The Sibert Family of South Carolina and Alabama

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I-J WILLIAM JOSHUA SIBERT, son of David Sibert² (John David¹)

William Joshua Sibert was born on 17 October 1833 in Gadsden, Etowah County, Alabama. [1] William, the son of David and Elizabeth (Cook) Sibert, died of bronchitis associated with malaria on 29 July 1909, aged 76, in Gadsden. [2] He and his wife are buried together in the Forrest Cemetery in Gadsden. [3] He married Marietta Ward on 28 September 1856 in DeKalb County. [4]

William was appointed postmaster in Porterville, DeKalb County on 29 October 1857. [5]

According to the census, in 1860 William, aged 26, and Marietta, aged 19, lived in DeKalb country with their apparent daughter Charlesy, age one, and Marietta's apparent mother, Elizabeth Ward, aged 44 and born in South Carolina. William was a farmer with real estate worth 3,000 dollars and a personal estate of 2,767 dollars. He owned one slave: a 14-year-old girl. [6] His farm had 100 acres of improved land. He had six horses, two milch cows, two working oxen, three other cattle, 16 sheep, and 40 swine. He grew wheat, corn, oats, cotton, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. He produced wool, butter, and honey. [7]

William enlisted in Company I of the Tenth Regiment of the Alabama Volunteers when it was organized on 4 June 1861 in Montgomery and was elected second lieutenant. He was promoted to first lieutenant on 2 September 1861 but resigned because of ill health on 1 October 1861. On 10 May 1862, William enlisted from Gadsden as a private in Captain Moragnes's Company of Alabama Volunteers. The company was subsequently known as Company G, 48th Alabama Infantry. He fought with the 48th Infantry in the Confederate victories at Cedar Mountain on 9 August 1862 and Second Manasses on 30 August 1862. He was severely wounded at Manasses and appears, as a sergeant in Company G, on a 24 September 1862 morning report of the Alabama Hospital in Richmond, suffering from vulnus sclopetarium: a gunshot wound. He was furloughed for 40 days. William was listed as absent on detached service after 24 June 1863; his injury made him unfit for duty in the infantry. On about 20 October 1864, as a private, he was employed as a wagonmaster with the 48th Infantry near Richmond. [8][9]

"[William] and a few of his companions did not surrender at Appomattox, but concluded that since they were mounted they would make a run for it across country to Alabama. The General [William Luther Sibert] tells of the horse that his father rode back from the scene of the surrender. The tip of one ear had been shot off and one eye was out." [9]

After the Civil War, William farmed for two years, but the wound he suffered during the war caused him to give up farming. He came to Gadsden in 1867 and was in the hotel business until 1879. He then turned to the mercantile business. His first business was called Barrett and Sibert; his next was Sibert and Ward. He was also a partner in Sibert and Blair, wholesale and retail hardward dealers. [10]

According to the census, in 1870, William, aged 36, and Marrietta ("Mary E."), aged 28, lived in Etowah County with Elizabeth Ward, aged 55, and their children Charlsey, aged ten; Luther, aged eight; Sam H., aged five; and Martin D., aged three. William was a hotel keeper and the three oldest children attended school. [6]

In 1880 William, aged 46, and Marietta, aged 37, lived in Gadsden with their children Luther, aged 19; Samuel, aged 16; Martin, aged 13; Fannie, aged seven; and "Oldwin," aged one. William was a hotel keeper and the four oldest children attended school. [6]

In 1900 William J., born in October 1833, and Marietta W., born in November 1844, lived in Gadsden with their children Frances, born in March 1873, and Olin W., born in December 1872, and a servant. William was a merchant. Marietta had had ten children and five were living. They had been married for 43 years. Olin was a salesman. [6]

Photo of gravestone by Maria Gilliland

Obituary

More photos

Children of William Joshua Sibert and Marietta Ward:

I-J-1. Charlsie E. Sibert was born on 15 April 1859 in DeKalb county. She died in August 1915 in Gadsden. She married first William W. Wright. She married second A. John Blair.

I-J-2. Major General William Luther Sibert was born on 12 October 1860 in Gadsden. He died on 16 October 1935 in Bowling Green, Warren County, Kentucky. He married first Mary Margaret Cummings. He married second Juliette Roberts. He married third Evelyn Clyne Bairnsfather.

I-J-3. Samuel Houston Sibert was born on 15 April 1864 in Gadsden. He died on 12 February 1936 in Gadsden. He married Emma L. Penney.

I-J-4. Martin David Sibert was born on 26 February 1867 in Gadsden. [1] He died of an aneurysm on 27 October 1896 in Fort Payne, DeKalb County. [11]

Willard is buried with four of his younger siblings in the Forrest Cemetery in Gadsden. The inscription on their gravestone says: [3]

Martin graduated from the University of Alabama and Lehigh University. [1]

Martin was a lawyer and editor in Gadsden. He was unmarried. [1] He was commissioned justice of the peace in Gadsden on 17 October 1892 and 11 November 1895. [12]

Martin was an elector on the Bryan and Sewall ticket. He was "an ardent free silver Democrat." [11]

Photo of Martin David Sibert

I-J-5. George Sibert was born on 9 May 1869 in Gadsden. [1] He died of measles in April 1870. [13]

I-J-6. Teri Sibert was born on 15
April 1871 in Gadsden. [1] He (she?) died in 1875. [1]

I-J-7. Frances Bessie ("Fannie") Sibert was born on 5 March 1873 in Gadsden. She was run over by a train on or shortly before 7 February 1911 in Oxford, Ohio. [14] She is buried in the Forrest Cemetery. [3]

In 1894, Frances was a student at the Washington Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia. [15]

In 1910 Frances was living as a boarder with Christina Hicks, the daugher of her cousin Fadeva Sibert, and Christina's husband Walter. [6]

Photo: Frances Elizabeth Sibert

I-J-8. John Ward Sibert was born on 20 March 1877 in Gadsden. [1] He died in 1887.

I-J-9. Olin Ward Sibert was born on 23 December 1878 in Gadsden. He died on 27 February 1941. He married Emily Walker.

I-J-10. Willard J. Sibert was born on 24 October 1882 in Gadsden. [1] He died in 1883. [1]

Photo of William Joshua Sibert and his family

Family Christmas about 1905

Back row standing (left to right): Emma Penney Sibert (wife of Samuel Houston Sibert) Samuel Houston Sibert Olin Ward Sibert Emily Walker Sibert (wife of Olin Ward Sibert) Mary Cummings Sibert (wife of William Luther Sibert

Middle row seated (left to right): Charlsie Sibert Blair William Joshua Sibert Marrieta Ward (wife of William Joshua Sibert) William Luther Sibert

Bottom Row seated on floor (left to right): Eugene Sibert (son of Samuel Houston Sibert) Bess Blair (daughter of Charlsie Sibert Blair) Mason Sibert (son of Charles Houston Sibert)

Endnotes:

1. J. Luther Beeson, The Sibert Family of South Carolina and Alabama (n.p.: the author, 1928).

2. Death certificate for William J. Sibert, certified copy, Alabama Center for Health Statistes, Alabama Department of Public Health, Montgomery, Alabama, no. 101-09-13327.

3. "Find a Grave," database with images, FindaGrave (accessed March 15, 2024), memorial pages for

4. "Alabama, U.S., Marriage Index, 1800–1969," database, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7838), entry for William J. Sibert.

5. "U.S., Appointments of U. S. Postmasters, 1832–1971," database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1932) > AL > Dallas-Marengo, image 40, entry for William J. Sibert.

6. "U.S. Federal Census Collection," database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/categories/usfedcen).

7. "U.S., Selected Federal Census Non-Population Schedules, 1850–1860," database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1276) > AL > Agriculture > 1860 > DeKalb > District 3, images 13–14, line 25, entry for Wm. J. Sibert.

8. "Civil War Service Records (CMSR) - Confederate - Alabama," database with images, Fold3 (www.fold3.com), entries for William J. Sibert, Co. I, Tenth Alabama Infantry and Co. G 48th Alabama Infantry.

9. Edward B. Clark, William L. Sibert: The Army Engineer (Philadelphia: Dorrance & Co., 1930), 19–20.

10. Northern Alabama: Historical and Biographical (Birmingham: Smith and Deland, 1888), 369–370.

11. "Death of an Elector," The Fort Payne Journal, Fort Payne, AL, 28 October 1896, p. 1.

12. "Alabama Civil Appointments, 1818–1939," database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/60923) > M881666, images 4404–5.

13. "U.S., Federal Mortality Schedules, 1850–1885," database with images, Ancestry
(https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8756)> 1870 > AL > Etowah, image 4, entry for George Sibert.

14. "Miss Sibert Said to Have Been Killed in Ohio City," Huntsville Times, 10 February 1911, p. 8. "Miss Sibert Killed," Troy Messenger, Troy, Alabama, 15 February 1911.

15. Journal-Tribune, Gadsden, AL, 27 April 1894, 1.

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© A. Buiter 2014

15-Mar-2024 5:01 PM