The Lybbert's

The Lybbert's can be traced back to Hartig Luebbert. I don't know who his wife was, where he was born, where he lived or where he died but his son was Luloff Luebbert and I don't know where he was born either but he was married in Paetow, Mecklenburg, Schwerin, Germany to Trien Greth on November 17, 1712. He was buried in Paetow on October 25, 1757. Trien was born in Todden, Mecklenburg, Schwerin, Germany Jan 6, 1696. From this couple their descendent's are as follows:

Christian Juergen Luloff Luebbert christened November 17, 1721
married Sophie Margret Wichen christened November 24, 1732
on January 16, 1756
Heinrich Detlev Luebbert, christened August 28, 1760
married Catharin Elisabeth Wolter christened July 26, 1767
on November 2, 1783
Joachim Friedrich Lybbert b. November 15, 1793
married Margarethe Elizabeth Wilhelmina Evart b. October 20, 1802

These guys were all born in Paetow but I don't know when or where Joachim was married and I don't know why Joachim decided to change the spelling of his name. My guess is that someone had real bad handwriting and they mistook the "u" for a "y". I think I like the "y" better than the "u". Who wants to by called Luebbert, Lybbert has much more class. Joachim and Margaret moved to Denmark with Elizabeth's family shortly after their wedding.

Christian Frederick Bernhard Lybbert was born in Flade, Horns, Hjorring, Denmark on November 6, 1834. I was actually named after him. My first name "Frederick" is after Christian Frederick Bernhard Lybbert and my second name "Arlen' is after my dad. Christian had a good education (for the time) in the Danish schools and religion was taught in the schools. When the Mormon missionaries showed up he was anxious to learn more. He prayed to know if what they were teaching was truth and the spirit bore witness to him that it was. He was baptized on March 28, 1854 by Jacob Julander.

Christian was trained as a blacksmith and excelled at his trade. He started his training when he was twelve years old. He had to pay for his training his first year and all he did was blow the bellows. His second year he also built the fires and received free room and board. His third year he made $12 a month and he disassembled broken parts and reassembled them. His fourth year he worked the fire but only made nails. By the end of his fourth year he could take on his own work. He worked for a year building anchors for ships and another year as a locksmith and then he was a full fledged blacksmith.

Christian was only five foot nine and weighed a mere 171 pounds but he was one of the strongest people you could ever meet. Shortly after his baptism, Christian was called on a mission to Randers, Denmark. One day they had a meeting planned and since the meeting was well advertised a mob gathered outside the meeting place swearing this was one meeting that wasn't going to happen. The story is told how Christian stood at the top of the stairs and threw off the attackers as fast as they came at him. Finally the mob had to quit and take care of their wounded. After that their meetings were no longer interrupted. Christian was released from his mission in 1857 and was almost immediately conscripted into the Danish army. Service was compulsory.

Christian was given a hard time by many of the soldiers he served with but his officers loved him. They always allowed him to attend his meetings and they loved having him on their sports teams. They had a wrestling match against the Kings guard who were all over six feet tall but the leaders simply said, "they may have their six footers but we have a little blacksmith". Christian beat them all and then started taking them on two at a time. Even two at a time he beat most of them. He was an excellent runner, high jumper and marksman with either a hand gun or a rifle. He could do forty chin ups in a row.

On June 15, 1862 Christian married Marie Andersen in Copenhagen and in 1865 they emigrated to Utah. In Florence, Nebraska they tried to join a company of pioneers but they were told they didn't have room. Christian vowed, "I'll make a handcart and go to Utah and we'll beat your oxen there." Being a blacksmith and all he found a shop and together with another fellow they started on their own carts. As it turned out the company that had at first turned them down ended up needing another teamster so they invited Christian to join them. The problem was that they said they only had room for one. Christian told them that he would only go if his new friend could go as well. They were glad he came because they were constantly using him to shoe the oxen and to repair the wagons. I didn't know that oxen wore shoes. You learn something new every day.

One time when Christian was watering the cattle he saw Indians on the top of the hill. He sounded the alarm and when the Indians saw they had lost the element of surprise, they attacked. The attack stampeded the cattle and when the cattle turned and ran they picked up a man and carried him safely into camp on their horns, heads and backs. They got the cattle into the coral and by this time the Indians had shot a few of the men. Christian pulled out his "pepperbox" and started shooting. Even though the gun eventually quit working the Indians still left him alone. The Indians finally moved on and the men began extracting the arrows out of their bodies.

In Utah Christian quickly gained a reputation as being the best blacksmith around. Christian's first wife, Marie, was a midwife and delivered nearly a thousand babies and never lost a mother. On March 10, 1866 Christian married Antoinette Marie Olsen. Antoinette was born in Christiana (now called Oslo), Norway on January 16, 1866. They lived in North Ogden. In 1870 they moved to Levan, Juab County. In 1882 Christian planted a small piece of native land south of Levan. Christian also had two Sorghum mills that made the best molasses in the area. In the fall of 1883 the family packed up and moved to a place called Ashley Valley which was apparently where Vernal is today. At the time they made the move Marie weighed well over three hundred pounds. They referred to her as "fleshy".

In April 1891 Christian was called to Holland on a mission. He was set apart by President Joseph F. Smith. I think it is pretty cool that if were still alive today we could talk to each other in Dutch. He returned from his mission in June 1894. It had been a successful mission.

In their old age Christian and Antoinette retired in Logan and did temple work until they died. Christian died of dropsy (what ever that is) on March 25, 1923 at the age of 89. One story I have to tell is of Christian when he was 81 years old. He lived in Canada for a few years and while there he challenged a cocky fourteen year old boy to a foot race. The kid's name was Rulon Leavitt. Those Leavitt's are just trouble makers aren't they? Christian beat the kid. I'll bet that humbled that Leavitt boy. Can you imagine being beaten by an 81 year old man?

OK, I wasn't going to tell this story but as I read it again I just have to. Christian was famous for having a very good temper and never ever swore except for one phrase that he only used on special occasions when he had to vent his frustrations. The swear word that he used was "sonofabitch". I can only imagine that a black smith may have more occasion to release frustrations than many occupations but Christian kept his frustrations well in check. Christian had a dog named Bose. He loved the dog and even though it really wasn't good for much he had him for years. There were problems in the area with dogs killing sheep so the ranchers put out the word that they were going to poison the sheep carcases. Christian was so sure that his dog would never associate with such low class company that it never entered his mind to keep his dog in at night. Christian headed for his mission about this time and at that same time his well behaved dog crossed over to the dark side and hung out with some bad company one night. The dog ate the poison and was so sick that he barely made it home in the morning before he kicked the bucket. The worst part of the story is that most of the sheep that had been killed belonged to the bishop.

Being a member of the family it was only proper to give Bose a proper funeral. The epitaph on the grave read as follows:

Bose
Son of a bitch

Your race is run, your day is done,
we lay you here to sleep;
Its all because you run out nights
and killed the Bishops sheep.

It's really sad, we must write Dad
about your sudden ending;
you got in bad--the Bishop's mad
to your hunting ground he's sending

The children born to Christian Frederick Bernhard Lybbert were:

Enoch Christian Lybbert b. November 26, 1867; North Ogden
Waldemar Christian Lybbert b. October 21, 1869; Spring City
Emma Bernhardine Wilhelmine Lybbert b. August 8, 1871; Levan
Emma Theresa Lybbert b. April 11, 1873; Levan
Rachel Christine Lybbert b. July 27, 1875; Levan
Mary Sophia Elizabeth Lybbert b. September 25, 1877; Levan
Daniel Evart Lybbert b. October 26, 1879; Levan
Charles Joachim Lybbert b. October 19, 1881; Levan
John Isaac Lybbert b. March 6, 1884; Vernal
Jocob Norman Lybbert b. April 24, 1886; Naples
Esther Lybbert b. February 2, 1890; Naples

There were two children born to Marie Anderson:

Lauritz Christian Lybbert; b. December 11, 1853; Kyndbye Denmark
died December 17, 1853
Liberty Ephraim Lybbert b. September 4, 1862 Copenhagen, Denmark
died May 30 1865 on the ship coming to America

Christian Frederick Bernhard Lybbert's second wife, Antoinette Marie Olsen, was born in Christiana, Norway (now called Oslo) on January 16, 1845. Her parents were Christian and Christine Olsen. Antoinette grew up being called Nettie and she was a very bright child. She learned to read by the age of five and she excelled in school. Her father was a stone mason but unfortunately he tended to drink much of his income and this forced Nettie to go to work at the age of ten. Even though religion was never discussed in the Olsen home Nettie was a very religious child and thought of God often. She attended a Lutheran school and one day the teacher warned the students that Mormon missionaries were in town and that they should keep away from them. This of course made Nettie want to know more about what they taught. She soon joined the church but once her co-workers found out that she had joined the church they turned against her but Nettie promptly quit her job and found another job that she held until she was twenty years old. Even at the young age of ten she started work at six in the morning and worked until nine at night. She worked in a textile factory and became a proficient worker. She claimed that by the time she had turned twenty she had woven enough fabric that it would stretch from Norway to Salt Lake City. Nettie's parents eventually joined the church as well and they all wanted to emigrate to America. They couldn't all go so Nettie decided she couldn't wait and she headed out on her own. She had no idea what she was in for but her father bought her a new trunk and she loaded up some underwear and a spare dress and off she went. She only had one pair of shoes. She crossed the North Sea and then the Atlantic and finally she took a train from Boston to Florence, Nebraska. From there she walked to Utah. Her shoes lasted about three hundred miles and from there she was going in her stocking feet. I can't imagine that her socks lasted too long but that is what she said. I guess she mended them frequently. Another woman in the group had a spare pair for shoes that she wasn't using so Nettie tried to trade her dress for the shoes but nope, the other woman wasn't about to give up her spare pair of shoes. Nettie said that the sand wasn't so bad but oh how she hated the cactus patches.

Her food ration for the day was a pint of flour with the occasional strip of bacon thrown in. They were supposed to have more food but the captain had loaded too much merchandise in his wagon that he wanted to sell and so there wasn't room for the necessary amount of food. She didn't have a blanket but slept at nights with her newly mended stockings for a pillow and a shawl for a blanket. Nettie avoided the frequent funerals they had along the way but one day she was walking with a friend doing her best to have a conversation since she didn't speak any English when suddenly the cattle stampeded. They ran right over her friend killing her instantly. She did attend that funeral. Another time a woman was lagging behind the main group when an Indian rode out of the bushes, roped the woman, loaded her onto his horse and rode off with her. The womans husband ran after her but another Indian shot a couple of arrows into his legs and that slowed him down. The woman was never heard from again. I'll bet there weren't too many stragglers after that.

Nettie arrived into Salt Lake Valley on November 8, 1865 on foot and alone. She went to bed that night without any supper. The next morning she was given a cup full of gruel and it wasn't too long before they learned that she was a weaver. She got a job operating a hand loom which was nothing compared to the machine operated looms she was used to but she quickly became very proficient. She worked for a Mr. Bonelius who also taught her how to card and spin wool. I'd really like to learn how to card and spin wool. That might be useful some day. Mr Bonelius's factory was in North Ogden and we all remember who lived in North Ogden. On March 10, 1866, Nettie became the second wife of Christian Frederick Bernard Lybbert and the rest is history.

The second child of Christian and Nettie was Waldemar Christian Lybbert. He attended school up to fourth grade but he claims his education was on the farm. Waldemar worked many different jobs and ventures with his father but they failed quite miserably. His Dad gave him a new shot gun for his tenth birthday and he accidentally fired the gun while he was looking down the barrel. The gun misfired and he credits the Lord for sparing his life. I would too. Another time he accidentally shot his dog. I'm not so sure this guy should have had a gun.

One day after the family had moved to Ashley Valley, Waldemar was hauling a load of grain to Ouray. He stopped at Green River and made up camp. The ice in the river was too thick to break through so he melted snow in a bucket for him and the horses. After supper he made a shelter out of some bags of grain and wrapped himself up in a quilt and went to sleep. During the night he awoke to a loud roaring sound coming down the river. Suddenly a terribly strong and cold wind hit him and pierced through the blanket as if it wasn't there. No matter what he did he just got colder and colder. Finally the thought came to him that he should rebuke the wind in the name of the Savior. He stood up and did just that and within moments the wind stopped and he could hear the loud roaring sound fade into the distance.

He went back to bed and slept until sunrise. He got up, the horses and continued on into Ouray. At Ouray the merchant was all worried about him because of how horrible the storm was the previous night. He said it had been blowing a hurricane all night and the temperature was -14. When he returned home his mother had the same concern about how horrible the wind had been and it had been -12 all night long. She had been very worried about him. Waldemar talks about how this experience changed his life and how he would never forget it. It is what cemented his believe in God and a life after death. He closed his story with these words.

Let these lines go on down the stream of time, and be a testimony to all our vast families. Ever affirming to the truthfulness of the above incident, the Lord being my helper.

Waldemar C. Lybbert

You can see that with a statement like that I had to include it in my short history.

Waldemar was dating a girl named Adaline Hunting when he received his mission call on April 24, 1889 and on May 9, 1889 he left Ashley Valley for Salt Lake City. He had several good experiences on his mission but perhaps the most significant thing as far as I'm concerned is best described in his own words.

I received my release April 30, 1890. I left the Darnell home May 26. In this family there were twin girls, Dora and Nora, age 14, who were very attractive. The smaller of the two, Dora, was delicate of features with clear white skin. She was prayerful, patient, dutiful and very susceptible to the Gospel. The virtues and graces seemed harmoniously blended in her personality.

Can you see where this is going? Waldemar returned home to Adaline Hunter who had waited for him but they mutually agreed that things weren't the same and they broke off their engagement. Reflecting back on that incident Waldemar said, "I did not know at the time that there was a taint of insanity running in that line."

In 1981 Waldemar was shearing sheep and made his way into Wyoming. On his way home he stopped in Ogden to visit the Darnell family that had since moved there. During his visit Dora promised to write him. They were married November 10, 1892 in the Logan Temple. They were blessed with eleven children.

Waldemar Darnell b. November 1, 1893
Ella Dora b. October 26, 1895
Susan Antoinette b. November 19, 1897
Charles Lester b. June 5, 1901
Flora Alice b. July 18, 1903

Lloyd Enoch b. February 26, 1906
Hortense Florence b. April 14, 1908
Van Neldon b. June 22, 1910
Rae Earnest b. November 3, 1912
Lily Mae b. April 13, 1915
Daniel Harden b. August 15, 1917

An interesting story about Dora and her twin sister Nora is that they were born premature. Nora was born healthy but Dora weighed less than a pound and struggled for some time. For the first year of her life her bathtub was a quart bowl and she wore doll clothes. When she was four years old her dress was sixteen inches long and dragged on the ground. She eventually caught up with her sister and was healthy her entire life.

Little "Wally" was killed in an accident when he was only ten years old. He was putting up hay with his father when the horse reared up backwards and fell on him killing him instantly. It was almost unbearable on Waldemar and Dora but with the comfort of the Holy Spirit they were able to carry on. Tragedy struck again on March 4, 1907 when Flora died after being sick with spinal meningitis for six days. Lester was also sick and it was another ten days before he was out of the woods.

Waldemar served a second mission in 1897 - 1898 to Millward and Dryfork counties. He also served four more short term missions later on in his life.

Waldemar joined up with a partner Albert Goodrich and decided to build a saw mill. Albert was a carpenter and Waldemar had some experience with steam engines but otherwise they had no experience. They built their mill and sawed their first log on December 1, 1905 without a hitch.

Waldemar and Dora moved to Alberta in 1912. They left Vernal March 9, 1912 and arrived in Brant, Alberta April 1, 1912. Later E. J. Wood told them that they were needed in the south so they packed up again and moved to Glenwood where they made their home. Waldemar became a citizen in 1915 and was sworn in as constable the same year. He served in that capacity until 1937 making $6.00 a year.

There was a tribute written to Waldemar by one of his nephews. No one knows for sure which nephew wrote it. It is short and rather than try and summarize it I'll just copy it directly.


During the early days in Vernal, it seems that outlaws frequently visited this little out of the way town. Infamous fellows like Butch Cassidy, Harry Tracy, Matt Warner, Mid Nichols; Mark Braffett, Jack Egan, C. L. "Gunplay" Maxwell and dozens of others who made their living by robbing banks, rustling horses and stealing cattle all the way from the "Hole-In-the-Wall" hideout in the Wind River Country of Wyoming to Brown's Hole and Robbers Roost near Price, Utah.

Browns Hole was right in the corner of the three states, and in those early days, reciprocity had not been established between the states so these law breakers would pull off the robbery in one state, then ride over into another one until things cooled down somewhat. It was certainly a head ache for the law enforcement officers of the day.

As these outlaws became more brazen, posses were often called together from the surrounding towns to help bring these pirates of the range to bay. Both Uncle Waldemar and Uncle Enoch and John Bascom often served as members of these posses and had some hair-raising experiences.

Uncle Wall had a unique gift of being able to pretty well read the character of a man, and he felt that young Dave Lant was just a boy who needed a friend, so he tried to make an honest man of him -- he taught him to shear sheep and other useful jobs, but Dave had had a taste of the easier way of life, so he took to his crooked trails once more and wound up killing Willie Strang and a killer like Harry Tracy, and was often referred to by law officials as the gentleman outlaw", so Uncle Wall's belief in him was partially justified.

Lant and Tracy "smoked up a Chinaman" and robbed him in his own store near Fort Duchesne, then hid in a cellar at the Atwood ranch. When the posse arrived which included Uncle wall and Uncle John Bascom, Mrs. Atwood was knitting quietly in her rocker which was placed over the cellar's trap door. She denied having seen the outlaws. Later, after Tracy was caught and jailed, he told Uncle Wall that he had a bead on his neck, and if anyone had started toward that rocker, he, Uncle Wall, would have been a dead man. Tracy said he was watching through a crack in the floor.

Uncle Waldemar had other harrowing experiences as a law officer in Glenwood. He was also the dentist, doctor, psychiatrist, Bishop, and marriage counselor in that little village for many years besides putting in a full day as the village blacksmith.

Uncle Wall used to say, "There isn't such a thing as a dishonest man." And he included Indians in this broad statement. Most merchants were loathed to grant credit to the members of the Blood Indian Reserve, but Uncle did, and claimed just before he died that he'd never found a deadbeat on the entire reserve. "Sometimes," he said, "it takes me two or three years to get my money but some time they always come in and pay me."

One thing for sure, the Indians had a friend in Uncle Waldemar. When this great man passed on, the meeting house in Glenwood wouldn't begin to hold all the people who came to pay their last respects.

The Blood Indian Reservation emptied itself that day of every member who could possibly travel to help their beloved village blacksmith start his journey through the "Vally-Of-Greater-Shadows." As the casket was carried to the waiting hearse, tears ran down the rawhide-colored cheeks of every Indian there, unashamedly, as they stood in awkward silence on the church lawn, and thus was culminated the earth life of one of the greatest men I ever knew.

The fourth child born to Waldemar and Dora Lybbert was Charles Lester Lybbert. Lester was born June 5, 1901 in Vernal, Utah. His family lived in Naples which was four or five miles south of Vernal. He attended four years of school and then in the spring of 1912 he moved with his family from Ashley Valley to Canada. They drove the cattle to Murray where they took a train the rest of the way arriving in Lethbridge on April 1, 1912. They moved first to Brant, Alberta but in the spring of 1913 they moved to Glenwood, Alberta. Lester went as far as sixth grade in Glenwood but then was forced to assist with the farming. Lester married Delvia Reed on December 22, 1921. Delvia was born in Leavitt on January 11, 1904. Their first home was a tent that they paid $39 for.

On September 12, 1933 Lester and his family met with several other families and moved to the Cold Lake area. They arrived at Beaver Crossing October 12, 1933. They stayed in Cold Lake until 1937. By this time Thomas was at the age where he should go into High School but no High Schools were available in the area. They made the decision to move back to Glenwood. They arrived in Glenwood in July 1937. Lester was called on a six month mission in 1945. Several men were called but Lester was the only one to report. He traveled to Edmonton to report to the mission home but he served most of his mission in Saskatoon.

In 1947 Lester and Delvia moved to Cardston where Lester worked in construction but in 1949 they moved to Moses Lake Washington where he continued in the construction industry. In 1972 they were called on a mission to serve in the Delaware Maryland mission.

Lester Lybbert died on May 27, 1996 in Othello, Washington and Delvia died on December 22, 1994. How sad, she died on her wedding anniversary. I'll bet that was tough on Grandpa. My own memories of Grandpa and Grandma Lybbert are that Grandpa was a short chubby man who was very tender and loving and Grandma was very stern. They were both very good down to earth people and I knew that even when I was a young boy.