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England was expanding. The new world to the west beckoned and in the 1620’s John Libby took notice. There is no substantial information available as to how he viewed the politics of his day, the aristocracy, the monarchy or religion. He could read and write and it seemed he had an adventurous nature. In his late 20’s he left his wife and young son to sign on with a fishing merchant. Already there were ships leaving English ports to fish along the coast of what is now the American state of Maine and in 1629 he signed on to one of these vessels.
Within four years he had purchased a small block of land, built a crude dwelling and began the transition from fisherman to farmer. Around 1635 ( according to John himself ) he brought his wife and son to embark on a new life in the new world.
His early years are covered by Charles Libby who in 1882 produced a volume which traces the first seven generations of the Libby family in America. I begin this part of my story by including several tracts from cousin Charles’ colourful document. There are the usual discrepancies as John’s account is sometimes at variance with what Charles found in the records and documents, but it is not significant to the telling of the tale. I am the 11th generation of John Libby. Charles Libby, in his document of 1882 gave an interesting outline of family characteristics as he understood the first six generations. I have known individuals of the last three generations personally and include this section of his observations. I can see characteristics of those I have known personally ( including myself ) that have come down through the generations without too much variance.
He quotes: ‘ Of the people, from the start, the family has retained , to a very remarkable degree, the position which it held when it first emerged from the mists of time. With scarcely any exception, its members have been strikingly devoid of ambition for power, place and wealth. Contented with the enjoyment of present happiness, they have willingly obeyed the instruction, ‘ be not anxious for the morrow ‘ and have been firm believers in the doctrine that sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Avoiding the responsib- ilities rather than seeking the honour of public office, they have been satisfied with the happiness of their own home and with few exceptions each person has only been known in their own locality. Inclining to manual rather than mental labour they have seldom gained more than the rudiments of education. As will be seen, the story of almost every individual is but one of quiet effort to make for himself a home. The daily wants supplied nothing further is desired. It is indeed remarkable that in so numerous a family there is no person of national fame, no one who has figured largely in history and no one who has won renown in letters, nor in the arts.
Yet, as a family, they have been largely respected by their neighbours as men of sterling worth, uprightness and honesty of character. They have generally belonged to that law abiding class which forms the bone and muscle of a nation, content to render the wise efforts of others effective by its hearty support and willing to concede all the glory to the leader. The family numbers its Revolutionary soldiers by scores and many risked their lives for their country in the late war. ( He was referring to the Civil War ( 1861-65 )
They are as a family very devout and have figured more largely in the religious rather than the civil institutions of the communities in which they lived.’
John Libby set the family table. He profited from a rudimentary education as a lad in Cornwalland knew enough to contemplate breaking some moulds of his own. His sons and daughters made their way and the family grew and prospered. The next character I refer to is Doctor Benjamin Libby.
Born in the first year of the Revolutionary War ( 1777 ) his voyage took him from Maine to Boston, to several towns in New England and finally as an immigrant to Compton, Quebec, Canada in 1829
He grew up in a seaside village in Maine. His father ( Benjamin 1735-1805 ) was a coastal trader. For reasons unknown ( probably nefarious ) he was driven away by the British in dramatic fashion. He drifted for several days in his battered boat and finally, probably miraculously, he came ashore some 300 miles from where he started. He settled on a farm surrounded by his Libby kin. I suspect that the British deemed him to be a pirate. The years leading up to the Revolutionary War were fraught with danger and suspicion. Revolution was in the air.
Dr. Benjamin’s ( 1777 - 1858 ) formative years were during the war for independence and its aftermath. His generation were the first Americans. He married in 1802 and the following year he completed his medical studies in Boston. He was both a doctor and a trader. He would have grown up hearing stories of war, piracy and intrigue from his father, his uncles and other townsfolk. The war of 1812-14 gave him his chance. The new United States of America used the war in Europe to take a chance of annexing the colonies of Upper and Lower Canada ( now Ontario and Quebec ). He enlisted as a private soldier, but, when it became known that he was a doctor he was placed on the staff of surgeons. It was a nasty little war fought on difficult terrain and undefined loyalties. Competing and hostile Indian tribes were major players as well.
Dr. Benjamin survived the war and returned to his 400 acre farm in Goshen Gore Vermont where he farmed and practiced medicine. Professional and entreprenurial, I sense that he was a restless soul. I wonder what prompted him to emigrate to Compton, Lower Canada ( Quebec) in 1829. He had fought against these people in this very area only 15 years before. I have drawn a couple of conclusions; he may well have seen enough of war and had a premonition of what was to unfold in the USA. The Civil War broke out thirty years later and shattered the country. A more likely possibility is that the restless doctor was attracted by generous land purchase packages being proffered by the Lower Canada government. I won’t go into the entrails of early Canadian politics, but only to say that growth and buffer zones were set up and deals were to be had. He purchased a sizable block of land in the Compton area where, with two of his sons, he built a substantial homestead and raised his family. I know the farm well having grown up in the next village ( Waterville ) some 3 miles away.
Dr. Benjamin died in 1858. His life was born in revolution and ended a couple of years before the Civil War began. His descendants settled in the area of Lower Canada known as the Cantons de l’est ( Eastern Townships ) What are we to make of this doctor/farmer, war surgeon, entrepreneur, gentleman, immigrant and father of nine children.
Within four years he had purchased a small block of land, built a crude dwelling and began the transition from fisherman to farmer. Around 1635 ( according to John himself ) he brought his wife and son to embark on a new life in the new world.
His early years are covered by Charles Libby who in 1882 produced a volume which traces the first seven generations of the Libby family in America. I begin this part of my story by including several tracts from cousin Charles’ colourful document. There are the usual discrepancies as John’s account is sometimes at variance with what Charles found in the records and documents, but it is not significant to the telling of the tale. I am the 11th generation of John Libby. Charles Libby, in his document of 1882 gave an interesting outline of family characteristics as he understood the first six generations. I have known individuals of the last three generations personally and include this section of his observations. I can see characteristics of those I have known personally ( including myself ) that have come down through the generations without too much variance.
He quotes: ‘ Of the people, from the start, the family has retained , to a very remarkable degree, the position which it held when it first emerged from the mists of time. With scarcely any exception, its members have been strikingly devoid of ambition for power, place and wealth. Contented with the enjoyment of present happiness, they have willingly obeyed the instruction, ‘ be not anxious for the morrow ‘ and have been firm believers in the doctrine that sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Avoiding the responsib- ilities rather than seeking the honour of public office, they have been satisfied with the happiness of their own home and with few exceptions each person has only been known in their own locality. Inclining to manual rather than mental labour they have seldom gained more than the rudiments of education. As will be seen, the story of almost every individual is but one of quiet effort to make for himself a home. The daily wants supplied nothing further is desired. It is indeed remarkable that in so numerous a family there is no person of national fame, no one who has figured largely in history and no one who has won renown in letters, nor in the arts.
Yet, as a family, they have been largely respected by their neighbours as men of sterling worth, uprightness and honesty of character. They have generally belonged to that law abiding class which forms the bone and muscle of a nation, content to render the wise efforts of others effective by its hearty support and willing to concede all the glory to the leader. The family numbers its Revolutionary soldiers by scores and many risked their lives for their country in the late war. ( He was referring to the Civil War ( 1861-65 )
They are as a family very devout and have figured more largely in the religious rather than the civil institutions of the communities in which they lived.’
John Libby set the family table. He profited from a rudimentary education as a lad in Cornwalland knew enough to contemplate breaking some moulds of his own. His sons and daughters made their way and the family grew and prospered. The next character I refer to is Doctor Benjamin Libby.
Born in the first year of the Revolutionary War ( 1777 ) his voyage took him from Maine to Boston, to several towns in New England and finally as an immigrant to Compton, Quebec, Canada in 1829
He grew up in a seaside village in Maine. His father ( Benjamin 1735-1805 ) was a coastal trader. For reasons unknown ( probably nefarious ) he was driven away by the British in dramatic fashion. He drifted for several days in his battered boat and finally, probably miraculously, he came ashore some 300 miles from where he started. He settled on a farm surrounded by his Libby kin. I suspect that the British deemed him to be a pirate. The years leading up to the Revolutionary War were fraught with danger and suspicion. Revolution was in the air.
Dr. Benjamin’s ( 1777 - 1858 ) formative years were during the war for independence and its aftermath. His generation were the first Americans. He married in 1802 and the following year he completed his medical studies in Boston. He was both a doctor and a trader. He would have grown up hearing stories of war, piracy and intrigue from his father, his uncles and other townsfolk. The war of 1812-14 gave him his chance. The new United States of America used the war in Europe to take a chance of annexing the colonies of Upper and Lower Canada ( now Ontario and Quebec ). He enlisted as a private soldier, but, when it became known that he was a doctor he was placed on the staff of surgeons. It was a nasty little war fought on difficult terrain and undefined loyalties. Competing and hostile Indian tribes were major players as well.
Dr. Benjamin survived the war and returned to his 400 acre farm in Goshen Gore Vermont where he farmed and practiced medicine. Professional and entreprenurial, I sense that he was a restless soul. I wonder what prompted him to emigrate to Compton, Lower Canada ( Quebec) in 1829. He had fought against these people in this very area only 15 years before. I have drawn a couple of conclusions; he may well have seen enough of war and had a premonition of what was to unfold in the USA. The Civil War broke out thirty years later and shattered the country. A more likely possibility is that the restless doctor was attracted by generous land purchase packages being proffered by the Lower Canada government. I won’t go into the entrails of early Canadian politics, but only to say that growth and buffer zones were set up and deals were to be had. He purchased a sizable block of land in the Compton area where, with two of his sons, he built a substantial homestead and raised his family. I know the farm well having grown up in the next village ( Waterville ) some 3 miles away.
Dr. Benjamin died in 1858. His life was born in revolution and ended a couple of years before the Civil War began. His descendants settled in the area of Lower Canada known as the Cantons de l’est ( Eastern Townships ) What are we to make of this doctor/farmer, war surgeon, entrepreneur, gentleman, immigrant and father of nine children.
Libby Reunion. 1980. David Robinson Laura Robinson and Sheila Clarke. Compton. Quebec. Canada.
Perhaps we can look briefly at his children. The eldest, Clarissa, died in infancy. His third child, Jefferson, studied medicine, but died before he graduated. Two daughters followed, neither of whom left home. The ninth and last child was my great, great grandfather William Pitt Libby (1816 - 1874 ). The names of his children give us a hint of his thinking. Clarissa, John, Jefferson, Christopher Columbus , Elgiva, Clymenna, Amarilla and William Pitt. Biblical and political names all.
Bertha Lane, my grandmother with my sister Sheila Robinson, born February 15th , 1940. Arvida. Quebec
My grandmother ( Bertha Lane 1891 - 1987) used to regale us with the names of aunts, uncles, cousins and neighbours: Sarah Salome, Axie Armoni, Septimus Lysander and any number of Elishas, Elizas, Dorindas and Phoebes. There was an occasional Benjamin Franklin and George Washington as well. Surnames of Sanders, Hyatt and Lane came into the family and their descendants were people I went to school with in the 1940’s and 50’s.
The descendants of Dr. Benjamin lived in French speaking Lower Canada, however I have no evidence that any French was spoken by members of my family. Most of the English speaking people in the ‘ Townships ‘ were from the United Kingdom ( mainly Scotland ) The Libby's were neither French nor English. They were American. They did, however, melt into the English framework and I don’t recall any members of my maternal family with any French affiliation (language or religion ) Surrounding towns to Waterville like St. Adolphe de Dudswell or St. Herminagille were 100% French. No one spoke English. Waterville was 85% French and both languages were understood if not spoken.My mother summed up the general attitude of the family. I used to ask her why she never responded to French people when greeted with ‘ bonjour ‘. If they want to speak to me they can address me in English. She was born and raised in that town. My father by contrast spoke fluent French and also ‘ jouelle ‘ the Quebec dialect.My grandmother Bertha makes a point of how easy it is to interpret things the way they come down the generations to you. Throughout my childhood she used to say with pride that her great grandfather ( Dr. Benjamin ) was a United Empire Loyalist. An U.E.L was someone who left America before the Revolutionary War as they were and remained loyal to England. Many of those people returned to England or emigrated to Canada where tens of thousands were welcomed. Dr. Benjamin emigrated to Canada some fifty years after the war began. Grandmother Bertha could not be dissuaded and the ‘ folklore ‘ just perpetuated through the generations. Her point of view was shared by many in the ‘ Townships ‘. Page three >> to Robinson link
The descendants of Dr. Benjamin lived in French speaking Lower Canada, however I have no evidence that any French was spoken by members of my family. Most of the English speaking people in the ‘ Townships ‘ were from the United Kingdom ( mainly Scotland ) The Libby's were neither French nor English. They were American. They did, however, melt into the English framework and I don’t recall any members of my maternal family with any French affiliation (language or religion ) Surrounding towns to Waterville like St. Adolphe de Dudswell or St. Herminagille were 100% French. No one spoke English. Waterville was 85% French and both languages were understood if not spoken.My mother summed up the general attitude of the family. I used to ask her why she never responded to French people when greeted with ‘ bonjour ‘. If they want to speak to me they can address me in English. She was born and raised in that town. My father by contrast spoke fluent French and also ‘ jouelle ‘ the Quebec dialect.My grandmother Bertha makes a point of how easy it is to interpret things the way they come down the generations to you. Throughout my childhood she used to say with pride that her great grandfather ( Dr. Benjamin ) was a United Empire Loyalist. An U.E.L was someone who left America before the Revolutionary War as they were and remained loyal to England. Many of those people returned to England or emigrated to Canada where tens of thousands were welcomed. Dr. Benjamin emigrated to Canada some fifty years after the war began. Grandmother Bertha could not be dissuaded and the ‘ folklore ‘ just perpetuated through the generations. Her point of view was shared by many in the ‘ Townships ‘. Page three >> to Robinson link