Joseph and Elizabeth McKibben(McGibbon) born 1710 County, Down

You don’t say what denomination your family were. However none of the churches in Magheradrool has any records for the 1700s and so it may not matter. There are very few records for Ireland in the 1700s and tracing relatives from that period can be very difficult.

I looked at the 1901 census for Co Down and most of the McGibbon/McKibben families listed there were Presbyterian. That would indicate your ancestors probably originated in Scotland in the 1600s. Joseph born c 1710 may have been born to a family that had not lived in Ireland very long.

I looked in the Muster Rolls for 1630. There were 3 McGibbens listed then. None were in the Magheradrool area but it does indicate that there were a few McGibbon households in the county at that time.

DNA testing may be the only way of linking in to any families in Co Down today.

Sorry, yes they were presbyterian. My research indicates that Joseph McKibben was born about 1700 in Down Co., Ulster Province, Ireland. He died on 28 Oct 1761 in Lurgan Twp, Cumberland Co, Pa. He married Elizabeth Gibson about 1720. Joseph immigrated in 1735/1740 to from Ulster Province, Ireland. Would you recommend a search of Scotland databases, if so which ones as I am unfamiliar with the Scottish Provinces.The McKibbens are of Scotch-Irish heritage and originate from the Scottish clan Graham, specifically the Grahams of Mentieth which were once part of the Grahams of Montrose. The name as it is currently spelled is rare in Scotland. The family settled in the counties of Down and Antrim in the province of Ulster in Ireland and intermarried with the Scottish families there. Also, the name McGibbon was changed to McKibben upon settlement in Pennsylvania in the mid 1740's

Something like 100,000 Scots settled in Ireland in the 1600s, representing roughly 10% of the entire Scottish nation. Some came to Co. Down in the early 1600s as part of the Hamilton & Montgomery settlement. Others stayed behind after General Munro’s 10,000 strong Scots army was disbanded at Carrickfergus in the 1640s and there was also a huge surge in the 1690s due to famine in Scotland. Statistically, your ancestors are likely to have arrived sometime in the 1600s.  So Joseph’s parents might have arrived in Ireland 10 years before his birth, or perhaps they had been there for a couple of generations, but it wouldn’t have been much longer than that.

In the early years of Scots settlement, their Presbyterian Minsters were allowed to use the Church of Ireland churches for their services (after the COI service was finished). Then in the 1630s the Church of Ireland bishops forebad this and most Presbyterian Ministers were driven out of Ireland. By the 1660s things had improved and they started to return, though initially they had no churches, and so held services in barns or peoples houses. They started to build churches but it was often well into the 1700s before some congregations had one. This uncertain situation meant that few Ministers kept any baptism or marriage records for that period. (Presbyterians don’t keep burial records). Consequently there are only a handful of Presbyterian churches in Ireland with records for the late 1600s and early 1700s.

This site mentions a couple of Josephs in Co. Down from the 1700s. Can’t say whether they are your family. It was a common name and I wouldn’t leap to any conclusions.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/%7Erosdavies/SURNAMES/Mc/McGaMcGi.htm

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/%7Erosdavies/SURNAMES/Mc/McKibbin.htm

Regarding searching Scottish records, you face several problems. Firstly, you don’t know Joseph’s parents names; secondly you don’t know where they were born. Were they born in Scotland or was it the generation before that moved from Scotland?; thirdly you aren’t fully certain as to where the family lived in Scotland. Finally, Scotland has very few records for the 1600s too.  Frankly, apart from DNA testing (which has it’s weaknesses) you have probably got back as far as paper records will allow.

The Scotlandspeople site has most of the surviving Church of Scotland (ie Presbyterian) parish records on-line, but not many parishes have records for the 1600s. https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk

Elwyn,

Thank you so much for your input. I greatly appreciate the information. I did log into Scotlandspeople website last night and did find a great amount of Joseph McGibbons, and you are correct, without his parents names the trail leads to nowhere. Most likely I will submit to a DNA test and hope for the best.

Again, Thank you.

Imc1968, curious if you had any luck with your search.  Joseph & Elizabeth are ancestors of mine as well.  

I am also seraching for McGibbon/McKibben. My 2 GGrandmother was Elizabeth McGibbon/McKibben  born about 1813. I am told she was from Killyfaddy Magherafelt but I have some DNA matches with similar spellings from Down. Unfortunately have not receievd a response from them. I know very little about Elizabeth. She immigrated into Canada around 1839. She married Thomas Ditty in 1839 in Toronto, Ontario. They were married by a Presbyterian minister. On the marriage record her name is spelled McKibben and the 2 witnesses were William and Sarah McKibben. Elizabeth and Thomas settled in Mulmur, Simcoe County and their childen were baptised in the Wesleyan Methodist Church there. On many later documents Elizabeth's name is spelled McGibbon. Thomas Ditty was from Londonderry Magherafelt and he was in Canada by 1834 as I have a copy of the land purchase. I have hit a brick wall trying to find anything regarding the roots of these ancestors before they came to Canada. I am wondering if my Elizabeth was a descendant of the Joseph and Elizabeth McGibbon you have been researching.

The 1831 census for Killyfaddy has survived but there’s no McGibben/McKibben family listed in it. There are 2 Ditty households in Killyfaddy and a few more in the general area. One in Killyfaddy was a single man – John who was Presbyterian. Next door was James who lived there with 1 female. Both were “other Protestants” which could be Methodist or secession Presbyterians.

Magherafelt Church of Ireland has records from 1718 onwards (with some gaps). The Methodist  church has baptism records from 1825 but at that period their marriages would still have been in the Church of Ireland. Castledawson Presbyterian has records from 1703 (with gaps) and 1st Magherafelt Presbyterian has records from 1771. A useful feature of the Magherafelt 1st records is that in the period 1820 – 1835 or thereabouts, the Minister kept notes of who was in each family (with names & ages), who had emigrated etc. Those notebooks are in PRONI along with the other church records mentioned. They are not on-line anywhere so far as I am aware. If you are unable to go yourself, you could employ a researcher. Researchers in the PRONI area: http://sgni.net

Thank-you so much. You gave me some ideas to further my search.

Mary

Rosdavies.com has this information:

Joseph McKIBBON junior Magheradrool father of John bpt. 8 Sep 1705 at Ballynahinch Presbyterian Church by Rev William Reid BPCR

My brother is a (somewhat distant) Y-DNA match to a McKibben who has his earliest known ancestor as Joseph McKibben 1710-1761 of County Tyrone.  I'm not sure yet how my brother may connect.  My email provider is hotmail.  My user name is ttapl.

Linda Patterson

Hi everyone,  I believe I'm related to the same McKibben family, who first settled in PA.  My (maternal) branch ended up in Clermont Co., OH and beyond.  Although Irish records are few or nonexistent, it seems my McKibbens were originally from Co. Tyrone, although most McKibbens in Ulster were from Co. Down.  I'd really like to find out one day for sure, since I live in Ireland myself now.  As you all were discussing, DNA testing may be the only way to narrow down the search!  Feel free to message me and perhaps we can put our heads together.

Just an update, after I posted in 2021, is that Joseph Thomas McKibben was born 1710 in Co. Down (maybe Downpatrick) and married Anna Elizabeth Gibson of Belfast, according to latest Ancestry research, IF correct.  They settled in Lurgan, Cumberland Co., Pennsylvania and Joseph died in 1761.  I am a direct descendant of his son, James Westley McKibben (1731-1786).  It would be nice to know more about the family's Ulster-Scots background, but the lack of records remains a problem.  Again, more paternal DNA testing might help!

I am convinced more than ever that my Elizabeth McGibbon/ McKibben is connected to your Joseph.

Since there were no people by that name in Magherafelt where I had been told she was born, I found a record of an Elizabeth McKibben born 1813 in Ballyworfy Down. Her father's name was William.

I have 4 DNA matches in Ancestry that trace back to Joseph born 1710 in Down and married Elizabeth Gibson and immigrated to Pennsylvania. 3 of them next trace through his son John who was born in Down, married Mary Jane Cooper and ended up in Ohio and one who descended through a son, Autrey. I am wondering if he had another son William who remained in Ireland and was the father of Elizabeth.

elizabeth came to Canada I believe in 1839. Her husband Thomas Ditty purchased land in Mulmur Ontario in 1834 but traveled to Toronto to marry Elizabeth. They were married at Knox Presbyterian church by a Rev. James Harris. The reverend was sent from Belfast to start this church and I wonder if he recruited Irish women to come to Canada.