Taylor County, West Virginia Biography of James E. HIBBS ************************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: Material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor. Submitted by Valerie Crook, , April 1999 ************************************************************************** The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 129 JAMES E. HIBBS. There is not a better known or more highly esteemed citizen of Booths Creek District of Taylor County than James E. Hibbs, farmer, and a resident of the county for over fifty-five years. He has been a capable manager of his own affairs, has been faithful to his obli- gations in the community, and he has justly earned the confidence of all with whom he has been associated. His great-grandfather, a Pennsylvanian, established the family in West Virginia, locating on the waters of Painter- lick Run in Marion County, where he remained until death and was buried in the Wilson graveyard. His son, William Hibbs, was a farmer in the same region, lived without of- ficial or military service, and at his death he was buried in the Toothman private cemetery. By his marriage to Lovicy Wildman he had the following children: Samuel, mentioned below; Bettie, who married John Reed; Millie, who became the wife of David Haynes; John; William, who was a Union soldier and lived in Marion County; Thomas, also a soldier of the Union Army; Ellen, who married Alfred Ammons; Arthelia, who married Arch Walls; Phoebe and Lovicy, who married brothers, Zimri and Wesley Am- mons. Samuel Hibbs, father of James E., was reared in Marion County, had little opportunity to secure an education, and from that county moved to Ritchie and some years later to Taylor County. He was an active member of the Metho- dist Church, and died May 29, 1916, at the advanced age of eighty-six. He married Sarah Yost, daughter of David Yost, and she passed away some years before her husband, being the mother of only two children, James E. and Lovicy Ellen, who died unmarried. James E. Hibbs had an unusually limited family rela- tionship even for a man of his years. He has neither par- ents, brother or sister, nor children of his own. He was born in Ritchie County, August 31, 1858, and became a resi- dent of Taylor County with his parents in April, 1866. He grew up on the farm where he lives today, attended a school on Booths Creek nearby, and since early manhood his business has been with the farm. The chief feature of his enterprise has been the growing and grazing of stock, cattle and sheep, and this line of business still de- mands his efforts and the fruit of his long experience. Mr. Hibbs is sincerely interested in the growth and ad- vancement of his community, and is president of the Board of Education for Booths Creek District. He served about twenty years as justice of the peace of his district. In politics he is a democrat, casting his first vote for Gen- eral Hancock in 1880, and twice gave a ballot to Cleveland and twice to Mr. Wilson. Fraternally he is affiliated with Pruntytown Lodge of the Odd Fellows and with the Loyal Order of Moose at Grafton. In Taylor County, November 18, 1880, he married Miss Frances J. Humphreys. She was born in the Pleasant Hill locality of Ritchie County, daughter of Dr. J. B. and Nancy (Gaines) Humphreys. Her father, who came to West Vir- ginia from old Virginia, was a capable physician, and spent the last twenty years of his life in the Booths Creek Dis- trict of Taylor County. He and his wife are buried in the Greenlawn Cemetery at Clarksburg. Their children were: Mary, wife of Sherman Strother, of Clarksburg; Virginia, wife of E. Y. McElroy, of Clarksburg; Mrs. Hibbs; and Thomas J., of Wheeling. Without children of their own, Mr. and Mrs. Hibbs opened the doors of their home and their hearts as well to several children otherwise homeless. These children had the benefit of a hospitable home and superior education and moral training. One of them now lives in Ohio. Three others, a brother and two sisters, still comprise the home circle of Mr. and Mrs. Hibbs.