calendar | Cemeteries | Headstones | Statistics | Surnames
Share Print Bookmark

HIBBARD

- Yes, date unknown


Generations:      Standard    |    Vertical    |    Compact    |    Box    |    Text    |    Ahnentafel    |    Fan Chart    |    Media    |    PDF

Less detail
Generation: 1

  1. 1.  HIBBARD (child of William HIBBARD and Maria SHONNARD); and died.

Generation: 2

  1. 2.  William HIBBARD was born on 7 Mar 1796 in Hinsdale, MA (son of Rev. Billy HIBBARD and Sibyl RUSS); and died.

    William married Maria SHONNARD in 1822. Maria and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  2. 3.  Maria SHONNARD and died.
    Children:
    1. 1. HIBBARD and died.
    2. HIBBARD and died.
    3. Cornelia G. HIBBARD was born in 1826; and died.
    4. William Frederick HIBBARD was born in 1832; and died.


Generation: 3

  1. 4.  Rev. Billy HIBBARD was born on 24 Feb 1771 in Norwich, Connecticut (son of Nathan HIBBARD and Mehitable CROSBY); died on 17 Aug 1844 in Canaan, New York.

    Other Events and Attributes:

    • Occupation: 1798, Connecticut; Methodist Reverand

    Notes:

    Minister of the Methodist-Episcopal Church. Billy was the father of eight sons and two daughters.

    From his Gravestone:
    "As a preacher of the gospel he was zealous, faithful, affectionate, and a pattern of good works in his life; a friend incorrupt in his doctrines; a comforter of the sick and afflicted. In the twenty-ninth year of his ministry he died. Sprague's Annuals of the American Pulpit", vii:298."

    Rev Billy Hibbard
    A memorable character entered the ministerial ranks in 1798, Billy Hibbard, still familiar to the Church by his extraordinary wit, his devoted life, and useful labors. When his name was called in the Conference as William Hibbard, he gave no response. The bishop asked him if this was not his name. "No, sir," he replied. "What is it, then?" rejoined the bishop. "It is Billy Hibbard." "Why," said the bishop, with a smile, "that is a little boy's name." "I was a very little boy when my father gave it to me," replied Hibbard. "The Conference was convulsed with laughter," says Boehm, for many of them knew him. When his character was examined, as was customary, it was objected to him that he practiced medicine. "Are you a physician, Brother Hibbard?" inquired the bishop. "I am not," he replied; "I simply give advice in critical cases." "What do you mean by that?" asked the bishop. "In critical cases," said Hibbard, "I always advise them to send for a physician."

    His humor seemed not to interfere with, but to enhance his usefulness. It attracted hearers which perhaps nothing else could bring within his influence. His meetings were usually thronged. A tenacious Quaker hung about him, charmed with his conversation, but not venturing to attend his preaching, objecting that the custom of "Friends" required him to wear his hat in the congregation. Hibbard sent him a hearty invitation to come and wear his hat, or two of them if he wished, offering to lend him his own for the purpose if the good man would accept it. He could resist the charm no longer, went, and became a zealous Methodist, and a useful class-leader.

    Hibbard was born in Norwich, Conn., February 24, 1771, of parents who observed the early religious strictness of that commonwealth, and trained him in the doctrines of the Puritan faith. In very early life, his singularly constituted mind became absorbed in religious meditation; and notwithstanding a constitutional and exuberant flow of humor, he was plunged in profound melancholy. He needed more benign views of theology than his education afforded him. "I read the Scriptures," he says, "with great attention, and in private I would weep and mourn for my sins. I had some fears that I should not find mercy at last: nevertheless, I prayed heartily that the Lord would spare my life until I could completely repent. At one time I felt encouraged, that if I were faithful, I should repent enough by the time I was thirty years old. Now the most of my nights I spent in weeping; my pillow and my shirt-collar were often wet with tears, and I would rise early to wash my face, for fear some one would discover that I had been crying, and ask me what was the matter." This mental agony increased fearfully, till it became a parallel almost to that under which the sturdy spirit of the author of the Pilgrim's Progress suffered. Not comprehending the doctrine of "justification by faith," he was engaged in a vain endeavor to wash away his sins by the tears of repentance alone; but, as he attempted to estimate the number and enormity of his offenses, an almost hopeless period seemed necessary for the task. "I began to conclude," he writes, "that I should not get through my repentance until I was fifty or sixty years old." As he ruminated over the dreary catalogue, he sunk into utter despair. "I found," he says, "to my unspeakable grief and dismay, that I was altogether unholy in my nature; my sins had corrupted every part, so that there was nothing in me that was good; I was a complete sink of sin and iniquity. I looked to see if there was no way to escape; if God could not be just and have mercy on me; but no, my sins were of that nature that they had made my nature sinful. I cried out when alone, 'O wretch that I am! I undone forever! all my hopes of obtaining mercy, and getting to heaven at last, are gone, and gone forever! and it is all just and right with God.' Still, it is a little mercy to me that I am not killed and damned outright; I may live here a while, but then, at last, I must be damned; and to pray for myself will do no good; there is no mercy for me; I can do nothing that will make amends for my sins; they are past, and cannot be recalled. O wretch that I am! I have undone myself, and am undone forever!"

    Such was in those days the experience of many an anxious mind, misguided by a theology the metaphysics of which obscure the clearest and most gracious light of the divine promises. Such despondence must soon terminate in insanity, or a favorable reaction. Happily for young Hibbard, the latter was the case with him. On a Sabbath day, the quiet beauties of which looked more "dismal than a shroud," he read in his Bible of "the sufferings of Christ, and had an impression to go into secret and pray." His anguish followed him to his closet; but the impressions of the truths he had been reading were vivid. They embodied themselves, as in a vision, to his troubled mind; and he saw, as it were, "Jesus Christ at the right hand of God," looking down upon him with compassion. His despair gave way to faith; "and now," he writes, "I could see the justice of God in showing mercy to me for the sake of his Son Jesus Christ; and not only to me, but to all that would come to him, forsaking their sins, and believing that his death and suffering were the only satisfactory sacrifice for sin. I felt a sudden sense of the impropriety of my offer to be damned for the good of others, though I had no condemnation for it; but the love of God in Christ, and of Christ in God, so completely overcame me that I was all in tears, crying Glory! glory! glory! Beholding the glory of God by faith was a rapturous sight! But soon it was suggested that I must open my eyes on creation; and feeling an ardent desire for company to encourage me in this worship of God, it appeared that, on opening my eyes, I should see some. I opened my eyes, therefore, while on my knees; and behold! all nature was praising God. The sun and firmament, the trees, birds and beasts, all appeared glowing with the glory of God. I leaped from my kneeling posture, clapped my hands, and cried Glory! glory! glory! heaven and earth are full of thy glory!"

    Such was Hibbard's experience at twelve years of age, and such is an example of the ordinary experience of the early Methodists, indeed, of most earnest minds. It is characterized by much feeling, and distorted and often despondent views of the divine method of human recovery, but also by profound scrupulousness, conscientious estimates of sin, and, at last, by transforming faith in Christ.

    This happy state of mind continued till it was interrupted by the dogma of pre-reprobation, which was suggested to his meditations by the speculations of his neighbors; for it was then tenaciously held as an essential doctrine of the popular faith. >From this terrible fallacy he at last recovered, but not till he had passed through sore mental conflicts, and received, as he supposed, special illuminations of the Spirit on the subject. He at this time anticipated vividly the doctrines of Methodism, and waited prayerfully till their promulgation should reach his neighborhood. Several years, however, elapsed before a Methodist itinerant appeared there; and during this interval he had been induced, by the example of Christians around him, and the opinions of the pastor of the village where he now resided — who approved of dancing — to attend balls, and to plunge into all the youthful gayeties of the vicinity. He lost the devout and peaceful frame of mind which he had attained through such an ordeal of mental suffering.

    He continued in this backslidden state for some time, when, at last, a Methodist evangelist reached the village. His mind was reawakened by the new preaching, and, passing through another inward conflict, similar to that already described, he emerged into a still clearer light, and settled habits of piety, embracing heartily the doctrines of the new sect, though, as he had removed to Norway, Conn., and there were no Methodists within twenty miles of him, he did not yet join their communion. While waiting their arrival in the place of his new residence he felt impressed with the anticipation that it might be his duty to join their humble ministry, and preach the great truths which sustained his own soul. He resolved to begin by "exhorting," and held occasional social services in the houses of his neighbors. After two or three of these meetings he found that many persons were awakened, and thirteen professed to be converted. Removing from Norway to Hinsdale, he had more access to the Methodists, and now cast in his lot with them. Providential encouragements to devote himself more entirely to religious labors occurred. His wife, who had disliked somewhat his sturdy religious seriousness, became converted. He was induced, by peculiar circumstances, to discourse for the first time from a text at a tavern, and found afterward that an old man was converted under the sermon, who, in a few months, died in hope. His stepmother was led by his guidance into the way of life. "She never had a witness of her acceptance with God," he says," but now stated to me her distress of mind. And we sat up all night to weep and talk and pray together, and it pleased God to make her strong in faith and joyful in hope. It was about two o'clock in the night when the Lord made her soul to rejoice in God her Saviour. Then we were so happy we wanted no sleep, but only to rejoice in the Lord. Thus we spent all the night. Glory to God! this season was sweet to my soul." He now labored more abundantly, and resolved to enter the itinerant ministry; but he desponded under the consciousness of his defects. "My way was open," he writes, "but my weakness almost discouraged me at times, for I had not then heard the good effect my weak sermons had, so that I began to grow gloomy and discouraged, until I attended the quarterly meeting in Pittsfield. At the prayer-meeting in the evening it was proposed to have a local preacher deliver us a sermon. He was a stranger to me; and as he appeared to be a solemn, gracious, good man, I was much pleased with the hope of a good time; but when he commenced his discourse, I perceived he was a weak brother. And as he progressed I was confirmed that he was very weak; and before he was done I concluded that he was weaker than I was; and surely, I thought, if I were as weak as he was, I would never attempt to preach again. Well, our meeting closed, and I went to my lodgings with a sad heart, to think no good was done that night. But next morning, to my surprise, I heard that five persons who heard our weak brother the night before were converted. I said nothing; but hid my face in my hands, and thought, truly these are thy marvelous works, O Lord! Thou dost make use of things which are not to bring to naught things that are. Well, I must take courage, and if I cannot shine in gifts, let me shine in humility, and adorn myself in a meek and quiet frame of mind, which is an ornament, in the sight of God, of great price."

    I have been the more minute in these quotations, because they present an interesting illustration of the power and working of the religious sentiment, under divine influence, in a robust but untutored mind. This process of spiritual experience resulted in the development of a beautiful moral character, full of religious sympathy, of affectionateness, of devout simplicity, and sanctified zeal; a zeal that labored mightily, and endured most formidable hardships throughout a ministerial career of most half a century.

    In 1797 he was directed by the presiding elder to labor on Pittsfield Circuit, Mass., which he traveled till the spring of 1798. He was then transferred to Granville Circuit, Mass., until the Granville Conference of 1798, when he joined the regular itinerant ministry, and was appointed to Dutchess Circuit, N.Y. While on the Pittsfield and Granville Circuits his labors were remarkably successful; more than one hundred persons were awakened; not a little persecution beset his course; but he became confirmed in his devotion to the work of the ministry. In 1799 he was sent to Cambridge Circuit, which was chiefly in New York, but comprehended also several Vermont towns. He began now to experience some of the privations of the early itinerancy. He had to remove his family, including three children, one hundred and fifty miles, among entire strangers, and without money to support them. During the preceding nine months he had received but eighty-four dollars, and for twenty months his salary had been one hundred and thirty-three dollars. Nearly all his own property had been expended. His thoughts under these accumulating trials, recorded in his own simple language, afford an interesting illustration of his character. "I looked at my call to this work to be of God. And I said in my heart, and to my dear wife, to God I will look for support. My wife encouraged me to suffer with patience. She often said, 'If we can do our duty to God here, and be a means of saving some souls, and get to heaven at last, all our sufferings will work together for our good.' Ah, thought I, you are a dear soul; what husband would not want to live at home, and enjoy the society of such a wife! But the Lord calls me to leave wife and children, and for his sake I give up all."

    He passed over his circuit, preaching daily, witnessing the conversion of souls, and seeking a home for his family; but finding none for many weeks, he writes: "Well, thought I, the foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but I have not even a log-house. I am now tasting of my Master's fare. He suffered this for the good of souls; and O what an honor, that I may suffer a little with my Master! So I went on cheerful, trusting in the Lord. We had refreshing seasons; many were awakened, and, I trust, converted. Our circuit at that time was five hundred miles around it, and for me to preach, as I did, sixty-three sermons in four weeks, and travel five hundred miles, was too hard. But I cried unto the Lord, and he heard me; for as my day was, so was my strength."

    Such were the trials of the primitive preachers, trials which, as we have elsewhere remarked, either drove them from the field, or made them heroes; their successors may well blush to repine at their more fortunate lot. About three hundred persons were converted during his travels on Cambridge Circuit. The indomitable Henry Ryan shared its labors, and they pushed the battle to the gates." Violent persecutions opposed them; Hibbard writes: "Brother Ryan was in good health and high spirits for this great work. The persecution in Thurman's Patent, where we had lived, was truly grievous. Many young people that experienced religion were turned out of doors by their parents. Some of them were whipped cruelly. Two young women were so whipped by their father that the blood ran down from their backs to their feet, and he then turned them out of doors, and they walked fifteen miles to a Methodist society. When they recovered of their wounds, some of our sisters informed me that they had many scars, some five inches long. Their two young brothers, one fourteen, and the other twelve years old, had both experienced religion, through the instrumentality of the Methodists, and suffered in like manner. It astonished me that a father of ten children, eight of whom had experienced religion, should drive six from his house, and whip these two boys, for no other crime, in reality, than because they worshipped God with the Methodists."

    These persecuted children agreed to visit and pray with their enraged parent together at a given time. "With hearts all engaged in prayer for their father, they entered his house, and, in the most affectionate manner, made known to him their tender regard for his precious soul. The power of God rested on them, insomuch that the old man was not able to answer them. He threw himself upon the bed, and made a howling noise, while they prayed. The poor old man could not arise from it. Something rendered him helpless, insomuch that he was not able to whip his boys any more for worshipping God. He lived in this helpless state eight years afterward. From this time the persecution began to cease in this part of the circuit."

    At the New York Conference of 1800 Hibbard was appointed to Granville Circuit, Mass. His subsequent circuits were, 1801, Long Island; 1802, Dutchess and Columbia, N.Y.; 1803-4, Dutchess; 1805-6, Croton, N. Y., with a congenial colleague, the quaint John Finnegan; 1807-8, New Rochelle, N. Y. In 1809 he reentered New England, and was the colleague of Isaac Candee on Redding Circuit. Their labors were unusually successful; extensive reformations prevailed, and about three hundred persons were converted. In 1810 he was on Courtland Circuit, N.Y., with Ezekiel Canfield, and 1811-12 at Rhinebeck, N.Y. At the Conference of 1813 he was again returned to New England, and appointed to Pittsfield Circuit, Mass. He was sent to this circuit also in 1814, but with the understanding that he should accept a chaplaincy in the army if an opportunity occurred. He did so, and as war then raged on the northern frontier, he was appointed to a regiment, and was with the troops some time in the neighborhood of Boston. "Not long after I returned home," he says, "I had the satisfaction to hear of forty-three, who were in our regiment, that had experienced religion, and joined our society."

    In 1815 he was sent to Litchfield Circuit, Conn., and labored with more than even his usual success. About six hundred persons, it is estimated, were converted; and as many joined the Congregational Churches; an impulse was given to the cause of God in every direction through the region of the circuit. In 1810-17 he labored on Granville Circuit; 1818, Chatham, N. Y.; 1819-20, New York city, with Aaron Hunt, Samuel Merwin, Laban Clark, and Tobias Spicer; 1821, Petersburgh, N.Y.; 1822, Dalton, N.Y. Having ruptured a blood-vessel while preaching in New York city, his health had declined so far by this time that he was compelled to retire into the ranks of the "superannuated or worn-out preachers," where he remained three years, but we find him again in the field in 1826, when he was appointed to Petersburgh; 1827-8, to Salisbury; and 1829, to Tyringham.

    Being still subject to inflammation of the lungs, and worn out with infirmities and years, he now returned to the superannuated ranks, where he continued till his death. He had labored in the Church about fifty years, devotedly and successfully. He died in 1844, in great peace, and in the forty-sixth year of his itinerant ministry. "When asked by a son in the gospel, how he felt in view of death," he replied, "My mind is calm as a summer eve;" and when again asked if death had any terror, he answered, "No, surely!" [3]

    Methodism, while adapted to all classes, had peculiar adaptations to the unlettered and neglected masses. Its simple doctrines were intelligible to their comprehension, and its energetic economy reached them in whatever recesses of obscurity. At the same time its living agents were a providential counterpart to these adaptations. Many of its preachers seemed to have been raised up exclusively for the poor and illiterate, and the peculiarities which might have interfered with their usefulness in higher spheres secured them greater success among men of lowly life. Hibbard was an example of this remark. His memoirs abound in striking instances of the power of his ministry; even his humor, sanctified as it was, had its good agency; the hardest and the rudest characters yielded to his influence. [4]

    Hibbard was a very genial mind, humorous, amiable, without learning, yet abounding in intelligence, fond of anecdote, and exceedingly happy in telling one; surprisingly apt in laconic remarks, richly endowed with the spirit of piety, ever ready for religious conversation, a thorough lover of his country, and staunchly republican in his politics; a tireless laborer in the pulpit, and one of the most useful men in our early annals. His love and devotion to the Church were enthusiastic. He died soon after its division by the separation of the Methodists Episcopal Church South, and, it is said, that event broke his spirit, and hastened his death.

    Billy married Sibyl RUSS on 10 Jan 1791. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  2. 5.  Sibyl RUSS (daughter of Timothy RUSS).
    Children:
    1. John HIBBARD was born in 1794; and died.
    2. 2. William HIBBARD was born on 7 Mar 1796 in Hinsdale, MA; and died.
    3. Rev. Wesley HIBBARD was born in 1798 in Hinsdale, MA; died on 4 Dec 1866; was buried in Queechy Methodist Church Cemetery, Queechy, Canaan, Columbia Co., New York.
    4. Asbury HIBBARD was born in 1800 in Hinsdale, MA; and died.
    5. Rufus Fuller HIBBARD was born on 11 Jun 1804 in Rhinebeck, New York; died on 17 May 1884 in Elizabeth, Union, New Jersey.
    6. Timothy R. HIBBARD was born on 31 May 1806 in Croton, New York; and died.
    7. David R. HIBBARD was born in 1808 in New Rochelle, New York; and died.
    8. Freeborn Garretson HIBBARD was born on 22 Feb 1811 in New Rochelle, New York; and died.
    9. Harriet D. HIBBARD was born in 1818 in Canaan, Columbia, NY; and died.


Generation: 4

  1. 8.  Nathan HIBBARD was born on 16 Jan 1739 in Scotland, CT (son of Nathan (or Nathaniel) HIBBARD and Zipporah BUSHNELL); died in 1825 in Pompey, Onondaga, New York.

    Nathan married Mehitable CROSBY on 27 Sep 1759. Mehitable was born before 1756; died on 12 Jun 1773. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  2. 9.  Mehitable CROSBY was born before 1756; died on 12 Jun 1773.
    Children:
    1. Adam HIBBARD was born in 1760 in Scotland, CT; died in 1760 in Scotland, CT.
    2. Enoch HIBBARD was born on 18 May 1761 in Scotland, CT; and died.
    3. Olive HIBBARD was born on 24 Apr 1764 in Scotland, CT; and died.
    4. Zipporah HIBBARD was born on 5 Sep 1765 in Norwich, Connecticut; and died.
    5. Nathan HIBBARD was born on 1 Jun 1767 in Norwich, Connecticut; died on 31 May 1853.
    6. Mary HIBBARD was born on 17 Apr 1769 in Norwich, Connecticut; and died.
    7. 4. Rev. Billy HIBBARD was born on 24 Feb 1771 in Norwich, Connecticut; died on 17 Aug 1844 in Canaan, New York.
    8. (twin) HIBBARD was born on 9 Jun 1773 in Norwich, Connecticut; died in Jun 1773.
    9. (twin) HIBBARD was born on 9 Jun 1773 in Norwich, Connecticut; died in Jun 1773.

  3. 10.  Timothy RUSS and died.
    Children:
    1. 5. Sibyl RUSS