The Bibbys came to Texas in 1869. They were descendants of John Leggett Bibby and Mary Belk, who were from the Carolinas and settled in Alabama, along with numerous relatives. They acquired land in Coosa County, Alabama, where their family grew to include twelve children.
John Leggett Bibby died in 1858, followed by his wife Mary, in 1866. They are both buried in Coosa County Alabama.
Six of their twelve children left Alabama in the Spring of 1869, answering the beckon of Texas, and five of the six settled in Smith County, where they are found on the 1870 Federal Census.
The family of John Leggett Bibby and Mary Belk are:
Emiline, Molsey M., John Leggett, Jr., Josephus Byron, Julius Albertus, Jason Melton and their families moved to Texas.
Of those who moved to Texas, the family legends tell that the two sisters, Emiline and Molsey, were engaged to young men who went to war and didn't return.
During the War Between the States, the Bibby family had four sons, Moses, James, John L. Jr., and Josephus, who joined the Alabama Infantry and went into battle. They all served honorably in the cause of the South.
Researcher Wilford Lee, who wrote a history of the family, described the travel from Alabama to Texas as follows, "The Bibbys, along with other families joined in the migration to Texas. The wagons, laden with household and personal possessions, were pulled by oxen. Cross-country travel was slow, cumbersome and difficult. One of the main migration routes between Alabama and Mississippi to Texas was a rough dirt road extending across north Louisiana." (p.43). It is presumed by most researchers that this is most likely the Bibby's route, which by today's maps would loosely follow I-20 across the states, arriving in Texas someplace near Nacogdoches. Family stories tell us that upon arriving in Nacogdoches in east Texas they heard of good land in the area of Smith County.
One brother, Julius, settled in Wood County for a short time; then, with his father-in-law, they went into Arkansas for some years before returning to Texas. The other brothers, John L., Josephus, and Jason, and sisters Emiline and Molsey, stayed on the south side of the river in Smith County near the community of Lindale.
Listed following are the families of those who came to Smith County Texas:
Family of MOLSEY M. BIBBY & G. L. LOYD, married 6 January 1874, Smith Co, Texas
Family of JOHN LEGGETT BIBBY, Jr, & SARAH FRANCES HOWARD, married 1865. Fannie was born 20 October 1847 and died 4 November 1907. They are buried at Hopewell Cemetery, Smith Co, Texas.
Family of JOSEPHUS BYRON BIBBY & LOUISE C. MEADOR, married 17 November1871, Smith Co, Texas. Louise, the daughter of Thomas Meador and Elizabeth Hill, was born in 1853 and died 1896. She is buried in the Meador Cemetery, Smith Co, Texas
Family of JASON MELTON BIBBY & OMINO C. FUNDERBURGH, married 5 November1874, Smith Co, Texas. Aromino, the daughter of Walter B. Funderburgh and Sarah Jane Wilson, was born 12 January 1879 and died 10 July1927. She is buried in the Rose Hill Cemetery, Tyler, Smith Co, Texas.
Personal research of Doris Peirce, and Yvonne Fassett
Coosa Co. AL Probate Records, Book 2, p.109; Book 1, p 243.
U.S. Fed Census, Coosa Co AL,
U.S. Fed Census, Smith Co TX
Marriage Records of Smith Co, Texas - 1846-1899, Published by The East Texas Genealogical Society, P O Box 6769, Tyler, Texas, 1979
Marriage Records of Smith Co, Texas - 1900-1926, Published by The East Texas Genealogical Society, P O Box 6769, Tyler, Texas, 1999
Cemetery Records Smith Co, Texas - Vols. 1, 2 & 4, Published by The East Texas Genealogical Society, P O Box 6769, Tyler, Texas,
Confederate Records, National Archives, 46th Ala. Inf, Coosa Co AL
"BIBBY" by Wilton Lee.
Family history from Burma Bibby, descendant.
Bible Records of Jos.R. Bibby, in possession of Rick Bibby of Dallas TX.
Family records of Martha Debenport and Christine Starr Kent Turman