Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Hibner, John ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/il/ilfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com September 3, 2007, 5:20 pm Author: Genealogical/Biographical Publishing Co JOHN HIBNER. Jackson Township has won an enviable reputation as a prosperous farming community, and this reputation has been established through the energy of such farmers as Mr. Hibner. For years he has been prominently connected with the development of the townshipand with its advancement as a farming region. Coming here in August, 1848, he purchased an eighty-acre tract where he has since made his home. During his first winter in this locality he lived in a log shanty, about 10x12 feet, but in the spring he built a comfortable house. After he had paid for his land and for a cow he had but fifty cents left. However, deer and other game abounded, and thus the family were supplied with all the meat necessary, while the other necessaries were raised on the land. As the years passed by Mr. Hibner prospered. He kept adding to his farm until his place numbered something more than one thousand acres, but he has given his children considerable property and has in that way reduced his holdings to over seven hundred acres. Although he had few advantages other than those he made for himself, he met with remarkable success, and is now one of the well-to-do farmers of the county, while at the same time he is one of the most highly respected as well. The sole survivor of the eight children of John and Jane (Caldwell) Hibner, the subject of this sketch was born in Guernsey County, Ohio, September 14, 1804. His father, who was born in Peekskill, N. Y., about 1768, grew to manhood there, then went to Ohio and worked as a farm hand in the Miami bottoms. Next, settling in Guernsey County, he took up a claim of one hundred and sixty acres, and shortly after was married. At the breaking out of the war of 1812 he enlisted in the service and took part in the famous thirteen-days' siege of Forts Meigs, Defiance and Wayne. When the troops marched away from the fort he was ill with camp fever and was left behind. Later, recovering somewhat, he started for home; for days he wandered through the forests and over the prairies without food; he asked for something to eat at an Indian camp, but was refused. However, at last he reached home in safety. In 1814 our subject's father removed to Richland County, where he remained until 1847, meantime acquiring about seven hundred acres of land. During the last-named year he removed to St. Francis County, Mo. In the spring of 1848 he came to Illinois, and after spending the summer on a farm ten miles up the river from Wilmington, he bought three eighty-acre tracts in Jackson Township and settled on one of these, four miles southwest of Joliet. There he resided until his death, September 23, 1865, at which time he owned more than six hundred acres of land. In some respects he was eccentric. One of his peculiarities was his distrust of banks. He always kept his money in a safe at home. At one time he was robbed of $50,000 and was so seriously wounded by the robbers that he died from the effects of the shock and the wounds one month afterward. His father, who was a native of Germany, died in early manhood, and his mother, who was Sarah Jones, afterward married Abraham Williams, a brother of David Williams, one of the men who captured Major Andre. Two of her brothers, James and Ben Jones, enlisted in the Revolutionary war and went to the front. They were never afterward heard of, and it was supposed that they fell in battle. Her father, Philip Jones, was a wealthy man and owned one hundred and sixty acres in what is now the heart of New York City, besides numerous other pieces of property. When the war with England broke out a tory falsely reported that he was furnishing supplies to the English army; for this reason his farms were taken from him and never afterward restored. Our subject's mother was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, of Scotch ancestry. She grew to womanhood in her native county and afterward accompanied her mother and three other children to America. Our subject was wholly without educational advantages when he was young. His entire attendance at school was limited to eighteen evenings spent at a night school. From his earliest recollections he was obliged to work hard for his support, and his youth was one round of toil, unlivened by the usual sports of boyhood. He remained at home until his marriage, which event united him, April 6, 1837, with Miss Nancy A. Kurtz, a daughter of Christopher and Nancy (Lowe) Kurtz, of Pennsylvania-Dutch ancestry, and residents of York County, Pa., where she was born. After his marriage Mr. Hibner bought eighty acres in Richland County from his father. Upon it he settled and there remained until 1847, when he moved to St. Francis County, Mo. In the spring of 1848 he started north with his family and brother Francis, going as far as Winnebago Lake, where he bought land. Two months later his brother died. Our subject entered two quarter-sections of land about midway between Green Bay and Oshkosh. Later the county seat of Appleton was located on his farm and he sold his land, but was cheated out of his money. In August, 1848, he came to Will County and purchased an eighty- acre tract, which forms the nucleus of the large possessions he has since acquired. He has proved himself to be an excellent manager, and although his life has been spared far beyond the usual allotment of years, he still preserves his interest in affairs and shows the keen business traits that characterized him years ago. He is remarkably well preserved, and a stranger to whom his real age was unknown would easily mistake him for a man not more than seventy-five or eighty. In politics he is a Democrat. After a happy wedded life of sixty-two years Mr. Hibner suffered a deep bereavement in the death of his wife, who passed away October 13, 1899, aged eighty-two years, eleven months and thirteen days. She was a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and a lady of sincere Christian character. Fourteen children had been born of their union, and all but two are still living. Elizabeth is the wife of James Ralph, a farmer of this county; George W. and Francis A. are farmers, the former in Grundy County, the latter in Will County; Jane is the wife of E. Price, a machinist of Joliet; James C, David and Martin E. are farmers in Grundy County; Nancy A. is the widow of T. S. Shimmin and keeps house for her father; Sarah A. married Peter Christensen, a farmer of Will County; John W. and William A. are farmers in this county; and Lucinda A. is the wife of James A. Hemphill, a farmer of this county. Additional Comments: Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County Illinois Containing Biographies of Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present Biographical Publishing Company; Chicago 1900 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/will/bios/hibner1652nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ilfiles/ File size: 7.4 Kb