Vanbibber

You can refer to this post which I now hope to clarify: https://gendeavour.com/the-vanbibber-dilemma-iv-peter-vanbibber-ii/

Edited 19 Sep 2020; Updated 28 Apr 2023.

I can confirm that Peter Vanbibber III, son of Peter Vanbibber II and Marjory / Marguery Bounds, fought at the Battle of Point Pleasant on October 10, 1774. Fold3 has the documentation to prove it, too many documents to upload and display here. Suffice it to say that he filed for a Soldier’s pension while a citizen of Ripley County, Indiana. He had moved from the Kanawha-Greenbrier regions of West Virginia, settled near the mouth of the Big Sandy River in Ohio (downriver from Gallipolis and Point Pleasant) where, when his father Peter II died in Kanawha County (about 1797), mother Marjory Bounds and little sister Olive Vanbibber went to live. 

When the Battle of Point Pleasant was fought, the Vanbibber’s were the following ages:

• Isaac Vanbibber – 50
  • Peter Sr. – 17
  • Matthew – 14
  • John – 9
  • James – 5
  • Isaac II – 3
• Peter Vanbibber II – 42
  • Peter III – 17
  • Jesse – 15
  • James – 8
  • Matthias – 2
• John Vanbibber – 40
  • James – 5
  • Joseph – not yet born

Peter Vanbibber III definitely fought at the Battle of Point Pleasant. This is confirmed by the pension records on file at Fold3, referenced above. As for the Greenbrier County Court Orders and the attribution by Otis K. Rice’s in “a History of Greenbrier County” provided in the previous post, it is most likely that Peter II or a combination of he and Peter II as father and son were not differentiated in the records:

1. was appointed Captain of the local militia in Greenbrier;
2. served as a scout for 35 days;
3. provided rations for the use of the state; and
4. built the “blockhouse” fort on Wolf Creek known as Fort Vanbibber, aka Fort Greenbrier, possibly Jarrett’s Fort.

Fold3 has the records of 3 men surnamed Vanbibber: Peter, and two named James:1- James Vanbibber of Kentucky (Capt. Dyal’s Company and likely a son of Isaac Vanbibber); 2 – the other James is none other than the son of Peter Vanbibber II and Marjory Bounds. 

I find the reading of James’, the son of Peter II and brother of Peter III, pension application most interesting. In it, he tells the story of one of his brothers being shot by the “Indians” and left for dead while another brother was taken hostage for 11 months about the year 1785. The brothers to whom he alludes in the story are none other than Matthias Vanbibber and younger brother Jacob.

Albeit circumstantial evidence, I believe this conclusively determines that Matthias Vanbibber was indeed a son of Peter Vanbibber II and Marjory Bounds, not “Matthew” the son of Isaac Vanbibber and Sarah Davis. Other circumstantial evidence that lends credence is a handwritten account provided by Matthias’ grandson, David Campbell Robinson Vanbibber Nathan Vanbibber, son of David Campbell Robinson Vanbibber (pictured below, click to enlarge). Another is found in the book, “History of Charleston and Kanawha County and Representative Citizens” by W. S. Laidley. 

At some point, Peter Vanbibber III left Ohio and moved further westward to what was then Ripley County, Indiana. He is interred, or so I understand, in Vanderburgh, IN. Further reading can be made at this WikiTree site where this plaque was erected by the DAR:

The sad news is that Peter III’s younger brother James also filed a claim for a soldier’s pension and was denied. His claim was filed in Calloway County, Missouri, and is also available at Fold3.