| 2. | James Van Bibber was born on 8 May 1766 in Halifax Co, Virginia (son of Peter Van Bibber, II and Margery Bounds); died in Feb 1840 in Auxvasse, Callaway Co, Missouri. Notes:
Military Service: BET. 1785 - 1788 Revolutionary War
Emigration: 1803 Kentucky to Missouri
Event: Settled 1818 Callaway County, Missouri
Event: Pension 20 MAY 1833 Applied for Revolutionary War pension
Sources:
Title: Newsletter
Text: Van BIbber Pioneers E-Newsletters, Volume 1, June 1997.
(August 29, 2001)
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Vol 2 No. 7
In our "Reminiscences, No. 1," we spoke of Peter Van Bibber, as one of the first half dozen settlers in Lawrence County, and who built a cabin in 1798, below Union Landing. The next year, 1799, James and Jacob Van Bibber, brothers of Peter, settled and built cabins just below the mouth of Ice Creek. The Van Bibbers were from the Kanawha.
Jacob afterwards settled and lived for many years on Little Sandy; and we suppose died there.
During the Indian wars, while the Van Bibber family was living on Kanawha, James and Jacob, then small boys, went out to hunt their horse, in the "range." A bell had been put on the horse, but as it appears two Indians had taken the bell off, and used it as a decoy; they jingled and the boys followed and finally they sprung upon the boys. One of them seized Jacob, but James, the older, darted from the other Indian, and ran so fast that he escaped. Jacob was taken to the Indian towns as a prisoner. Some years afterwards the Indians were hunting on Raccoon, within the present limits of Gallia County, and had young Van Bibber along. At one time they sent him out for their horses and becoming lost he wandered to the bank of the Raccoon, which he knew would lead him to the Ohio, when he conceived the idea of returning home. He came to the Ohio, and a boat soon appeared, coming down. Those it were afraid of his being an Indian decoy, but
finally, after his telling who he was, etc., they landed their women on the Virginia side and went over for him. Once on the Virginia shore he soon made his way to his home on Kanawha. Some years afterward, the young Van Bibbers settled in Lawrence County, as before mentioned.
There was a rumor that the Indians in years before had buried treasure at the Rock. To get whisky the Indian favored this rumor. For a glass he would tell them where to look, but it would always happen that they did not look just at the right place, but for another glass he would tell them the exact spot and so on. On one occasion while hunting for the treasure they found an Indian's bones, two thick bars of copper and a shell drinking cup under a rock near where Z. Hall now lives; at another time they found another Indian's bones under a rock near the same place. At last the Indian told them to go higher up and they would find a tree with certain marks on it, and there they would find the sought for riches. And sure enough they did find a tree, a buckeye with the marks the Indians had made on it some years before; this tree stood at the foot of the hill just above where the rolling mill now stands. For this the Indian got a double drink; but no treasure was yet to be found. The Indian then thinking that he had got about all the whisky he could, was all at once among the missing.
After leaving below, the Indian, as it appears, went up to the cabins of the Van Bibbers, below Ice Creek. He told the Van Bibbers that he was going to Kanawha, and they replied they used to live there. The Indian said he had been there before. "I tell you," said he, "so you see Indian no lie. Indian was there with another Indian, and two
little boys came hunt horse. We took bell off horse and lied with it to boys and when we got 'em 'bout right we jump at 'em, but my boy flew like bird and me no catch him." "Why, law me," exclaimed old lady Van Bibber, "that was you, James." The Indian seeing that he had exposed himself kept silence, and began to look for the door. James
Van Bibber laughed, and told him that it was peace and that he would not hurt him. The Indian, however, was ill at ease, and would not utter a syllable. They coaxed him to stay all night, but long before daylight, he got up and went out, the last seen of him.
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This seems to be a similar story to what has been told before, but maybe a little variation.
Lori Hogan
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-The stone house of James Van Bibber: James Van Bibber was a brother to Nathan's wife Olive. The house, recently purchased by Lindenwood University, was built in the early 1800's and is located about one-half mile west of the Boone Home. The house is accessible to look at and to take outside photograph, but access to the inside is not currently allowed.
http://www.boonesociety.org/historical_links/Missouri_Boone_Sites.htm
James married Jane Irvine on 13 Apr 1796 in Kanawha Co, Virginia. Jane was born in 1775 in Halifax Co, Virginia; died after 1840. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
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Abt 1806 - Aft 1806 (~ 1 years)