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A potpourri of stories about various family members or events

Sesquicentennial of the Hibbard-Westurn Arrival

We all know that an annual event is one that occurs every year. I am guessing that most know that an event’s centennial marks the 100-year celebration. Likewise, in 1976, we in the U.S. celebrated our nation's bicentennial. But what is a sesquicentennial? Since “sesqui” denotes one and a half, an event's sesquicentennial marks the 150th-year mark.

I first learned the prefix “sesqui” when in graduate work in mathematics. Mathematicians often denote a function f as a linear operator if f(u+v) = f(u)+f(v) and f(ru) = rf(u) (where elements u and v could be considered vectors and r a scalar). Similarly, g is called a bilinear operator if g(u+v, w) = g(u,w) + g(v,w), g(ru,v) = rg(u,v), g(u, v+w) = g(u,v) + g(u,w), and g(u,rv) = rg(u,v). Note that whether the scalar r is multiplied by a vector in the first coordinate or the second coordinate, it can be "pulled out". A sesquilinear form is pulled out on one side and partially pulled out on the other (so 1.5 linear): g(ru,v) = rg(u,v) but g(u,rv) = h(r)g(u,v) where h is a function that might "twist" r (e.g., h(r)= 1/r). OK, no more math. No part of this is needed for the rest -- just free of charge.

In grandpa Jesse's account of the Hibbard family written at age 14, he wrote that the Horatio Hiram Hibbard family decided to come to the St. Cloud, Minnesota area in 1871, which was 150 years ago in 2021. Some questions to consider: 1) From where did they come? 2) Why were they there then? 3) why did they choose to come to Minnesota?

I will attempt to answer these questions in detail below, but if you just want the simple answers: 1) upstate NY; 2) the family lived within a 75-mile circle for 80 or more years before leaving for MN; 3) blame Herman (as Jesse did).

1. From where did they come?

My father, Edmund Arthur Hibbard, was the youngest child (of three) of Jesse Edmund Hibbard and Edna Alvira Westphal. Jesse was born in the vicinity (Haven township) that his father and grandfather came to in the year 1871. Jesse was the youngest child (of five) of Howard Horatio Hibbard and Rose Ann Doran (who married in Haven township in 1876). Howard Horatio was born in New York (Stockholm (township), St. Lawrence County) while Rose Ann was born in Maryland (Havre de Grace, Harford County – but mostly lived in Wilmington, DE). Howard Horatio was the youngest child (of five) of Horatio Hiram Hibbard and Druzilla Grimes, who married in 1835 (according to a document written by Sylvia as a child).

The first clear document to verify residential details about the Horatio Hibbard family is the 1850 census:

1850 Census: Stockholm, St. Lawrence, New York
Conducted on 20 Sep 1850 (lines indicated below)
line: name {age, by, sex, color, occupation, place of birth}
37: Horatio Hibbard {33, 1817, M, , farmer, VT}
38: Drusilla Hibbard {34, 1816, F, , , VT}
39: Thirza J Hibbard {10, 1840, F, , , VT}
40: Mary M Hibbard {4, 1846, F, , , NY}
41: Herman A Hibbard {2, 1848, M, , , NY}
The value of the real estate: $150.
The following attended school: Thirza J, Mary M.

St. Lawrence County is the westernmost among the three northernmost counties in New York, and its northern border is the U.S. border via the St. Lawrence Seaway, with Quebec on the other side. The other two northern counties are Franklin and Clinton, with the latter county bordering Vermont via Lake Champlain. These facts are relevant to some comments below and not just a geography lesson. Stockholm township (called a town there) is in the northern part of the county, but it has two smaller townships above it.

The 1860 census is the next census to include the family, and this time includes the complete family, with the last two children now included (i.e., born after 1850).

1860 Census: Stockholm, St. Lawrence, New York
Conducted on 22 Jun 1860 - page 27 (lines indicated below)
line: name {age, by, sex, color, occupation, place of birth}
18: Horatio Hibbard {43, 1817, M, , farmer, VT}
19: Druzilla Hibbard {44, 1816, F, , housekeeper, VT}
20: Jane Hibbard {20, 1840, F, , seamstress, NY}
21: Millisa Hibbard {15, 1845, F, , , NY}
22: Herman Hibbard {12, 1848, M, , , NY}
23: Emily Hibbard {9, 1851, F, , , NY}
24: Howard Hibbard {5, 1855, M, , , NY}
The value of the real estate of Horatio Hibbard: $400; personal estate: $364.
The following attended school: Millisa, Herman, Emily, Howard.
[Note that the Westurn family is five families up, so that 
they are likely geographically close (and there were two 
marriages between these families). Post Office is Stockholm.]

There are several relevant events that happened between 1860 and 1870. Nationally, of course, was the Civil War. Locally, the two older Hibbard girls married two brothers in the Westurn family, who lived relatively close. Thirza Jane (who usually went by Jane) married Hiram Rowley Westurn and Mary Melissa married Joseph Warren Westurn, both on 24 Sep 1863 in De Kalb of the same county. While it is a guess, both of these marriages may have been done to secure a “war bride” since both of these Westurn brothers were already engaged in the Civil War or were about to be. Furthermore, both of them sustained injuries from the war. They also had already had a younger brother (Frederick) die in a Civil War battle three months earlier. Additionally, at least 4 of the brothers were engaged in military service, and more likely six in total, since there were two more of the appropriate age. One brother (James Henry) died from the war in 1865 in TN and another (William Pitt) died at home in 1864, but because of his pension record, it must have been from the war as well (I am guessing). It was a harrowing decade for the Westurn and Hibbard families. For the Hibbard family, the oldest male (excluding the father), Herman Albert, was only 17 when the war ended.

Before much of this upheaval of the 1860’s started, the Horatio Hiram Hibbard family moved from Stockholm township in St. Lawrence county about 20 miles east into Moira township of Franklin county. Moira is on the western boundary of this county, about due east of Stockholm (with one other township in between). We are not sure of the purpose of this move, but if it was to thwart his two elder daughters from marrying their Westurn neighbors, it didn’t seem to work. When did this happen? According to the History of the Upper Mississippi Valley on the topic on Haven township in the section on Sherburne county, in the sketch about Herman A. Hibbard, it says this move occurred in 1861. However, when Drusilla and Horatio contracted to buy their Moira land (and the order I gave the names was intentional since she was more often listed first – sometimes indicating that she had the wealth), the deed indicates they acquired it in October, 1862. Whichever the date, the two older daughters moved with them and then also settled in Moira after their marriages (separately). Thus, our families now appear as follows in the 1870 census. 

1870 Census: Moira Twp, Franklin, New York
Conducted on 11 Jun 1870 - page 5 (lines indicated below)
line: name {age, by, sex, color, occupation, place of birth, 
	father foreign?, mother foreign?}
28: Horatio Hibbard {53, 1817, M, W, farmer, VT, , }
29: Drusilla Hibbard {54, 1816, F, W, keeping house, VT, , }
30: Emily Hibbard {19, 1851, F, W, , NY, , }
31: Howard Hibbard {15, 1855, M, W, farm laborer, NY, , }
Those males over 21: Horatio Hibbard.
The value of the real estate of Horatio Hibbard: $1000; personal estate: $500.
The following attended school: Howard.
[Names (different from above) used by Ancestry.com: Hororw Stibbard,
	Drurille Stibbard, Emily Stibbard, Howard Stibbard. - This
	spelling of the transcription made this hard to find.]

1870 Census: Moira, Franklin, New York
Conducted on 13 Jun 1870 - page 7 (lines indicated below)
line: name {age, by, sex, color, occupation, place of birth, father foreign?, mother foreign?}
7: Hiram Weston {36, 1834, M, W, farmer,  NY, , }
8: Jane Weston {30, 1840, F, W, keeping house,  NY, , }
9: Hanerh From {18, 1852, F, W, domestic servant, Canada, y, y}
Those males over 21: Hiram Weston.
The value of the real estate of Hiram Weston: $1200; personal 
	estate: $500.
The following attended school: Hanerh.
The following could not write: Hiram Weston, Hanerh From.

1870 Census: Moira, Franklin, New York
Conducted on 17 Jun 1870 - page 19 (lines indicated below)
line: name {age, by, sex, color, occupation, place of birth, 
	father foreign?, mother foreign?}
15: Joseph Meston {30, 1840, M, W, farmer,  NY, , }
16: Melisa Meston {24, 1846, F, W, keeping house,  NY, , }
17: Minnie Meston {3, 1867, F, W, ,  NY, , }
18: Letty Meston {11/12, 1869, F, W, ,  NY, , }
Born this year: Letty Weston was born in July.
Those males over 21: Joseph Weston.
The value of the real estate of Joseph Weston: $1200; personal 
	estate: $500.
[Names (different from above) used by Ancestry.com: Joseph Meston,
	Melissa Meston, Minnie Meston, Letty Meston.]

If you are keeping track, you should notice that someone is missing: the middle child, Herman. We are going to answer the question about where he was in 1870 soon. The first question that I am trying to answer is “Where were they?”. I have answered, with evidence, that the Horatio Hibbard family was previously living in St. Lawrence and Franklin counties in upstate NY. (Note that when many people use “upstate New York,” they generally simply mean out of New York City.) But the natural question to ask is what brought them there?

2. Why were they there then?

Why were they, the Horatio Hibbard family, in this part of New York where we found them in the 1850, 1860, and 1870 censuses? This is an important question to ask since it is rare that someone arrives somewhere in a random fashion; there are always various pulls and/or pushes that drive where someone resides.

First of all, it appears that most of the Hibbards in the U.S., at least at this time, descended from a Robert Hibbard who came to Massachusetts between 1834 and 1839. The distance between any of these New England states is not great, so it should not be a surprise that any Hibbard is somewhere in the general New England area.

But, more to the point, Druzilla Grimes (as Jesse referred to her and other evidence gives this as her maiden name as well), seems to have been born in Vermont by most, if not all, accounts in the censuses that include her or when her children are asked the same. (Jesse also gave the birth city as Sharon.)

However, things are not as clear for Horatio Hibbard. Censuses that include him report him as born in VT abt 1817. His children and other records have also him born in NH, NY, and Canada. His tombstone implies his birth date as 22 Mar 1817, if you take his age literally as 74 years when he died 22 Mar 1891. But the death record information at the Sherburne County History Center has his age as 74y0m1d, which gives his birthday as 21 Mar 1817. This is the exact date of birth given for a Horatio Hibbard in a 3 Oct 1817 baptism record whose parents are Horatio G Hibbard and Jane (Jenny).

Baptismal record for Horatio Hibbard, 1817
Baptismal record for Horatio Hibbard, 1817 - see transcription below

On this third day of October eighteen hundred and seventeen [3 Oct 1817], I baptized
Horatio, son of Horatio Hibbard of Broome farmer and Jane his wife, born 
on the twenty first day of March last past [21 Mar 1817], John Jackson Rebecca Jackson 
and Horatio Hibbard the father being sponsors.

Horatio G. Hibbard
Jean Hibbard [Parents]
John Jackson
Rebecca Jackson [Sponsors]
M. Townsend, Minister

The baptism sponsors were John Jackson and Rebecca Jackson, known as a reverend who started a congregational church in the Brome (Quebec) area in 1815. The church for this baptism was at an Episcopal church, Caldwell and Christie, in Iberville, Quebec. In the record, the father was listed as a farmer in Broome (Brome). There are several accounts of a Horatio Hibbard (presumably the father in the baptismal record) happening upon a doctor who foolishly went out in a January 1800 storm in the Brome area, and Horatio found him and sought help to retrieve him.

Two years after this, a stranger from the States, undertook the foolhardy task of accomplishing the same journey on horseback. He desired to go to Stanstead, and, notwithstanding the expostulations of the people in St. Armand where he started, he set out on his perilous jonrney—the last he ever made. The next day, a man named Horatio Hibbard, departed from St. Armand to go over the some route, on snowshoes. He had reached the east side of the mountain in Bolton, when he found the traveller---who had started the day previous-—-in the snow, frozen to death. The bridle reins were tied around his thigh, and his horse stood by, keeping vigil by the body of his master, in this dreary desolation. Mr. Hibbard went forward to the Lake, notified the inhabitants, and then came back with four or five men, to point out the spot where the traveller lay. Owing to the quantity of snow on the ground, and the absence of a road, they knew that he could not be removed, and consequently took with them a few pieces of boards, a hammer and nails, to construct a coffin; with the design of interring him at the place where he died. They erected a rude slab to mark his burial-place, and on it was this simple inscription:

DR. LEVI FRISBIE, Jan. 28, 1800

After they had performed this sad duty, they were too weary to return the same day, therefore they kindled a fire and remained all night.

The spot where the traveller was buried, is about forty rods from the hotel of J. McMannis.

Note that the Brome area of Quebec is less than 25 miles from Vermont but about 120 miles from Stockholm, NY, with Brome ENE of there. Additionally, there is an 1842 Canadian census that has a Horatio Hibbard of age 21-30 (our Horatio would have been 25) with a married female in the age group 15-44 (our Druzilla would have been about 26 or 27) and there is one female child of age 5 or under (and our Thirza Jane would have been 2). This census, like all U.S. censuses before 1850, only used hash marks for numbers of people of male or female in different age groups, and the only name given was that of the head of household.

1842 Census of Canada East about Horatio Hibbard
Name:	Horatio Hibbard
Occupation:	Farmer
Number of Inhabitants:	3
Sub-District:	Brome
County/District:	Shefford
Page Number:	2555
Digital Folder Number:	004569582
Image Number:	823
Affiliate Publication Title:	1842 Lower Canada Census
Affiliate Publication Number:	MG 31 C1
FHL Film Number:	2443971
The three are: married male from 21-30, married female from 15-44, 
   and then 1 female child of age 5 or under. These all match the family in 1842.
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939D-VDCV-9?i=20&cc=1834340

Before moving forward with a conclusion, while it may be a coincidence, note that Horatio Hiram’s first child is named Jane, and it appears that is also his mother’s name. One additional fact to add: the assumed father of our Horatio, who moved from NY to MN, had a father named Horatio G. Hibbard. The only known Hibbard that I have encountered with that name is a Horatio Gates/Giles Hibbard whose father Augustine is the well-known preacher who went to Dartmouth and started out serving as a chaplain to the Revolutionary army of the U.S. but then moved to Canada to serve the Episcopalian churches there of the Canadians (and perhaps Royalists who fled northward). The only definitive mention I could find (thus far) of this son of Augustine’s, Horatio Giles/Gates, is in the book that chronicles the history of the Hibbards, starting with Robert, as indicated above. This can be Googled and found online. (One source of the book of Robert Hibbard's descendants.) Augustine is first mentioned on p.58, and Robert is his great-great-grandfather. He is listed with 10 children, and in this book, only three have additional information about them.

This data all suggests that it is very reasonable for Horatio Hiram Hibbard to be in this part of the world. As a conjecture, once they had their first child, they may have decided that it would make more sense to have her grow up with English as the dominant language and the culture more akin to what his wife was accustomed. It could also be that by 1843 (picking a date after 1842 and before 1850) that 60 years after the Revolutionary War ended, there was less hostility against those who fled to Canada, or perhaps the question about fleeing was asked less often. Note also that Thirza has her birth be in Canada in the 1885 MN census, but otherwise it is given as NY thrice and VT once. People didn’t care as much about the accuracy of the place of birth or age, or spellings as we do now. Why were they actually in that part of NY? Not sure, but NY has currently, and in the past, more members of the Hibbard family than in any other state in the US. This may have been a pull to help Horatio fit in better with a common name.

3. Why did they choose to come to MN?

We now return to where Herman was located in 1870:

1870 Census: Clinton Lake, Sherburne, Minnesota
Conducted on 15 Jul 1870 - page 1 (lines indicated below)
line: name {age, by, sex, color, occupation, place of birth, 
	father foreign?, mother foreign?}
1: Samuel P Glidden {31, 1839, M, W, farmer, NY, , }
2: Francis Glidden {29, 1841, F, W, keeps house, NY, , }
3: Jessie F Glidden {7, 1863, F, W, , NY, , }
4: Herman E Hibbard {23, 1847, M, W, works on farm, NY, , }
Those males over 21: Samuel P Glidden, Herman E Hibbard.
The value of the real estate of Samuel P Glidden: $2000; 
	personal estate: $2000.
The following attended school: Jessie F.
[Names (different from above) used by Ancestry.com: Samuel R 
	Glidden, Francis Gidden, Jessie F Gidden.]
[Post Office: Elk River; Note that Herman's future brother-in-law,
   Harmon Marquit is on the next page of this census in the same
   vicinity. An additional trivia is that a Glidden member
   eventually also becomes connected to the family via Harmon
   Marquit.]

Two questions to ask now: Why was Herman here, and who knows where Clinton Lake was? The former question may be easier for some to answer than the latter. Let’s look at the full text of the description of Herman in the book mentioned above (Haven township portion of History of the Upper Mississippi Valley):

HERMAN A. HIBBARD is a native of St. Lawrence county, New York, and was born on the 3d of September, 1848. In 1861, the family removed to Franklin county, and six years later, the subject of our sketch left home, and went to New Hampshire, residing in that State and Vermont for two years. He came west in 1869, and after a short stay in Iowa, came to Minnesota, and was engaged in agricultural pursuits in Sherburne county until 1876. Then bought a farm in Benton county, on which he lived till the spring of 1881, when he returned to Sherburne county. Mr. Hibbard was married on the 4th of July, 1876, to Miss Angie Starkey. They have three children.

As I recall Grandpa Jesse Hibbard tell the story: “the brother [his usual approach was to not name the person but just infer it] went out on his own and explored the area, going up and around Lake Champlain, into Canada, and then heading west and after not liking the soil in Illinois or Iowa he went to Minnesota and found Sherburne county to his liking.” While I am technically quoting Jesse, I can’t say he exactly said these things in this order, but all the essence of it is as I clearly remember (way before I had any interest in family history). I remember Grandpa always chastising Herman for not liking the great soil in Illinois and Iowa (now readily agreed upon by most as superb). I am guessing Grandpa had some hard years in the sandy soil of Haven township.

While I don’t know what was going on inside of Herman’s head, I have a hunch. In June of 2007, I had a meeting scheduled at Hamilton College in Clinton, NY, which is in upstate NY and not too far from the region where the family lived, described above. I arrived a day early, rented a car after flying into Syracuse, NY, and headed northeast. I visited Canton, the county seat of St. Lawrence County and explored the resources there. I then drove across the rest of the county, stopping in various places in the Stockholm area. I spent the night in Malone, the county seat of Franklin county. In both county seats, I visited the courthouses and obtained some documents. But I also found someone who knew the general area where the Hibbards were (I am fairly sure in Moira, not Stockholm, but at the moment not positive), and we drove to the location. He was the local history buff and knew such things. As I drove through the counties, I stopped in numerous places to look at the plants and the soil, looked at the topography of the land, and I kept thinking one thing: this sure reminds me of Sherburne County. I am not claiming that is why Herman stopped in Sherburne County after his pursuits in many parts of the U.S., but it seems reasonable to me based on my experiences in both places.

Above, after the 1870 census was given that placed Herman Hibbard in Clinton Lake, Sherburne County, MN, I asked (a) why he was there and (b) where Clinton Lake is. Having answered the former, we address the latter. From http://genealogytrails.com/minn/sherburne/history_county.html we read:

PALMER township, settled in 1855, “was organized in 1858, with the name of Briggs, in honor of Joshua Briggs, who resided on the west bank of the lake bearing his name. . . . A few years afterwards, the name was changed to Clinton Lake, and subsequently to Palmer, in honor of Robinson Palmer, the father of Mrs. Joshua Briggs.” (History, Upper Mississippi Valley, p. 336.)

I recall swimming in Briggs Lake often, but I didn’t know it was in Palmer township. The book referenced in the quote above is the same book where the brief history of Herman A. Hibbard was given. There is also one for his brother (and father to Jesse), Howard H. Hibbard, that is worth repeating here:

HOWARD H. HIBBARD was also born in St. Lawrence county, New York, on the 28th of November, 1854. When he was seven years old, the family removed to Franklin county, and in the spring of 1871, to Minnesota, first settling in the southern part of this township, but the following year, removed to their present farm. In the spring of 1881, the subject of our sketch left the parental roof, and settled on a farm of his own which he had previously purchased. He was married on the 5th of November, 1877, to Miss Rosanna Doran. They have been blessed with three children.

Note that this sketch also gives when they moved to Minnesota: the spring of 1871. This timing is confirmed within Jesse’s school paper on his family’s history:

Herman came west and hunted and worked there for a while. When he returned he told of the fine country there and the family decided to come west to St. Cloud, Minnesota in 1871. They lived in Palmer Township for a short time and then moved to Haven Township on the banks of Elk River.

I guess that the place where they lived in Palmer township (which is due east of Haven township) was a place that they rented. On October 11, 1871, Drusilla Hibbard signed a warranty deed to buy from Andrew Boyington and his wife some land for $725 (which is $61,083 in today’s dollars, assuming (erroneously) 3% annualized inflation). Since I don’t have the warranty deed in front of me (only the page from the grantee/grantor book), I don’t know where this was, but it is likely the land along the banks of Elk River, which is where the Hartman farm was in the 1930s. Not too much later, Howard Horatio buys the land that Howard, Hugh and Jesse (and now Keith) farmed for many years.

While we don’t know the exact reason that the Horatio Hiram Hibbard family settled in upstate New York, it was a reasonable place based on his previous life and his wife’s background. After being there for approximately 30 years, a son recommends the move to central Minnesota. While I don’t know if there is a written statement to this effect, I recall Grandpa Jesse telling me that the family packed their belongings into a railroad car and headed west. I don’t recall if this included livestock and equipment or just personal possessions. I also don’t recall him addressing whether all the children came at once, including the two married children (one having two children of their own at the time), but it is not quite likely. Mary and Joseph had two children (Minnie and Lettie) by the 1870 census, and their third child (Warren) was born on 4 Apr 1872. His Washington death certificate indicates his birth in Moira, NY. This couple’s fourth child (Ernest) was born on 8 Feb 1875 in St. Cloud, MN, so they had joined the Hibbard family by then. The other married daughter, Thirza, did not have any children, and I have not looked or found any land records for them, but by the MN 1875 census, Thirza and Hiram Westurn were living in Minden township in Benton county about 3-4 miles NNW of her parents' location.

A natural question would be to ask what happened next to Horatio Hiram and Druzilla and each of their children. Druzilla and Horatio died about 6 months apart in 1890 and 1891, respectively, while living with their children (likely Howard). We already know what Howard did, so I will briefly describe the other four.

One last consideration: In college, Laurel wrote a paper on the background of the Hibbard family, and she collaborated with Jesse on this. You can review that here

Published 2025-06-17. Revised 2025-08-11.

If you find any error(s) in the text, please let me know. Thanks. Contact me with errors or comments using hibbardac@gmail. [Back to the top] [About the author, Al]

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