By all accounts, the Squibbs came from England. According to Lawrence G. Blochman, in his book Doctor Squibb, "The earliest known English Squibb is believed to have been made a yeoman by Edward IV in the fifteenth century. His grandson was Great John the Yeoman of Dorsetshire. Great John's grandson, Nathaniel Squibb, came to Pennsylvania early in the eighteenth century, settled in Chester County and founded a populous family...."
Most Squibb families today would trace their ancestry to this Nathaniel or at least to Robert Squibb who is thought to be his son. There are few records of him, despite the generally thorough records kept by his Quaker faith. Nevertheless, later Squibbs were in fact Quakers. But exactly when they took on this faith isn't clear.
One early Robert Squibb actually held title to a large part of New Jersey in the late 1600s. Whether he ever set foot on that soil is doubtful. Some of the Squibbs were important officials and served in various capacities in Parliament and in the monarchy's treasury. Robert Squibb, possibly the same one, held such an office. It seems likely that his connections and dealings lead to the land ownership.
Sometimes the privilege of high position was severely abused. Another Robert Squibb, along with other wealthy and privileged men, was a member of the Mohock gang in London in the early 1700s. This group was notorious for senseless, violent acts against the weakest members of society. Those in the group received only light punishments because of their position in society.
There was also a Captain Thomas Squibb who piloted ships for the monarchy in the early 1600s, including early trips to Maine and Massachusetts. He was captain of the Mary and John which brought Rev. John White's puritans to form the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
One Squibb had a significant, but unfortunate, role in the relationship between Quakers and non-Quakers in Ireland and England. Elizabeth Squibb had accused James Cotter of rape. Cotter was a very popular nobleman in Ireland. His execution for the crime resulted serious retributions against the Quakers in 1720.
A coat of arms was granted to the Squibb family of Dorsetshire, consisting of three black bulls on a gold field and the motto "Pro Crux audax!", (Bold for the Cross).
One theory I read several years ago was that the Squibb name came from the Spanish name, Esquibel. Of course that raises the question of why a Spanish family would go to England.
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteNice blog! I am a Squibb descendant of Robert Squibb of Chester. I too have been looking for the origins of this family, who his parents were and where they came from. At present I am investigating a "Berkshire, England to Ireland" path as the possible origin of Robert of Chester's parents. Robert's wife Mary Coebourne, whom he married in Chester, PA in 1721, was born into a family of Quakers who had come to Chester in 1714 and in fact transferred membership there from the Quaker Meeting in Cashel, Tipperary Co., Ireland. Thomas Coebourne, her father was born in Berkshire, England. Robert Squibb first appears in PA in 1719 (just one year after the Cotter incident in Cork, Ireland involving the daughter of an unnamed Quaker merchant with last name of Squibb), and estimates say Robert was around 20 years old in 1719. I believe the Coebourns probably would have known Robert Squibb already when he came to Chester, and Thomas (who was a somewhat-wealthy Quaker) would not have allowed his daughter to marry a poor, non-connected, non-Quaker. It even appears that Mary and Robert inherited some of the Coebourn lands near Chester later on. After the Cotter incident, many Quakers were attacked in retribution for Cotter's hanging including a Quaker girl named Rachel Carlton, who was a servant to a Quaker merchant from BERKSHIRE named Richard Pike (the Irish attackers mistook her for Mary Squibb, probably b/c they knew of her association with a Quaker merchant from England).
No solid proof yet, still looking but I think there is something to this Berkshire, England to Cork, Ireland merchant family relationship--and the Cotter incident in 1718 and its after-effects may have driven Robert to a more stable Quaker community in America.
Thanks for the compliment. I really enjoyed reading your take on the Irish connection as well. It seems very plausible. And the Cotter (I've seen it both Corter and Cotter) incident occurrence just before the appearance of Robert Squibb in America is very interesting. I am descended from Robert as well. I don't recall seeing Nathaniel mentioned anywhere else besides the Doctor Squibb book, so don't know if he's even real. But, nevertheless, he is in a lot of family trees, right or wrong.
ReplyDeleteHi Bob,
ReplyDeleteI've heard of some other possible origins for the SQUIBB family name. The first was a name for a fire-cracker that fizzles out quickly (and the common British term "Squib" has long denoted either a quick, sharp political discourse or someone who starts strong but finishes with a "dud".) But the original word SQUIB refers to a fuse used to fire a cannon, and "Squibbers" (the same as "fusiliers", in French) were artillerymen who lit these fuses. During the British naval battle with the Spanish Armada in 1588, "squib boats"--or ships purposely set on fire--were sent into the Spanish fleet with devastating effect. Also in the old Cornish culture (Cornwall-Southwest England) a "Squab" is a pigeon, which they historically use to create their traditional food dish of "Squab Pie".