Joseph T Libby's first family

According to The Libby Family in America (volume I), Joseph was married to a woman named Hannah J Lovett and they had two daughters, Ida and Hannah. When Joseph married Sarah in Texas in 1870, he was a widower.

There is a Joseph T Libbey (age 25) and wife Hannah A Libbey (age 21) in the 1850 census living in Frankfort, Maine (the town he was born in and where the rest of his family lived). On the same page are Joseph and Mary Thompson and family, and William Thompson and family. Joseph Thompson was Joseph's maternal grandfather (and Mary was his second wife) and I think William may have been his uncle.

NOTE: Libby has various spellings - Libby, Libbey, Lybby, Libbie. I also do not know if the information in the book is accurate (was it Ida and Hannah or Ida and Fannie? ... was his wife Hannah A or Hannah J. To make things more interesting, often the census records are hard to read, and the census takers mis-spell names, or get initials and/or ages wrong, too).

In the 1870 census, William and family are on the same page as Joseph's twin brother David Libby, along with several families named Clement. Their mother's mother was a Clements.

But back to Joseph's first family... in 1860 there are two Libbey girls, Ida E (age 9) and Fannie F (age 6) living with a John H Sewall and Hannah A Sewall in Foxcroft, Maine (about 50 miles from Frankfort). And John, Hannah and Fannie also appear in the 1870 census LIVING IN MINNEAPOLIS (and very interestingly, on the same page at Sarah and Otis Westcott and daughter Corah!!).

Joseph himself does not reappear in a census until 1880 when he and Sarah are living in Bennington, Iowa, where he is trying his hand at farming ...
Name Age
Joseph Lybby 52
Sarah Lybby 34
Eddy Lybby 5
Lafayette Lybby 2

The 1890 census records were all lost in a fire, and by 1900 Joseph had died, so that is about all I have.

What happened to his first wife Hannah? Was she dead by 1860 when the two girls are living with the Sewalls? Were they somehow related? And what happened to Ida and Fannie? It's so hard to trace women who change their names when they marry!!

Someday I hope to go to Maine and do some research to try to answer some of these questions!

Uncle Bus

Uncle Bus and his quartet.

Gardening (and Music) in the Blood

Allan D Libby (Great-grandpa Libby's brother) came to Minneapolis from Maine in 1858. He was a farmer in Richfield (1860 census).

In 1890 Allan and his two sons Byron J and Lewis B had a business called B J Libby & Co. on the corner of 28th Avenue South and East 31st Street in Minneapolis. They also were grocers with a business at 3001 Minnehaha Avenue.

That same year, in the Minneapolis Directories 1889-1891, we have the following:

Joseph T Libby living at 3103 29th avenue south - occupation "car cleaner".
Edward E Smith living at 3923 24th avenue south - occupation "laborer".
Mrs Sarah Westcott (later G'ma Tomlinson) also living at 3923 24th avenue south.

In one of the censuses Edward Smith (junior, G'ma Tomlinson's half-brother) was listed as a gardener.

Helen told me that one year there was a drought so bad that the florists in Minneapolis had a very hard time getting flowers, and they came to Uncle Jim because he had such wonderful flowers for sale. Allan was Jim's great-uncle. I believe that Grandpa Libby (Edward) was also quite the gardener.

Remember Grandma Lohman's flower beds? They were spectacular (at least in my rememberance they are!).

Grandpa Libby was an excellent singer, Helen says. And Uncle Bus was an entertainer. He was in a men's quartet. Richard's boys (among others) got some of those musical genes!

I'm Pretty Sure...

I think I have the picture figured out.

Left to right, starting with the people standing:

Harry Van Doren (holding Helen, born June 5, 1922)
Gertrude Van Doren
Gustav Lohman
Grace Lohman
James Lyman Libby (Assistant Superintendant, State Fairgrounds)
Grandma (Agnes) Libby
Eva Libby
Grandpa (Edward) Libby
Ruth Lowell Libby
?? Bus's wife Lucette? ***
Bus (Donald) Libby
In front:
Arlene D Libby b ~1923
Muriel Florence Lohman
Priscilla Lois Lohman
Horace Libby (City Agent with steam railroad)
Lois Ruth Libby b ~1921

*** Uncle Bus was married four times. With his first wife he had a son named Robert. Then he married a woman named Lucette, and they lived in California. (In 1930 he was listed in the census as being divorced, age 40 (although he was only 26!) and living in San Fransisco. Occupation - Entertainer, stage and show). His third wife was named Mary, and finally his last wife was Gertrude. He and Gertrude are buried together at Oak Hill Cemetery.

The photo was most likely taken right before Gertrude and Harry moved to Iowa (when Helen was 2), so that would make it 1924 - perhaps in early spring, or maybe in early winter of 1923. Uncle Dick was born in April 1924... does Grace look pregnant?

Name That Relative!!

I believe this is Agnes and Edward Libby, their five children (Horace, Grace, Jim, Gertrude and Bus), their spouses, and some of the grandkids.

Any takers on trying to identify everyone? The approximate date is 1923-1924.

Divorce Papers

I recently got copies of the divorce papers from Sarah "Sadie" and Otis Westcott's divorce in 1884 from Hennepin County. I had originally requested them in August, and it took a while to track down the originals (the microfilm copies were not legible).

Some highlights:

Sadie and Otis H Westcott were married June 1, 1868 or 1869 (the divorce papers say 1868) in Minneapolis. They had four children, Corah May, Horace H, Agnes E and Paul. Paul was born in October 1879 and was 7 months old when the 1880 census was taken in June, 1880. Otis is listed as living with the family in that census. He was an iron moulder.

On June 7, 1881 (I think - it looks like the original date written was 1881 and someone tried to alter it to say 1879, but that makes no sense), Otis, "disregarding his marital vows and obligations, unmindful of his duty and without any excuse or reason therefor from this plaintiff [Sadie], but without her knowledge or consent, wilfully and causelessly deserted and abandoned this plaintiff and has in like manner remained away from plaintiff ever since that time."

Sadie filed for a divorce in November of 1883. The sheriff could not find Otis to serve the papers on him and so a notice was published (as required by law) in the newspaper for six consecutive weeks (The Mississippi Valley Lumberman and Manufacturer weekly paper). Eventually a divorce was granted, and full custody of the four minor children was awarded to Sadie in May of 1884.

So what happened to Otis?

Well, he is listed in several directories:

Los Angeles, California City Directories, 1888-90

Name: Otis H. Wescott
Location 2: 146 Ann
Business Name: Llewellyn Bros.
Occupation: molder
Year: 1888
City: Los Angeles
State: CA

San Francisco, California Directories, 1889-91

Name: Otis H. Wescott
Location 2: r. 1002 1/2 Dolores
Business Name: Fulton Iron Works
Occupation: foreman molder
Year: 1890
City: San Francisco
State: CA

Minneapolis, Minnesota Directories, 1889-91

Name: Otis Wescott
Location 2: b 47th avenue n and Queen avenue
Business Name: Mpls Foundry Co
Occupation: molder
Year: 1890, 1891
City: Minneapolis
State: MN

Incidentally, his son Horace was also listed in the Minneapolis directory:
Minneapolis, Minnesota Directories, 1889-91

Name: Horace H Wescott
Location 2: b 520 Cedar avenue
Occupation: tinner
Year: 1890, 1891
City: Minneapolis
State: MN

NOTE: the last name seems to have been spelled either Wescott or Westcott. It appears as Westcott in the divorce papers, but Wescott in the census records.

Apparently he went to California for a time, but must have returned to Minneapolis (assuming this is the same man - I think it is).

What is really interesting, though, is that I think he is listed in the 1900 census living in Los Angeles with his wife of 3 years, SARAH Westcott and their 2 year old daughter Azalia, who was born in December 1898. His occupation - moulder at an iron works.

In the 1910 census, his wife and daughter are living at 3721 Woodlawn Avenue in Los Angeles. Sadie (as she is now called) has no occupation and is a widow. Azalia is 12. In 1920, they are living at the same address. Sadie is a labeler at a drug company and Azalia is a teacher.

By 1930 Azalia has married a man named Harold Broad. He is a bookbinder and she is a teacher. They are living with Sadie (who incidentally was born in Maine, in 1866... Otis' first wife Sarah "Sadie" was born in Maine, too).

This Sadie died in 1950 and is listed in the California Death Index 1940 - 1997 on-line at Ancestry.com.

So - if this is our man, he was dead by 1910. I have found no record of his death yet. I find it very interesting that he married two women named Sarah, later called Sadie, both born in Maine.

I have not been able to find Otis in any census records for 1860 - unless perhaps he is the son of James and Patience Wescott. They are in the 1860 census living in Janesville, Wisconsin and they had a son named Hosea H who was born in Connecticut at the right time as our Otis. James's occupation is "moulder."

The name Otis H Westcott is almost unique. There are only two other contemporary men with that name, one in Milwaukee and the other in Prescott, Minnesota, and neither of them could be our Otis. That's one of the reasons that I believe the man in the directories and in the 1900 census is the right guy.

I have located some living relatives of Azalia and Harold Broad and I will try to contact them to see if they might know anything. One of them is a 90 year-old nephew of theirs.