The Sibert Family of South Carolina and Alabama

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REVEREND JOHN DAVID SIBERT (say 1755 – 1820/30)

The Reverend Sibert's precise name is unknown. He is referred to as David Sibert—the name he gave his eldest son—in a history of the Lutheran church in South Carolina. [1] He is probably the John Sybert who appears in the 1820 census in Abbeville. Luther J. Beeson, who wrote a genealogy of his family, refers to him as "John David." [2]

In 1762, 22,000 acres on Hard Labor Creek in present-day Greenwood and McCormick Counties in South Carolina were laid out as a buffer between the Cherokee Indians and low-country plantations. The land was granted to 56 households, and by the autumn of 1765, there were about 250 settlers, mostly German Palatine immigrants. The colonial government ordered a log house to be built for the colonists, and it appears that as early as 1769, the congregation of the St. George Lutheran Church was organized there. It petitioned the Commissioners of Trade and Plantations for a Lutheran minister. It is unknown what the result of this request was; perhaps it was not immediately granted, and the congregation was forced to rely on clergymen from other denominations. After the Revolutionary War, the church functioned as a Lutheran church, with the Reverend David Sibert as its pastor. [1][3][4]

Map: Hard Labor Creek

Beeson claims that the Reverend John David Sibert came to America not long before the Revolutionary War, married a Miss Wilmore of Virginia, and bought a farm on Hard Labor Creek in Abbeville District, now in McCormick County. At some point, he became the minister of St. George’s Lutheran church. [2]

John Cook of Jasper Co., Miss. stated that when he was a small boy he heard the Reverend Sibert preach in [St George's] church, and that his German accent was so strong that he could hardly understand him. Harmon Gable who lived to be over one hundred years old, told his son who is now living in this locality that he had often heard the Reverend Sibert preach, clad in long hose and knee breeches with silver buckles at the knees. [2]

It is unknown how long John David remained with the St. George Lutheran Church, but he left before 4 January 1788, when the church was incorporated with a different pastor. Apparently, John David and some of the congregation had converted to Methodism and moved down the road to form the Tranquil Methodist Church in Troy, built about one mile northwest of the St. George’s Church on the Troy-Edgefield road. [1][2]

It might seem implausible that John David was first a Lutheran minister and then a Methodist minister, but we have corroboration from G. D. Bernheim. [5]

St. George's Lutheran Church on Hard Labor Creek was also visited by Rev. R. J. Miller in his missionary tour in 1811, and the following is his report concerning this church: "Sunday, November 10th. I preached in a German meeting-house on Hard Labor Creek, where my appointments were to commence; here was a formerly Lutheran congregation, but no remains of it are found; here the Methodists and Baptists have pulled each other out of the pulpit. Every person seemed attentive; here is the full proof of the necessity of missionary preaching. The former Lutheran minister became a Methodist."

According to John David’s son David, John David was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. Probably, he was a soldier in the local militia; his son David recounts how, on one occasion, he was forced to hide from the British in a hollow log until he was almost famished. [2]

Little else is known about John David. It seems likely that he received his theological training in Germany and was sent to America to minister to the German colonists. As Beeson asserts, he may have arrived in America before the Revolutionary War. Fighting continued in the South Carolina backcountry through 1781, and he had surely arrived by then, as his son said he was a soldier.

Almost nothing is known about John’s wife. There is no evidence of her name other than Beeson’s assertion that she was Miss Wilmore. The 1870 census entry for John’s son David says that both his parents were of foreign birth. However, the head of the household did not always provide the information in the census, and it might not be reliable.

Beeson claims that John had nine children: John H., who died in Lincoln County, Georgia on 19 March 1860, leaving his considerable estate to the children of his brother Frederick and his sister Susan Crooks; David, born in October 1793; George, born in 1798; Frederick; Rosa, who married a man named Galloway and moved to Alabama; Rachel, who married a man named Lee and died at an advanced age in Alabama; Leah, the twin of Rachel, who died young; and Susan who married a man named Crooks. [2] Beeson, however, is confused. John David Sibert of Abbeville had two sons. One was David, who referred to John David as his father. The other was George, with whom John David and his wife are said to have lived after David moved to Alabama. John David is probably the father of Rosa, Rachel, and Leah, who are not named in John H.'s will.

Abbeville County was created within the Ninety-Six District in 1785. In 1800 Abbeville County was renamed Abbeville District, and in 1868 it again became Abbeville County. In 1897 it lost parts to the newly formed Greenwood County. It lost more parts to Greenwood in 1898 and the newly formed McCormick County in 1916. Probate records exist back to 1772, but most other records were lost in fires in 1872 and 1873. The old map at the top is from 1886; the modern Google map depicts Hard Labor Creek and its surroundings.

John David appears as John Sybert, aged over 45, in the 1820 census. He lived in Abbeville in a household with four other people: a male aged 16 to 25 and three females, one over 45, one aged 16 to 25, and one aged ten to 15. These may have been his wife, George, and two daughters, perhaps Rosa and Rachel. David Sybert, no doubt his son, is listed immediately after him, as seen in the snippet below. David is described as between 16 and 18 years old. The age is probably an error, as David was 26 then. He was living with two free white females aged 16 to 25. As he was then unmarried, it is unclear who the young women were. Perhaps they were housekeepers or relatives. Also seen in the census snippet are Philip Cook, possibly David's brother-in-law, and Harmon Gable, who said he heard the Reverend Sibert preach. [6]

John David's birth date is unknown. If he was born in, say, 1755, then he would have been 26 at the end of the war, 38 when David was born, and 43 when George was born. A much later birth date seems inconsistent with being a minister at the end of the war and possibly having arrived in Hard Labor Creek some years before the end of the war. A much earlier birth date is possible, but it would make him an unusually old father. Beeson says that John David and his wife were alive and living with their son George when David Sibert married on 29 November 1820 and then left for Alabama. [1] They were probably dead by 1830 as they are not found living with George in the 1830 census.

To summarize, John David Sibert was born say 1755. He probably died between 1820 and 1830, probably in Abbeville County. He is said to have married a Miss Wilmore. She probably died between 1820 and 1830, probably in Abbeville County.

An earlier southern census entry is of interest. The 1790 federal census has a John Sybert living in a household consisting of one free white male 16 and over, two free white males under 16, and two free white females in Orangeburg, South Carolina. [6] It is unlikely that this is John David, but it might be John Sybert of Georgia or some other John Sybert, related or unrelated.

Children of John David Sibert and Unknown Wilmore (order uncertain):

I. David Sibert was born in October 1793, probably in the Ninety-Six District. He died on 11 July 1873 near Keener Alabama. He married Elizabeth Cook.

II. George Sibert was born in 1798, probably in the Ninety-Six District. He died on 15 July 1865 in Abbeville County. He married Adeline Lasseter.

III. Rosa Sibert (probably) married Unknown Galloway. She moved to Alabama.

IV. Rachel Sibert (twin) (probably) lived to an advanced age and died in Alabama. She married Unknown Lee.

V. Leah Sibert (twin) (probably) died young.

11 September 1959 letter from H. P. Sibert to "Ray".

John Sybert of Lincoln County Georgia

It is useful to consider the source of Beeson’s confusion concerning John David’s children. When John David was living in Abbeville, another John Sybert lived across the Savannah River in Lincoln County, Georgia. This John was probably the John Sebert who was a Revolutionary Soldier from Georgia. [7] He had 200 acres in Captain Sybert’s district in Lincoln, Georgia, and was taxed there between 1799 and 1806. He owned 450 acres in Captain Glay’s district in Lincoln and was taxed there in 1818. [8] He appears in the 1820 census in Lincoln. [6]

John was probably the father of John Sibert, who married Peggy Wellmaker on 21 February 1828 in Wilkes County, Georgia. [9] This younger John is undoubtedly the John H. Sybert who lived in Lincoln in 1830 and 1840. [6] In 1850 John H. Sybert, born about 1798 in Georgia, was living in Lincoln with his wife Margaret, born about 1808 in Georgia. [6] In 1855, John had 425 acres and 13 slaves in Lincoln and was referred to as the executor of the estate of Thomas N. Jones, deceased, the agent for Henry J. Crook and Job Wellmaker, and the administrator of the estate of William Nichols. [8] John wrote his will on 18 March 1860, and it was probated on 2 April 1860. He left his estate to his wife Margaret and the children of his brother Frederick Sybert and his sister Susan Crook. He called two of Susan’s children, Lucinda Jones and Mary Ann Nichols. He named Eli Wellmaker and Henry Crooks his executors; Henry Crooks was appointed administrator. [10]

Frederick E. Sybert, born about 1802 in Georgia, was a farmer who died of pneumonia in Morgan County, Alabama in 1850. [11] He married Rebecca Wade on 22 January 1821 in Upton County, Georgia. [12] He died intestate, but his estate papers name various children. [13] This family can be summarized as:

JOHN SYBERT of Lincoln County, Georgia died after 1820.

Children of John Sybert (order uncertain):

i. John H. Sybert was born about 1798 in Georgia. He died between 18 March and 2 April 1860. He married Margaret (Peggy) Wellmaker on 21 February 1828 in Upton County, Georgia. She was born about 1808 in Georgia.

One of John and Peggy's slaves gave an interesting account of her life with the Sybert's in Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves (Washinton, D.C.:Library of Congress, 1941). Available online: search for Arrie Binns.

ii. Susan Sybert married Unknown — perhaps Henry J. — Crooks. She died before 18 March 1860.

iii. Frederick E. Sybert was born about 1802 in Georgia. He died in 1850 in Morgan County, Alabama. He married Rebecca Wade on 22 January 1821 in Warren County, Georgia.

Endnotes

1. South Carolina Synod of the Lutheran Church in America, A History of the Lutheran Church in South Carolina (Columbia, SC: R.L. Bryan Co., 1971), 802–3.

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

3. "Londonborough Township," South Carolina Public Radio (https://www.knowitall.org/audio/londonborough-township-south-carolina-public-radio : accessed 8 March 2024).

4. J.D. Lewis, "A History of Londonborough Township," Carolana (https://www.carolana.com/SC/Towns/Londonborough_Township_SC.html : accessed 8 March 2024).

5. G.D. Bernheim, History of the German Settlements and the Lutheran Church in North and South Carolina (Philadelphia: Lutheran Book Store, 1872), 364–5.

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

1790 > South Carolina > Orangeburg > Not Stated, image 19, right-hand page, entry for John Sybert.
1820 > South Carolina > Abbeville, image 45, entry for John Sybert.
1820 > Georgia > Lincoln > Not Stated, image 8, lower page, entry for John Sybert.
1830 > Georgia > Lincoln > District 185, image 3, entry for John H. Sybert.
1840 > Georgia > Lincoln > Not Stated, image 19, entry for John Sybert.
1850 > Georgia > Lincoln > District 52, image 24, lines 8–9, entry for John H. Sybert.

7. "Roster of Revolutionary Soldiers in Georgia Vol. I," database with images, Ancestry, (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/49320), image 268, entry for John Sebert.

8. "Georgia, Property Tax Digests, 1793–1892," database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1729, 2011) > Lincoln > 1799–1806, image 3; 1818, image 26; 1855, image 12.

9. "Georgia, U.S., Marriage Records From Select Counties, 1828–1978," database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/4766) > Wilkes > Marriages, 1806–1834, image 270, marriage license and certificate.

10. "Georgia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1742–1992," database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8635) > Lincoln > Wills, Vol. B-E, 1796–1877, image 546; Letters Testamentary, 1853–1952, image 52.

11. "U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedules, 1850–1880," database with images Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8756) > 1850 > Alabama > Morgan, image 3, line 25.

12. "Georgia Marriages, 1699-–1944," database, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7839), entry for Frederick Sibert.

13. "Alabama, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1753–1999," database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8799) > Morgan > Loose Estate Files, Swoope Lee - Thompson James W, 1820-1915, images 262 and following.

Old map created 1886, in William and Alexander Keith Johnston, Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th edition, volume 22, facing page 286. In the public domain.

08-Mar-2024 1:24 PM