Re: Where are the Niblocks?
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In reply to:
Re: Where are the Niblocks?
12/08/01
Melvin,
I just sent the following email to Tom Niblock in Glasgow, but reading further in the geneology forum on the internet I thought you too might be interested in my email to Tom and thought you might have some information of interest to me and my family here on the east coast of the Pacific Ocean!I would appreciate a reply to confirm whether you have any helpful information.Thanks.
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Dear Tom,
I would appreciate hearing from you ASAP because my mother (Frances Barrrow Niblo Oberg Olson) has long told me about that her Dad's surname - NIBLO - was a derivative of NIBLOCK.In fact, I have seen a typewritten letter written in about 1927 which traces the Niblo name back to Northern Ireland.
I quote from that typewritten letter now (in fact, all of the larger, bolder script below is the quoted portions of the 1927 letter, with my comments here and there in the smaller script):
"Thomas Niblo Sr . . . . . was born February 11th, 1795 in Lystror, County Monahan, Ireland.Died March 21st, 1868.Came to America in or about 1846.Settled in Providence, Rhode Island.About 1854, moved with his family to Iowa, settling among the heavily [email protected]
Nancy Ann, Susan, John, Catherine, Robert, William, Sarah, David, Ellen, Thomas, Rachel, Caroline.Nancy Ann married her cousin, Samuel Niblock."
There is the reference to the name Niblock, as quoted in this letter of October 25, 1927, some 74 years ago!
A page or two in this 1927 letter tells how many of these Niblos lived in and around Cascade and Winterset, Iowa.At least one of the boys fought in the US Civil War, beginning at age 17, and survived.Some moved on to Kansas, Colorado, Texas and California.A generation or two or three after the Thomas Niblo referred to above, another Thomas Niblo appears and he . . . . .
"married Jennie B. Brush of Monticello, Iowa in 1880.They lived on the old Niblo farm near Cascade, Iowa till March, 1883, when they moved to Winterset, Iowa, where Thomas died September 12th, 1895.They had three children, Sidney W., (who is my mother's father; he died in Los Angeles, California on October 31st, 1942) Luella Miriam who died in childhood and Loyal B. (who is the father of Winfield Niblo, see below)Sidney married Miss Jessie R. Barrows of Houston, Texas (those people are my maternal grandparents, and I knew Jessie well; she died in Laguna Beach, California in the summer or fall of 1968) They live now in Alhambra, California and have 2 children.Frances Barrow and Claribel Elizabeth.(Frances Barrow is my mother, now 87 years old, as I mentioned above)(Claribel Elizabeth died in the late 1960's or early 1970's and I stay in touch with her two children and their children.)
Loyal B. married Estell Puntenney of Pueblo, Colorado.They live in Denver and have four children.Loyal E. Jr., Winfield Puntenney, Eugene Miller and Dorothy Dawn.(In the late 1970's or early 1980's I had a chance to speak with Estell, a lively woman with a good memory, and then I spoke with her son Winfield, whom all of us call Windy as a nickname.Windy earned a PhD from Columbia University in New York City after WWII, and during the war was in the US Army in counterintelligence.In fact, very shortly after the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Windy was part of the early groups of US Army personnel who walked the streets of Hiroshima.While Windy was stationed in Japan, he started some square dance clubs for Japanese people.Surprisingly, in the 1970's (I don't have the exact date at my fingertips), Emperor Hirohito invited Windy to the Royal Palace in Tokyo for a banquet at which Windy (and several other people) were honored as having made(and we all think this is just a bit funny) a significant contribution to Japanese society!!
Thus endeth the "Niblo Record" as far as I know to date, October 25, 1927."
I was told by Windy that his mother Estell was the one who wrote this 1927 letter.
Estell, to whom I referred above, told me very clearly that the Thomas Niblo Senior born in Lystror County Monahan had parents or perhaps grandparents who had come from Ayrshire in southwest Scotland.And that ties in, perhaps, with you.I wonder.So, for at least the 50+ years I have been alive, our family has revelled in the "fact" that we have "connections" to Robbie Burns.When I was in the USAF in the early 1960's, I flew into and out of Prestwick several times and, at that time, unfortunately never knew of the family connection to that part of Scotland.
Please contact me at your earliest convenience.My mother (now 87) and I (and my brother [living in Alaska]; my sister [living on a ranch in Idaho]; and my 89 year old second cousin named Winfield Niblo of Denver, Colorado are all very interested.This internet way of communicating is wonderful!
Did you know that a prominent mountain next to Lake Louise in the beautiful Canadian Rockies is named Mt. Niblock?I believe that Niblock was a prominent geographer or something in the area and was honored for his work by having this particular mountain named after him.Our family has also heard of a Niblock, to whom my mother thinks we are somehow related) who was an architect for one of the early world fairs in New York City back in the 1800's.After awhile, sorting out facts and following all the leads down for verification are very laborious and time-consuming activities.The reason I started this email to you is that my mother is currently at my sister's ranch in Idaho and we spoke on the phone tonight.At one point she said, thinking of her age, that there aren't many Niblos around.I suggested that I check on the internet, just to surprise her and pick up her spirits, and VOILA there was the reference to you.
Looking forward to your reply!
Happy New Year
John Oberg([email protected])
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So, Melvin, I look forward to your reply as well.Happy New Year!
John Oberg([email protected])
More Replies:
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Re: Where are the Niblocks?
Donna Jenkins 2/11/02