Marshall County KS Archives Biographies.....Tibbetts, Family 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@gmail.com July 23, 2005, 5:53 pm

Author: B. F. Bowen

THE BLUE RAPIDS TIMES.

    One of the noteworthy institutions of Marshall county is the Blue Rapids
Times, the oldest paper in the county published under a continuous name, and a
paper that, during its nearly half century of existence, has always stood for
the best type of citizenship. The Times was founded in 1871 by Charles E.
Tibbetts, a native of Connecticut, who "came West" to Ohio in the fifties and
entered Oberlin College. He had just gotten well started on his college course,
when came the call from President Lincoln for volunteers and he was among the
first from Oberlin to respond to the call. After serving out his first
enlistment period he returned to Connecticut and assisted in organizing a
company in the vicinity of his old home and he served between two and three
years in the Union army, a part of the time as first lieutenant of Company A,
Thirteenth Connecticut Infantry. After the war he returned to Oberlin to resume
his course, which had been interrupted by his military career. While attending
that institution, Mr. Tibbetts was married to Annice C. Brewster, who was also a
student at the same school. The next year after their marriage Mr. Tibbetts
taught school at Put-in-bay Island, Lake Erie, the scene of Commodore Perry's
famous victory. They then returned to Oberlin and completed their courses, Mrs.
Tibbetts graduating in 1867 and Mr. Tibbetts in 1868. They both received the
degree of Bachelor of Arts.

    Mr. and Mrs. Tibbetts came to Kansas and Marshall county in 1868, locating
at Irving, where Mr. Tibbetts was principal of Wetmore Institute. Thev remained
there until the Genesee colony came to Kansas and founded the town of Blue
Rapids, and in 1871 Mr. Tibbetts founded the Blue Rapids Times, which he
published until 1879, following which he was associated with George T. Smith for
a few years in the publication of the Marshall County News, but on account of
poor health he was compelled to give up active newspaper work. His death
occurred in the year 1889, after a life of usefulness. He served his community
as postmaster and was also county commissioner three years. Mr. and Mrs.
Tibbetts took an active interest in the social, religious and literary
activities of the town in its early days and assisted in the organization of
several societies for the promotion of education. Mrs. Tibbetts has, from its
organization, been an active member of the Ladies Library Association, and is
still a director of this worthy institution.

    Mr. and Mrs. Tibbetts were the parents of three children, all of whom are
now living. The eldest is a daughter, Mary, who was born within the walls of
Wetmore Institute, at Irving. After graduating from the Blue Rapids high school,
she taught school and also attended Oberlin College and Washburn College. At the
latter school she met and married Rev. H. Edward Mills, and for a number of
years their home has been in Spokane, Washington. The other two children, Livy
B. and Charles C., have both remained at the home town and for a number of years
past have had charge of the paper their father founded. Livy B. Tibbetts, the
elder son, attended the public schools of Blue Rapids and also Washburn Academy,
later taking a commercial course in the Topeka Business College. He then
returned to Blue Rapids and served two years as assistant cashier of the City
Bank. In 1893 he purchased a half interest in the Times, on which paper he had
previously learned the printer's trade, and became local editor. For over twenty
years he was actively connected with the Times. He represented his township as a
member of the Republican county central committee for eleven years, served as a
member of the school board, three years on the city council and two years as
mayor. He was assistant postmaster for ten years.

    In February, 1916, Mr. Tibbetts left the newspaper business to take the
position of active vice-president of the Citizens State Bank, which position he
is now filling. Mr. Tibbetts was married on May 21, 1895, to Blanche Ekins, a
daughter of William and Sarah Ekins, both natives of England, who located in
Illinois upon coming to this country, and in 1871 moved to Kansas and settled at
Blue Rapids. Mrs. Tibbetts was reared and educated in Blue Rapids, where she
attended the high school until she removed with her parents to Riverside,
California, in 1890, and continued her studies in the Riverside high school. Mr.
and Mrs. Tibbetts have six children, namely: Eunice, Harlow, Dorothy, Raymond,
Clifford and Charles. Mr. and Mrs. Tibbetts are members of the Presbyterian
church, and the former is also a Mason and a member of the Modern Woodmen of
America, having been clerk of the latter organization for over a dozen years.

    Charles C. Tibbetts was born in Blue Rapids June 22, 1879. He spent his
boyhood days in Blue Rapids and graduated from the high school in the class of
1897. He took a course in Platt's Commercial College of St. Joseph, Missouri,
and then entered the employ of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad Company as
stenographer and clerk, and remained about a year and took a position in the
civil engineering department of the Chicago & Great Western Railroad at St.
Joseph. He spent a year with this company and then the year following with the
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy. In 1904 he purchased a half interest in the Times
from Mr. E. M. Brice, and from that time to the present has been actively
connected with the management of the paper and is now editor and publisher. He
has a well-equipped plant for handling job work, and the paper enjoys a
constantly increasing circulation.

    Charles C. Tibbetts was married June 20, 1905, to Nellie A. Price, .of
Topeka. The latter is a daughter of William and Jennie (Fitzgerald) Price, the
former a native of Wales and the latter of Canada. The father was a molder by
occupation and established a foundry at Blue Rapids in the seventies. He is now
connected with the Santa Fe railroad at Topeka. Mrs. Tibbetts was born in Blue
Rapids and graduated from the high school. Mr. and Mrs. Tibbetts are both active
members of the Presbyterian church. She is a member of the Tuesday Afternoon
Club, and he is a member of the Masons and Modern Woodmen.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

History of Marshall County, Kansas: its people, industries, and institutions
by
Emma E. Forter

Indianapolis, Ind.: B.F. Bowen & Co. (1917)

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