Many settlers in the Shenandoah Valley were Germans from Pennsylvania called the "Shenandoah Deitsch."
Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman, 1774 – 1845) was a pioneer nurseryman who introduced apple trees to large parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and West Virginia.
In 1607 the London Company established Virginia as the first permanent New World English colony.
Adam Kibler was born about 1764 in Luray, Shenandoah County which is now Page County, Virginia. He was the son of Henry and Mary Kibler.
He married Barbara Pence. Barbara was born about 1770 in Virginia.
Adam Kibler mentioned above, was the first Kibler of the county. More than a hundred years ago he settled at the Kemp place, where his old log home is still standing. He had at least six sons. Several of them settled in Illinois where the name of Kibler is frequently met and where annual reunions are held. Adam and his wife, both natives of Germany, had grown children when they came to this country. (sic) Adam's brother who emigrated to America at the same time lived in Page a short period and settled permanently in Pennsylvania, where the family still holds to the original spelling of Keebler.
As far as our informant can remember Adam's sons were Jacob and John who settled in Illinois, Martin who owned the present Pendleton Fox place near Kimball, and Theobald who probably located in Illinois. There were two other sons whose names are not recalled. (The Newton Press quoting a Page County Newspaper, May 3, 1927)
Adam and Barbara's children included:
Henry Kibler (1785),
Jacob Kibler (1787),
John Kibler (1789),
Martin Luther Kibler (1791),
Adam Kibler (1793, married Elizabeth Branon),
George Kibler (1796, married Eva Strole and Mary Summers),
Mary Kibler Monroe (1800, married Lewis Monroe),
Theobard Kibler (1896), and
Susannah Kibler (1807).
On June 9, 1800 Adam received a tract of land for one dollar from his father’s other heirs.
He died in 1815 in Virginia. After he died, Barbara moved to Illinois were she died in 1853.
Barbara Kibler, wife of the original Adam Kibler, is buried near Mrs. Hickey's home in Jasper County, Illinois. After her husband's death she lived with one of her sons in Illinois where she died. (The Newton Press quoting a Page County Newspaper, May 3, 1927)
It might be interesting to know that Barbara Kibler, the ancestor of nearly 2,000 descendants, lies buried in a little family cemetery on the north slope of a hill near where her home was, two miles northwest of Rose Hill. She has a small monument over her grave, which is alongside her son Theobald and his wife. These three stones and two others constitute the entire cemetery. Solomon Kibler, a son of Theobald, recently improved the appearance of this cemetery by surrounding it with a new woven wire fence and placing at the entrance a neat iron gate. He has also kept it free of weeds and it is at the present time in extra good condition. (The Newton Weekly Press,
September 11, 1923)
In 1831 Page County, Virginia was
created from
Rockingham
and
Shenandoah
Counties. Originally it was part of Frederick County.
The Henry Kibler Homestead
photo taken about 1926
a few miles east of Luray, Virginia
American pioneers migrated west to settle areas not previously inhabited by European Americans.
Illinois became a state in 1818. A large influx of American settlers came in the 1810s by the Ohio River.
The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America and was ratified in 1789.
Barbara Pence Kibler's Tombstone
from Newton Press, December 16, 1875
Kibler, Geo. - an old and respected citizen of this county, died at his residence, ten or twelve miles north-west of Newton, on Tuesday of the present week, of consumption. Mr. K. had been in delicate health for a number of months.
