Jesse John VanBibber

     Jesse John VanBibber was born on 8 August 1759 at Halifax County, Virginia Colony, America. He was the son of Peter VanBibber and Marguery Bounds. Jesse John VanBibber married, at age 39, Elizabeth Rachel Greenlee, age 20, daughter of Alexander Greenlee and Anna Henry, on Tuesday, 9 July 1799 at Kanawha County, Virginia. Jesse John VanBibber died on 10 April 1852 at Mason County, Virginia, at age 92 years, 8 months and 2 days.
     Jesse Van Bibbers Description of the Battle at Point Pleasant

During the action, those troops from the more eastern part of the State, unaccustomed to fighting with the Indians, were all the day engaged in making breastwork at the junction of the Kanawha with the Ohio, so that the army, if defeated, should have a secure retreat. Ignorant of how the action would terminate, they worked as if for their lives and before the day was finished had a strong fortification erected. When the alarm was given that the Indians were near, General Lewis deliberately lighted his pipe, and then coolly gave the orders to his brother, Colonel Charles Lewis, to advance upon them. The soldiers in Colonel Fleming's regiment used a stratagem that proved very effectual. They concealed themselves behind trees, and then held out their hats, which the Indians mistakenly shat at. The hat being at once dropped, the Indian would run out from his covert to scalp his victim, and thus met a sure death from the tomahawk of his adversary. The whites in this action being all backwoodsmen, were more successful marksmen that the savages; a fact in part owing to the want of the mechanical skill in the Indians, requisite to keeping their rifles in order. At the close of the action, the Indians went off hallooing as if coming on to renew the attack. This stratagem deceived the whites, and enabled them to retreat in more safety. They recrossed the Ohio on rafts, three miles above, near the old Shawnee town.

SOURCE: The description was from Jesse Van Bibber, who was a participant in the battle. This information was found at: http://www.footnote.com/page/632/BATTLE-OF-POINT-PLEASANT-/. It was written by Bev Gillihan, a Van Bibber researcher.

The Van Bibbers

The brothers, John, Isaac and Peter Van Bibber, and Jesse, son of Peter, were participants in the Battle of Point Pleasant. Mrs. Miriam Donley, a Van Bibber descendant, writing for the July, 1903, West Virginia Historical Magazine, says "Isaac had come from the Carolinas on a visit to his brother in Bottetourt County, when the call to arms resounded through the land. Although a Baptist minister, he could and would not resist, as hearts were that day attuned to
martial music, and he responded to its call. He fell mortally wounded besides Colonel Charles Lewis. Peter fought with such bravery he was promoted and complimented on the battle field. John Van Bibber was written of by all historians as Captain and family notes say he was made Captain after the Battle of Point Pleasant and Commissary of Fort Randolph. The Van Bibbers continued to defend the border although Isaac, the son of Isaac, fell at Point Pleasant, while Jacob and Mathias Van Bibber died twenty years later. As late as 1843, Captain Jesse Van Bibber was still residing on Thirteen Mile Creek in Mason County, now West Virginia. He with his brother, John Van Bibber were among the earliest settlers of that County. Howe, the Historian, who in writing the History of Virginia in 1836, said "There is living upon Thirteen Mile Creek, Mr. Jesse Van Bibber, and aged pioneer in this county. His life, like his own mountain stream therein, was rough and turbulent at its commencement; but as it nears its close, calm and peaceful, beautifully reflecting the Christian virtues."

SOURCE: The Battle of Point Pleasant: A Battle of the Revolution - October 10th, 1774; p. 58, by Mrs. Livia Nye Simpson-Poffenbarger, The State Gazette, Publisher, Point Pleasant, West Virginia 1909. The Kanawha County Rangers

Jesse Van Bibber, served in the Kanawha County Rangers, under Captain Hugh Caperton. The Rangers served up and down the Kanawha Valley, protecting the settlers, from Indian attacks, in the late 1700s. When Fort Lee was founded, the Rangers were hired as scouts and messengers. A Ranger was the last man to be killed by Indians in the Kanawha Valley. After this service as a Ranger, Jesse Van Bibber, was commissioned as a Captain in the Virginia Militia. He served in the Militia till 1808, when he resigned. He owned a farm at the mouth of Thirteen Mile Creek, in the Union District, of Mason County. He resided on this farm till he and his wife Rachel (Greenlee) Van Bibber had died. Jesse, his wife, and young son, Isaac Van Bibber, were buried in the Van Bibber-Smith Cemetery, on his farm. This cemetery was destroyed in later years.

In Mason County Court Records, there are several entries for Jesse Van Bibber. He served on several Juries for the county. In the Order Book, December 15 1818, application of Jonas Smith, for a road to Jesse Van Bibber's on the Rocky Fork Road of Thirteen Mile Creek, and thence to the public road on the northeast bank of the Great Kanawha (River), near Edward Greenlee. At a Court held October 19, 1819, a petition for a road from the Court House to (Jesse) Van Bibber's Bridge.¹