OF SCOTTISH AND IRISH ANCESTRY

PIONEER OF RICHLAND COUNTY (LATER ASHLAND COUNTY), OHIO, 1825

MEMBER OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS, CLEAR CREEK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

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A BIOGRAPHY OF JOSEPH MCKIBBEN, by Laurence Overmire (3G Grandson), genealogist and family historian, June 2020:

Joseph McKibben was born Dec. 19, 1801, in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, the sixth of nine children of James Westley and Elizabeth (Baird or Beard) McKibben. He was probably named after his uncle Capt. Joseph McKibben who served in the Revolutionary War.

Joseph married Mary Belle Bovard, the daughter of Robert and Janet (McComb) Bovard, on Dec. 16, 1823, probably in Beaver County.

They had nine children, one boy and eight girls:
1) James Thompson McKibben (1824-1903, m. Nancy Potter, Isabelle Dillinger)
2) Elizabeth Jane McKibben (1826-1904, m. William Burns)
3) Sarah Margaret McKibben (1828-1907)
4) Hannah L. McKibben (1830-1902)
5) Agnes E. McKibben (1832-1929, m. Hugh Norman Locke)
6) Mary Isabel McKibben (1834-1908)
7) Angeline B. McKibben (1836-1910)
8) Martha L. McKibben (1838-1914; m. John N. McKibben)
9) Minerva Harriet McKibben (1843-1860).

Joseph McKibben and his brothers Hugh and James moved to Richland County, Ohio, in 1825, an area that was being settled by a number of Scots-Irish Presbyterians from Pennsylvania. Joseph settled on land in Clear Creek Township in Richland County (later Ashland County), where he engaged in farming.

The first Presbyterian who made a permanent home in Clear Creek Township was David Burns (1784-1863), also a 3rd great grandfather of the author of this sketch. Joseph McKibben was another early Presbyterian. He served on the board of directors at the Clear Creek Presbyterian Church from 1841-1846. His daughter Eliza Jane McKibben married David Burns's son William C. Burns.

The 1850 and 1860 censuses show Joseph living in Butler Township, Richland County, which borders Clear Creek Township on the east.

"Butler township had many attractions for the pioneers, the surface was generally level and its soil had every appearance of fertility, which caused a fair proportion of the newcomers to settle in that township, and subsequent events showed that their choice was wisely made. The pioneers of Butler as well as those of other townships were people of heroic virtues. The situation forbade much attention to other matters than to work and clearing up the land and in founding homes. The active life of the men who made civilization possible had but little time for educational pursuits. They made history but they did not write it. The flourishing condition of Butler township and Richland county is the result of the labors of the pioneers - the men who toiled for our betterment, not knowing whether succeeding generations would even be informed of the names of those who cut down the forests and cleared the land." (Abraham J. Baughman, History of Richland County, Ohio, 1908, Vol. 2, p. 1171)

After his wife Mary Belle died in 1860, Joseph went to Mount Vernon, Knox County, Ohio. He was living there as a retired farmer in 1870 with his adult daughters Sarah, Hannah, Mary and Martha, all of whom were unmarried.

Joseph died on June 6, 1877, at the age of 75. He was buried in Savannah Cemetery, Savannah, Ashland County, Ohio.

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Sources:
1) Fast Shriver McKibben files of Philip R. and Nancy Fast Kepner.
2) The Joseph McKibben Family Record, by Hugh Lynn McKibben, Sewickley, PA, 1937 (Blueprints sent courtesy of Lori Myers)
3) Savannah Cemetery, Ashland County Ohio, Website 2005 (death date June 6, 1877, age 75y)
http://files.usgwarchives.net/oh/ashland/cemeteries/savannah.txt
4) Old Keys: An Historical Sketch of Clear Creek Township, Ashland County, Ohio, and of Savannah, The Township's Only Village, by Rae Bailey (1941) , Part I. Clear Creek Township, Days of Beginnings, p. 33-34 Ancestry.com
5) 1830 census, Clear Creek, Richland, Ohio; Series: M19; Roll: 139; Page: 111; Family History Library Film: 0337950
6) 1840 census, Clearcreek, Richland, Ohio; Roll: 423; Page: 110; Family History Library Film: 0020175
7) 1860 census, Butler, Richland, Ohio; Roll: M653_1029; Page: 344; Image: 307.
8) 1850 census, Butler, Richland, Ohio; Roll: M432_724; Page: 261; Image: 860.
9) Death Certificate of Angeline B. McKibben, # 24230, from Ohio Deaths 1908-1953, FamilySearch Labs (Informant: Martha L. McKibben)
10) Death Certificate of Agnes M. Locke, # 22141, from Ohio Deaths 1908-1953, FamilySearch Labs (Informant: Ralph Locke)
11) 1870 census, Mount Vernon Ward 4, Knox, Ohio; Roll: M593_1229; Page: 445A; Family History Library Film: 552728
12) Joseph McKibben photo courtesy of Mary Lou Overmire (handed down to her by her McKibben ancestors).
13) Abraham J. Baughman, History of Richland County, Ohio (S.J. Clarke, Chicago, IL, 1908), Vol. 2, p. 1171.