06 October 2010

Divorce Action in Williams County, Ohio - Gibbens


Andrew Jackson Gibbens v Elizabeth A. Jobes Gibbens (Journal 9 p281 - 23 Nov 1877; Roll 31 case number 283 - Aug 1877)

By Pamela Pattison Lash (updated 2010)

The couple was married on 23 Sept 1867 in Camden, Hillsdale Co, MI (Marriage E p2).  Andrew, b 1844/1846 in Bronson, Branch Co, MI, was the son of Frederick and Ann Ferrier Gibbons. They appeared in the 1860 Florence Twp federal census, p16, as Fred 53 OH, Anna 40 OH, and Andrew 14 OH, along with his siblings.  He was a Civil War soldier, serving in Co D 129th IN Infantry.  Elizabeth, b 1849 OH, was the daughter of John and Permelia Jobes, who appeared in the 1850 Milford Twp, Defiance Co, OH federal census p81, as John Jobes 36 PA miller, Permelia A 34 NJ, Lewis 14 PA, Samuel 12 PA, Robert 10 PA, William 7 OH, and Elizabeth 8M OH.

Andrew, a carpenter, charged Elizabeth with being willfully absent for three or more years.  He sent her a letter on 2 Oct 1877 to Nettle Lake, NW Twp, informing her of his intention to divorce her.  He called as witnesses Charles Jones and John Oberlin. The couple had two children, Francis A (9) and Bertha Jane (4), whom Andrew wanted custody of and did receive such along with the divorce. 

Family lore says Andrew was married eight times with Elizabeth being wife #6.  If this is true, Andrew had to become a bridegroom five times from 1862-1867 before marrying Elizabeth.  While this is not impossible, it seems remarkable considering he also had a hitch in the military as well.  As a resident of Blakeslee, Wms Co, OH, Andrew received a CW pension of $8 per month as of Apr 1872 for the loss of his right index finger.  He married Adella Rachel Taylor on 26 Jan 1879 in Williams Co, OH; Adella was born on 11 Nov 1851 in Columbiana Co, OH, the daughter of James B and Sarah Priscilla Hall Taylor; by the 1870 federal census the Taylor family lived in Newville, DeKalb Co, IN.  The Gibbens were listed in the 1880 Edgerton, St. Joseph Twp, Williams Co, OH federal census p579 as Andrew Gibbens 35 OH-OH-OH carpenter, wife Della 28 OH-OH-PA, dau Bertha 8 MI-OH-OH, nephew Delbert 7 MI-OH-NY, and brother William 30 IN-OH-OH, a carpenter. Andrew and Della has a daughter, Ella T, born Sept 1880. This couple was later divorced by 1884.  Mother and daughter lived in York Twp, Steuben Co, IN according to the 1900 federal census p2B as Della Gibbens 49 OH, married 20 years with one child, and Ella 19 OH.  Note that this would not be true since Andrew and Della were divorced.  Adella died on 23 May 1903.

On 27 Apr 1884 in DeKalb Co, IN Andrew tied the knot with a widow, Mary Jane Baker Hendricks, whose first husband was John W. Baker.  Mary Jane, born Mar 1848 in OH, was the daughter of Samuel and Martha Jane Pritchard Hendricks, and in 1880 lived in Wilmington, DeKalb Co, IN with four children. In the 18 May 1883 issue of the "Montpelier Enterprise", p4, Andrew was mentioned as selling his stock of groceries to RA Leonard in Blakeslee, OH. He moved to Smith Center, Kansas in 1884 and then to Campbell, Franklin Co, Nebraska in 1886, where he died on 29 Nov 1904.  Andrew had three known sons, Vern V. (b 24 Nov 1884, KS), Henry F. (b Mar 1887, KS), and Orla A. (b Sept 1889, NE).  Martha Jane Gibbens applied for a widow’s pension and guardian of a helpless child in 1905 and again as supplement in 1910; she died c1925 in Hastings, Adams Co, NE.

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