HIBLER BIOGRAPHIES, Henry County, Missouri ==================================================================== HIBLER, Henry R. - b: 1812 near St. Louis, MO source: 1883 History of Henry Missouri , National Historical Co. - page: 723 residence: Walker Twp Henry R. Hibler was born ten miles from St. Louis on the 30th of November, 1812, and was the eldest of a family of eleven children, of whom three only are now living, one brother, William, being in Jasper County, and a sister, Susan Sevier, living in Texas. He grew to manhood near St. Louis, and when twenty years old moved with his parents to Gasconade, now Osage County. After working several years in the lumber mills of South Missouri and rafting on the Osage River he began farming about the time of his father's death, in 1837, and he was married in Osage County March 6, 1842, to. Miss Nancy Hill, of the same county. Her death occurred ten years afterward, and on the 28th of February, 1855, Mr. Hibler was married to Miss Paulina Parks. Subsequently he removed to Henry County, where he arrived in the winter of that year, soon securing a tract of 120 acres of a Mr. Landsman. Mrs. Hibler died August 3, 1859, and two years thereafter Mr. H. married Miss Mary C. Shelley, who also died January 13, 1876. Mr. Hibler entered 160 acres. of land in 1857 and had at one time nearly 800 acres. His farm now consists of 350 acres, in a good state of cultivation, and he has a place of about 100 acres near Clinton and two small farms in Walker Township. He has been an extensive buyer of stock, having followed shipping and driving for several years. He handles about fifty head of cattle, some hogs, a good flock of sheep and several horses. When Mr. Hibler settled in Henry County he had but few neighbors, the principal ones being Robert, John and Henry Gragg. He is a staunch Democrat and has voted at every presidential election since Monroe. He enlisted in the Mexican war as lieutenant in Colonel Daugherty's regiment, and was stationed for some time at Fort Leavenworth. Mr. Hibler's parents were Samuel and Charlotte (Groff) Hibler, both natives of Kentucky. His mother was born in Lexington December 10, 1791, and is yet living with her son. Though ninety-one years old, she retains much of the vigor of half a century ago. Mr. H. has had ten children, of whom four were of the first marriage; they are: Samuel S., the eldest, who died on Red River, Arkansas, December 9, 1864; Joseph F. and Franklin F., twins (Joseph lives near his father and Franklin is in St. Clair County; the youngest is Mary Charlotte, wife of John Fisher, living in St. Clair County. There were two in the second family, Susan Margaret (wife of Jacob Marks), and Fieldon, who died in infancy. The youngest children are James W., Samuel H., Walie J. and Annie Isabel, all at home. ==================================================================== HIBLER, Joseph F. - b: 1849 Osage Co, MO source: 1919 History of Henry Co MO, Uel W. Lamkin, Historical Publishing Co - page: 469 residence: Walker Twp Joseph F. Hibler. For the past sixty-three years, Joe Hibler has been a resident of Henry County and is one of the typical, jolly, big-hearted old-timers of Missouri - the kind of men we have all read and heard about as typical of the true Missourian. During his boyhood days, Joe Hibler attended school in an old log school house, a converted pioneer's log shack with cracks between the logs big enough to throw a boy through if the schoolmaster so minded. The boys in Joe's younger days were every whit as mischievous and full of tricks as the present- day boys, and it is probable that the schoolmaster found occasion to throw the boys through the cracks when they were mean. This school house had a puncheon floor, and slab seats. Along one side of the room was a big six-foot fireplace which was kept filled with big logs during the cold winter days. A roaring fire was kept up but the fire only warmed one side of the school boys. The wind whistled through the cracks and kept the air stirring in the room at all times. The only light in the building was obtained by sawing out a length of log about eight feet. This aperture let in both air and light. Joe Hibler has seen thousands of deer on the plains of Henry County in his youthful days and his father would shoot them from the doorway of their home. The nearest trading post was at old Germantown and Johnston in Bates County, then called "Hardscrabble" by the pioneers in the old days. Joe had a partner who assisted him in various misdeeds and it was a favorite pastime of theirs to entice a bunch of cattle near a hornet's nest and stir up the hornets. Another pastime was robbing the apple cellars of their relatives. Joe Hibler was born in Osage County, Missouri, in 1849 and is the son of Henry Hibler, one of the best-known of the early pioneers of this section of Missouri. Henry Hibler was born in 1822 in St. Louis County, Missouri, and was living in St. Louis when it was but a small river village, peopled by Frenchmen and adventurers from all parts of the world. He and his parents were pioneers of Osage County, where Henry Hibler became a live stock dealer on a large scale. The live stock market was far away at St. Louis and the trip was a long and tiresome one to make. Mr. Hibler was persuaded by his neighbors to drive their cattle to St. Louis, sell them and bring back the proceeds. He soon got into the business and handled the cattle on commission. Taking assistants with him he would make the trip whenever a sufficient number of cattle were ready for the market. He would frequently drive a big drove of turkeys to the same market. On the return trip he would carry the money in saddle bags and no precaution was necessary to guard against thieves. People were so honest that upon arriving at a settler's cabin for the night the men would throw the saddle bags filled with money down on the floor in a corner of the cabin and pay no more attention to it, until ready to leave the next morning. When he arrived home, Mr. Hibler would distribute the money among the neighbors. In 1855, he settled in Henry County, and during the early days made frequent trips to Kansas, engaged in the cattle business. He purchased a farm, located just a mile north of where Joe Hibler now lives, in Walker township. His first home was a log cabin. He prospered as a farmer and stockman and in later years bought a home at Eldorado Springs, Missouri. He died in 1900 at Lamar, Missouri. Henry Hibler was three times married; his first wife was Nancy McQueen, who died in 1851, leaving children as follows: Samuel died in the Confederate service while a soldier in the Civil War; Mrs. Lottie Fisher, Walker township; Joseph F., subject of this review; Frank, a bachelor living on his brother's farm; Mrs. Susie March, a widow living in Davis township. His second wife was Mrs. Pliney Parks who died in 1857, leaving three children by a first marriage: Ann, Arthur, and Sallie Parks. His third wife was Mrs. Mary Harper, mother of two children by her first marriage: John Shelley, died at Dallas, Texas, in 1916; Lizzie Shelley, living in Oklahoma; and William T., Samuel, Walter and Annie Hibler. In 1870, Joseph F. Hibler began life for himself upon seventy acres of land which his father gave him. He improved this tract as best he could at the time, building a slab fence around the farm and carrying the slabs one-fourth of a mile on his shoulders. He also built some rail fence which was later supplanted by a hedge fence which he set out. He has created a beautiful farm from prairie land and has an attractive place of 111 acres on Camp Branch Creek adjacent to the Hopewell Church in Walker township. Mr. Hibler was married in 1870 to Cordelia, a daughter of Samuel Wilson, a pioneer of Henry County, concerning whom the reader is referred to the sketch of Judge William M. Wilson in this volume. Five children have blessed this marriage: Mattie, wife of Charles Pfost, resides near Cheyenne Wells, Colorado; Mildred, wife of Ellis Greenhalge, Walker township; Riley Amos lives in Kansas; Henry Wilson, lives in Kansas City; and John, deceased. Mr. Hibler has consistently voted the Democratic ticket since attaining his majority. He and Mrs. Hibler are members of the Hopewell Cumberland Presbyterian Church. ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by the Henry County MOGenWeb http://www.rootsweb.com/~mohenry/henryco.html Contact the Henry County Coordinator for comments or corrections. ====================================================================