576 



HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



and Anna (Collopp) Hohmann. Their chil- 

 dren were four in number : Bertha L., born 

 January 29, 1883 ; Anna, born June 10, 1S34, 

 died same month, the 13th ; Joseph Got- 

 frey, born January 6, 1888; and Jennie 

 Thompson, born September 27, 1891, died 

 July 14, 1892. The family attend the 

 Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Schaffer 

 is a Republican in politics. 



SPENCER BUCKMAN HIBBS. One 

 of the largest real estate owners in Bucks 

 county is Spencer Buckman Hibbs, of 

 Hulmeville borough. He was born near 

 Hulmeville, in Middletown township, Bucks 

 county, Pennsylvania, April 16, 1843, a son 

 of James Guyon Hibbs, and Martha (Cox) 

 Hibbs, his wife. 



William Hibbs, great-great-grandfather 

 of the subject of this sketch, was an early 

 settler in Byberry. By his marriage with 

 Elizabeth Johnson, daughter of John and 

 ^Margaret Johnson, he had three children 

 Jacob, Jonathan and Phebe. Jacob married 

 Elizabeth de Guyon, of French descent, in 

 1761. Jonathan married Sarah de Guyon, a 

 sister of Elizabeth, and Phebe married 

 Joseph Smith of Wrightstown, and later 

 George Kinsey, of Buckingham. John 

 Johnson was a son of "Jan Clauson, par 

 Cooper," a Hollander, who settled on the 

 Neshaminy, in Bristol township, in 1678, on 

 a tract of land patented to him by Edmund 

 Andross, captain-general of New York, and 

 confirmed by patent from William Penn in 

 1684. He left six children, all of whom 

 took the name of Johnson. John Johnson 

 purchased of his brothers and sisters 520 

 acres, patented to his father on the 

 Neshaminy, and at his death in 1721 devised 

 it to his seven children, his wife Margaret 

 to have the use of it for life. She died in 

 1751, and two years later the land was parti- 

 tioned between Benjamin Brittin, who had 

 married Mary Johnson, a granddaughter of 

 John and Margaret, and Elizabeth Kelly, 

 widow, the mother of Jacob, Jonathan and 

 Phebe Hibbs. Mrs. Kelly conveyed the 

 ninety-six acres, her share of her grand- 

 father's estate, to her son Jacob Hibbs. 

 Jacob Hibbs died in Bristol township in 

 1773. leaving a widow and children \ 

 Jemima, who married Michael Ring; 

 Jacob; Keziah, who rnarried William Stack- 

 house; John G. ; Stephen and Samuel. 



John Guyon Hibbs, grandfather of the 

 subject of this sketch, was a mason by trade, 

 and later a farmer, and became a consider- 

 able land owner in Middletown and Bristol 

 townships. He married Mary Searle, a 

 descendant of Arthur Searle, an early 

 settler in Bensalem township. The children 

 of John G., and Mary (Searle) Hibbs, were; 

 Walter M., Mahlon G., Charlotte, John G., 

 James G., Mary, Samuel, Jacob, Joseph G. 

 and Daniel B. Hibbs. John G. Hibbs died 

 in 1832, and his widow several years later. 



James Guyon Hibbs, father of the subject 

 of this sketch, was a practical and success- 



ful l)usiness man, and of more than prdinary 

 intellectual ability. In early life he learned 

 the trade of a mason, and followed it for a 

 few years. Having received a good educa- 

 tion he abandoned his trade and taught 

 school at Milford (now Hulmeville) for 

 seventeen years, and in other schools in 

 Middletown township for eight years. He 

 was elected prothonotary of Bucks county 

 on the Democratic ticket in 1844, and 

 served three years with eminent ability. He 

 was for one year proprietor of the Hulm.e- 

 ville Hotel, and lived one year in Newport- 

 ville. The last thirty years of life were 

 spent on his farm in Middletown township. 

 He was a successful business man and left 

 his family in affluent circumstances. He 

 married Martha, daughter of Jacob and 

 Hannah Cox, who died December 25, 1890. 

 James G. Hibbs died December 17, 1882. 

 James G. and Martha (Cox) Hibbs were 

 the parents of two children, James Guyon, 

 born January 31, 1838, died August "17, 1902, 

 unmarried, and Spencer B. 



Spencer B. Hibbs, the subject of this 

 sketch, spent his boyhood days on his 

 father's farm. He was educated at the 

 public schools, at Millersville State Normal 

 School, the Tennent School at Hartsville, 

 and at Rev. Samuel Aaron's Seminary at 

 Mt. Holly, New Jersey. After finishing his 

 education he was employed in a grist mill 

 for two years, and then filled the position of 

 baggagemaster for the Camden & Amboy 

 Railroad for six years, and was also assis- 

 ant superintendent at the Kensington Rail- 

 road yard. In 1870 he came back to the old 

 farm and worked for the family, and later 

 followed butchering for a few years. Mr. 

 Hibbs is a Presbyterian in religion, and in 

 politics is a Democrat. He has always 

 taken an active interest in the success of his 

 party, but has never held other than local 

 offices. At the death of his brother he be- 

 came the owner of much additional prop- 

 erty, and owns fourteen farms in Bucks 

 county, one in New Jersey, a fine grist mill, 

 two hotels, and twenty-five dwelling houses. 



Mr. Hibbs was married on July 24. 1869, 

 to Catharine Hawk, of Morrisville. by 

 whom he had four children ; Henry Chap- 

 man, born May 24, 1870; Olive- Martha, 

 born June 13, 1876; James Carl, born 

 December 6, 1881 ; and Arthur Chapman, 

 born November 26, 1884. These children 

 have all been well educated. Henry C. 

 attended Rider's Business College at 

 Trenton, New Jersey ; James C. and Arthur 

 C. attended Pierce's Business College of 

 Philadelphia, and Arthur C. also attended 

 the Drexel Institute, Philadelphia. All 

 three are now in the employ of their father, 

 Henry C. as bookkeeper, and James C. and 

 Arthur C. as engineers. Henry C. mar- 

 ried June 13 1900, Viola, daughter of 

 Samuel A. and Maria (Stackhouse) Rich- 

 ardson, a descendant of two of the oldest 

 families in Middletown. They are the 

 parents of one child, Olive Lenora. born 

 November 20, 1901. Olive Martha Hibbs 

 was educated at the public schools and the 



