Moses H. Van Bibber is a well known agriculturist of Huntsville township, Reno county, Kansas and the success which he has achieved is the merited reward of his own labor. He has worked his way steadily upward, overcoming all the difficulties and obstacles in his path by determined purpose, and to-day he is recognized as one of the most substantial citizens of the community, his labors having brought to him a handsome competence.

Mr. Van Bibber was born in Nicholas county, West Virginia. in the 7th of February, 1828, of which county his father, David C.R. Van Bibber, was also a native. The latter held the rank of captain in the militia. The grandfather of our subject, Mathias Van Bibber, was the first white male child born in a fort in Greenbrier county, West Virginia, and he held the rank of captain in the militia, while his father, John Van Bibber, served as a colonel therein.

About 1824 David C.R. Van Bibber, the father of our subject, wedded Jane Williams, who was born in Greenbrier county, West Virginia, December 12, 1804, and they became the parents of ten children, seven sons and three daughters, and eight of the number still survive. The mother passed away in Nicholas county, West Virginia, in 1872, and in 1889, from that county, her husband joined her in the spirit world, dying at the age of ninety years, his birth having occurred on the 16th of November, 1799.

Moses H. VanBibber, whose name introduces this review, enjoyed but limited educational advantages during his youth, but since putting aside his text books he has largely added to his knowledge by observation, reading and study, and has thus become a well informed man. In early life he learned surveying by himself, and for a number of years followed that occupation in his native state. On the 11th of May, 1874, he left his home in the south and with a team of horses and a covered wagon made the journey to the Sunflower state, arriving in Walnut township, Reno county, in the following June, and was at that time almost without means, He secured eighty acres of land, to which he afterward added another eighty-acre tract, but in 1884, he sold that place for fourteen hundred dollars and purchased the farm which he now owns. It then consisted of one hundred acres of railroad land, and the purchase price was five hundred and ninety dollars. The principal crop which he raises is corn and wheat, annually harvesting about two thousand bushels of corn, and during the year of 1901 his wheat crop yielded a return of two thousand one hundred and sixty bushels. His beautiful orchard an shade trees were planted by his own hands, and the many substantial and valuable improvements here seen stand as monuments to his thrift and ability.

In the Old Dominion, on the 14th of September, 1858, Mr. VanBibber was united in marriage to Joanna Pierson, a native of that commonwealth, and they had a family of four children, namely: David, who resides in Peoria, Illinois, and has two children: Franklin, who makes his home in West Virginia; Margaret Jane, wife of Henry Jones, of Peabody, Kansas, and they have five children; and Lizzie McClintosh, who died leaving one daughter. For his second wife Mr. Van Bibber chose Virginia Ann Holt, who was born in Charleston, West Virginia, and was married September 14, 1867, and by this union there were also four children: John, who is married and resides in Oklahoma; Ulysses Simpson Grant, who makes his home in Huntsville township, and has one daughter, and one son; Minnie, wife of O.C. Andel, by whom she has two daughters, and they reside with her parents; and Fred, at home. The mother of this family died on the 27th of October, 1892, at the age of forty-nine years. On questions of national importance Mr. Van Bibber casts his ballot in favor of Republican principles, but at local elections he votes for the men whom he regards as best qualified for public office. He has ever been a loyal and public spirited citizen, and during the Civil war he served for two years as a corporal in the state service. He is also a worthy member and active worker in the Missionary Baptist church. As a citizen he is progressive and loyal, as a business man straightforward and honorable, and as a friend he is faithful and consistent.

A Biographical History of Central Kansas, Vol. 1, 1902. Pages # 234 & 235.

MOSES H. VAN BIBBER