Henry Tibbets, of Dover

Disputed origins

Henry Tibbets, of Dover Was not a known son of Nicholas Tibbetts and Mary Salsbury Tibbetts.

Disputed wife

Elizabeth Tibbetts Was not a Kinne or an Austin.

Disputed children

According to Anderson's Great Migration 2:7:38-40 Henry Tibbets, of Dover who arrived on the James in 1635 had only three children: Samuel Tibbetts, No further record], Rebecca Benmore and Jeremiah "Jeremy" Tibbetts, Sr.. Anderson explicitly states that Henry Tibbets, Quaker of Kingstown was not a son.

Surname has also been reported to be the following:

• Tybbott
• Tebut
• Tebets
• Tibit
• Tibits
• Tippit
• Tibbit
• Tibbets
• Tibbet

  ---

Biography

Henry Tibbetts, of ancient Dover, NH, (Dover Neck), the founder in America, of the Tebbetts (Tibbetts) family which forms the subject of this genealogy and the progenitor of the great majority of this surname who are of New England ancestry (whatever the various spellings of the name), was born in England in 1596 and came at the ae of 39 Years in the JAMES, which sailed from London 13 July 1635, accompanied by his wife ELIZABETH, aged 39, and to children Jeremiah ("Jeremy"), aged 4, Samuel aged 2, Rememberance, aged 28 (Henry's sister) (REGISTER, vol. 14, pg. 321). He died in Dover Neck in 1676, at the age of 80 years, having survived his wife Elizabeth several years.

In some sources it appears that Henry had a second wife, Mary, but this is an error. [This statement has been shown to be false.]

The following brief probate record of his will is to be found in the New Hampshire Province Probate Records, Book 5, p. 18, on file in Concord: "1676 June 27 Will of Henry Tibbetts proved by Mrs. Judith Reyner. [She was probably the witness] Allow John Roberts an inventory of the estate. Lb. 207.05.00. Sworn to by John Roberts". By some error the above probate record of the will of Henry Tibbetts, the immigrant, has been omitted from the printed volume, Probate Records of the Province of New Hampshire, vol.1, 1635 - 1717 , State Papers Series.

http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/k/a/h/John-B-Kaherl/GENE...

Henry, his wife Elizabeth, both aged 39, and their two sons, aged 4 and 2, left London on July 13, 1635 on the "James," along with his sister Remembrance, aged 28. They did not come with the first group of Capt. Wiggan's immigrants, but seem to have been part of the same movement. They almost certainly came from the west of England, although several branches of his descendants have the tradition that he came from Manchester. At least one branch preserves the tradition that he came from Wales which is possible. He might have been a relative of the Walter Tibbetts (Tybott) who was born in 1584 and came to America from Monmouthshire in Wales with Rev. Blynman's company. Walter lived successively at Marshfield, Massachusetts (1640), Gloucester (1642), and Salem (where he died in 1651), and left at least three daughters but no sons. There was another Henry Tibbetts, a fisherman who died at Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1683. There was also a Thomas Tibbetts who lived at Wethersfield, Connecticut and was named as a soldier in the Pequot War in 1637.

Henry probably lived first at Boston, although no record survives. He was granted 20 acres (Lot No. 3) by the town of Dover in 1642 on the west side of Back (now Bellamy) River beginning at a point 80 rods above the mouth of the river and extending 40 rods along the river and 80 rods west of the river into the woods. He is known to have been livine on the east side of High Street (now Dover Point Road) at Dover Neck near the schoolhouse. He was a farmer, shoemaker and engaged in lumbering. His property was valued at £87 in 1648, the earliest surviving tax record for Dover. He was taxed each year between 1648 and 1675 as a resident of Dover Neck. In 1645 he testified on behalf of his brother-in-law John Ault in a suit against Capt. Thomas Wiggan, and in 1647 was himself involved in a lawsuit. By 1652 he was living on Low Street near the spring which came to be called Pinkham Spring, a few rods west of what became the Pinkham garrison. In 1653 he was admitted as a Freeman at Dover. He served as Constable in 1653 and 1663 and was surveyor of fences. In 1656 he was granted 100 acres between St. Alban's Cove and Quamphegan, which he transferred to his son Jeremiah Tibbetts and his son-law Thomas Nock in 1659. This land remained in the Tibbetts family for many generations. He sold land in 1657 and in 1659 brought a suit against Charles Allen for using his lands. A Henry Tibbets was fined for being a Quaker in 1659, but this is believed to refer to the Henry, perhaps son of this Henry, who settled in Rhode Island the following year. Henry took the oath of office as "sealer of leather" for the town in 1661, an oath he could not have taken had he been a Quaker. In 1665 he supported the jurisdiction of Massachusetts over Dover, and on 10 October 1665 signed a petition to that effect. He was a member of the first parish church at Dover and paid taxes for support of the minister in 1658, 1662, 1666, and other years.

His will was probated on 27 June 1676 and his estate was valued at £207.05.00 (although ommitted from the printed volume of New Hampshire probate records, the original record is indeed extant). He is presumed to have died shortly before at the age of 80 years. In 1677 "widow Tibitt and her son Jeremiah" were taxed in his place. Because no copy of his will survives his only proven children are the sons Jeremiah and Samuel who was named in the immigration record and his daughter Rebecca whose husband was named in a deed.

Henry & Elizabeth came to the United States from England on ship "James" in 1638

GEDCOM Note

OCCU Farmer, shoemaker, engaged in lumbering _UID 7317DED42A3F4CAB899514EDB8A81ACB0064 DATE 27 MAR 2013

Dean Richard Hobart wrote: "This profile's parents are unknown. The most probable person is Robert Tebbat, who christened a son Henricus Tebbat in Moulton, Northamptonshire on 25 Nov 1594 and a daughter Remembrance on 23 Jan 1603 at the same place.. but no other associations have been found to place Henry, or his wife Elizabeth, to a specific location in England."