Patriot-Vanbibber

Isaac Van Bibber DAR patriot ancestor to Susan Bowman and Patricia Ziegler

Isaac Van Bibber was the son of Peter Van Bibber I born 1695 in Philadelphia, PA and Anna ? born 1696 in Pennsylvania. Isaac was born 02 Feb 1725 in Cecil County, MD. He married Sarah Davis about 1764. She was born abt. 1740 in North Carolina and they had seven children. In the West Virginia Historical Magazine, July 1903, there is an article written by Mrs. Miriam Donley regarding Isaac. She wrote, “Isaac had come from the Carolinas on a visit to his brother in Botetourt 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”. The Van Bibber family settled in Greenbrier were members of the militia and obviously willing to fight for the new land.

Isaac and Sarah Van Bibber had a son, Peter Van Bibber, who was born 1757 in Virginia and died 1816 in Claiborne, Tennessee. Peter Van Bibber married his first cousin, Eleanor Van Bibber, in 1785 in Greenbrier, Virginia. After the death of her husband, Isaac Van Bibber, at the Battle of Point Pleasant Sarah Davis Van Bibber married William Griffy in 1776 in Greenbrier, West Virginia.

The Battle of Point Pleasant holds great significance for the Van Bebber/Van Bibber family. At the junction of the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers also known by the Wyandotte Indian phrase "tu-endie-wie," or "the point between two waters" stands a monument which commemorates the frontiersmen who fought and died at the Battle of Point Pleasant in a bloody, day-long battle on October 10, 1774. Colonel Andrew Lewis' 1,100 Virginia militiamen defeated a like number of Indians led by the Shawnee Chief Cornstalk. It was the first conflict waged by the American Colonists in defense of the Colonies, where they met in battle the allies of the English and the great federated Indian tribes, commanded by Chief Cornstalk. It was also the deadliest battle ever waged by red men since the discovery of America. It was incited by Dunmore, the Tory Governor of Virginia, and his trusted lieutenants. It is also known as Dunmore’s War. At times Cornstalk and his braves held the upper hand, but eventually the firepower of the backwoodsmen proved superior on the then heavily forested battlefield. At the end, 230 Indians were killed or wounded and more than 50 Virginians had lost their lives. Among them, was Isaac Van Bibber. He was an Old Side Baptist minister who had answered the call to arms and served in the Southern Division of General Andrew Lewis, under the command of Colonel Charles Lewis. Isaac died on October 11, 1774 from wounds he received on October 10, 1774. He was buried beside Colonel Charles Lewis, and later moved, along with others that were killed in the battle to a nearby resting place. This information was in Lyman Draper's manuscripts (Vol. 5 The Boone Papers, Letter of the Van Bibbers). It was quoted on p. 102 of History of Greenbrier County West Virginia by Otis Rice, published in 1986.

The Point Pleasant Battlefield Monument was erected on October 10, 1909 as a tribute to this battle fought in 1774. Point Pleasant is located in west central West Virginia. The park's centerpiece is an 84-foot granite obelisk that honors the Virginia militiamen who gave their lives during the battle, while the statue of a frontiersman stands at the base. Isaac Van Bibber’s name is inscribed on the base. In 1908, the US Congress recognized that Point Pleasant was a battle of the American Revolution.