Hibrus, George

George Hivers (c.1729-1807)

aka George Hivers, George Hivus, George Hybus

Fitzwilliam, NH

Fitzwilliam’s town history retells the story of “Old Hivers” whose ragged clothes and fox-skin muff were stolen by a local student, John Miles, in school district 11.  "John Miles appeared in "Old Hiver's*" ragged clothes" and "John walked with the teacher to dinner, with his fox-skin muff for a hat." 

The first primary source document associated with George Hibrus, aka George Hybrus, is his marriage record.  On December 10, 1763, George Hybrus of Acton, MA, married Derara “Sarah” Williams of Littleton, MA.  They had a daughter, Durah, two years later on April 30, 1765 in Littleton.  

Details about Hibrus’ life in Massachusetts are difficult to ascertain.  Documentation on Revolutionary War soldiers indicates that a man named George Hibrus of Lancaster, MA, served in the American Revolution.  The soldier, George Hibrus, aka Hibrush,  answered the  initial alarm on April 15, 1775 and served 11 days at Cambridge under Captain Daniel Robbins Co, Col. Asa Whitcomb’s regiment.  Hibrus later enlisted as a private on September 3, 1777, serving in Captain William Greenleaf’s Company.  He was discharged on October 20, 1777.  More research needs to be completed to verify whether or not this is the same Hibrus who moved to New Hampshire.  

During the 1780s, a man named George Hibrus appears as a customer for a tavern account book from Sterling, MA, now held in the archives of Michigan State University.  If it can be verified that this is the same person, one can assume that George Hibrus moved into New Hampshire in the 1780s-1790s.  His wife and child were not with him.

George Hibrus died  in Fitzwilliam, NH, at the age of 78 on December 21, 1807 and is buried in the Village Cemetery in town.  When he died, Benjamin Eddy was made executor of his estate by Judge Abel Parker.  An inventory was taken of his personal and real estate (worth about $85), which was all sold to cover his debts and funeral expenses.  In the end, $1 and change remained.  Eddy recommended that the money be sent to the husband of an heir of Hibrus’s who lived out of state, Lyman Leonard.

SOURCE MATERIALS

Find-a-Grave, New Hampshire, Fitzwilliam, Village Cemetery- Findagrave.com

Keene Sentinel. "George Hybrus.” February 13, 1808, p.4.- https://keene.advantage-preservation.com/

Massachusetts Birth Records, 1765- Ancestry.com

Massachusetts Marriage Records, 1763- Ancestry.com

New Hampshire Wills and Probate, Cheshire County, Fitzwilliam, 1807

Whittemore, B.B. History of the Town of Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, 1752-1887, p.271- Archives.org

GENEALOGICAL SUMMARY

GEORGE HIBRUS was born around 1729.  He married in Littleton, MA, on December 10, 1763 to DURAH “SARAH” WILLIAMS. They had Durah Hibrus on April 30, 1765 in Littleton, MA. George Hibrus died in Fitzwilliam, NH, in 1807 at the age of 78.