Tibbits Family.

The Tibbits Family figured prominently in the social, ecconomic, and political affairs of Troy and Rensselaer County, New York, for four successive generations from the 1780's to 1940's. George Tibbits (1763-1849) the first to become prominent, began his lifetime endeavors in 1784 as a proprietor of a general store in Lansingburgh, New York. In 1796, the business was moved to Troy where greater profits were realized. In addition, he began to speculate in land at that time, acquiring and conveying lots in such diverse places as Hoosick Patent, McCormick's Patent, and Scriba's Patent. Soon after the turn of the century, he retired from mercantile affairs to become actively involved in politics and government. The first major office he held was as member of the New York State Assembly in 1800. Two years later he was elected to the United States house of Representatives. He served only one term in which he was most noted for his advocacy of tarifs and other protectionist measures in behalf of American agriculture and industry. He was a member of the New York State Senate, 1815-1816, where he contributed to the enactment of legislation that authorized construction of the Erie Canal. In 1824, he was appointed along with Stephen Allen and Samuel Hopkins to a special state commission that resulted in a favorable report on conditions at Auburn Prison, and oversaw the construction of the Sing Sing Prison.

Finally, he concluded his political career as Mayor of Troy from 1830 to 1836. There he gained a reputation as fighter in behalf of the city's economic interest. For example, he vehemently opposed, without success, the movement of the eastern terminus of the Erie Canal from Troy to Albany, but was successful in preventing the construction of a bridge over the Hudson River at Albany claiming it would prevent navigation to Troy. Another major accomplishment as mayor was the provision of a public water supply made available through the construction of a dam to create a reservoir in the Piscawan Creek basin.

George Tibbits married Sarah Noyes (1767-1846) in 1789, who bore him five children. The eldest was George Mortimer Tibbits (1796-1878), who also prospered in business and real estate. He was also interested in stock raising, having imported prize breeds of dairy cattle and sheep to graze on land around the family's summer residence in the town of Hoosick, New York. Unlike his father, George M. Tibbits was not actively involved in politics but he did nonetheless provide substantial support to his son William's efforts to organize a militia regiment to fight on behalf of the Union cause during the Civil War. He also traveled abroad in 1866 along with other family members to attend the Internation Exposition at Paris where he represented the Walter A. Wood Company. After the fair concluded, they remained for several months touring most of Europe and the Holy Land before returning to the United States in 1867. He was married to Sarah Bleeker (1803-1883), a member of a prominant Albany family. She was the niece of Blandina Bleeker Dudley, the wife of U.S. Senator Charles Edward Dudley.

In the third generation there was George Tibbits (1825-1875), a graduate of the Poughkeepsie Collegiate School, and part owner of the Sampson and Tibbits Platform Scale Company; C.E. Dudley Tibbits (1834-1924) one time president of the Walter A. Wood Mowing and Reaping Company; and William B. Tibbits (1837-1880) a breveted major general of the Civil War. The last of the line included Sarah B. Tibbits (1866-1947), who reigned as a kind of grand dame of Troy Society for many years; and John Knox Tibbits (1870-?) a graduate of St. Pauls School (Concord, NH) and Yale College, was an Episcopalian clergyman. They were the offspring of C.E. Dudley Tibbits and Mary Elizabeth Knox (1842-1875), who were married in 1865.

Mary Elizabeth Knox was the daughter of John LeGrand (1803-1879( and Elizabeth Sigourney Knox (1813-1885), who were also residents of Troy, New York. John LeGrand Knox, originally from Norwalk, Connecticut, removed to Troy in 1820 where he became engaged in the dry goods business, and at different times he was associated with Frances Morgan, John H. Whitlock, and Gould Reynolds. In addition, John LeGrand Knox was also an agent for underwriters of fire and real property insurance. Other offspring of John LeGrand and Elizabeth Sigourney Knox included: Charles Sigourney Knox (1843-1920), a graduate of Columbia College and profesor of latin at St. Pauls School, Concord, N.H.; and James Carter Knox, who had also served on the faculty at St. Pauls School as professor of English and music. Their mother, Elizabeth Sigourney Knox was the daughter of Charles (1778-1854) and Jane Carter Sigourney (1787-1818), residents of Hartford, Connecticut. Charles Sigourney was a hardware merchant and one of the founders of Trinity College in Hartford. Shortly after the death of his first wife, he married Lydia Huntley (1791-1861) a popular prose and poetry writer of the first half of the nineteenth century.