Representative women of New England/Elvira A. Tibbetts
ELVIRA ANNA TIBBETTS, of South Boston, an officer in the Ladies' Aid Association of the Soldiers' Home in Massachusetts and for two years a director in the Woman's Charity Club, was born in Foxboro, Mass., May 26, 1847, daughter of Luther Richmond and Almina Miranda (Twitchell) Grover.
Her father was born November 10, 1825, in Taunton, Mass., where her grandfather, Luther Grover, settled when a young man. Luther was the youngest son of Amasa and Olive (Paine) Grover. Amasa Grover was born in 1760. When seventeen years of age, he enlisted from Mansfield as a soldier in the Revolutionary army, serving until August 5, 1781. He was an early settler of Foxboro, where he purchased a tract of unbroken land and established a homestead. The house is in South Foxboro, on the old road that leads from Taunton to Worcester, and is in a good state of preservation. Amasa Grover died in 1805. His wife, Olive Paine, was born in 1764 and died in 1844. They had a large family of children.
Mrs. Tibbetts's paternal grandfather, Luther Grover, was a well-known blacksmith, and was successfully engaged in manufacturing until he retired from business at the age of seventy. He lived to be fourscore years, and his last days were spent in Boston. He married in Norton, Mass., Anna Williams Caswell, a native of Taunton and daughter of Alvin Caswell.
Luther Richmond Grover, father of Mrs. Tibbetts, obtained his education in district schools of Springfield, Newton Upper Falls, and Foxboro, Mass. He was a skilled workman, but was obliged to give up an excellent position on account of impaired eyesight. For the past fifty years he has been engaged in farming, and has conducted an extensive and profitable business. He was married May 27, 1846, in Dover, Mass., to Almina Miranda Twitchell, and settled on the large and pleasant estate in Foxboro where he has lived for fifty-seven years.
A great-grandfather of Mrs. Tibbetts on her mother's side was John Cheever, who was born in Wrentham, Mass., in 1772, son of James and Sarah (Shepard) Cheever. John Cheever married Dolly ^^^leeler, of Marlboro, N.H., who was a daughter of David and Rebecca (Hoar) Wheeler. David Wheeler, her father, was Town Clerk of Marlboro during the Revolutionary War, and was a useful and highly esteemed citizen, as is fully attested by the numerous offices conferred upon him. His name is on the Revolutionary Rolls of New Hampshire as having enlisted in the army. His daughter Lucy, sister of Dolly, ways the mother of the late Hon. Rufus Frost, ex-Mayor of Chelsea, Mass. David was a son of Joseph^ and Deborah (Whitney) Wheeler and grandson of John' and Elizabeth (Wells) Wheeler, who settled in Marlboro, Mass. John' Wheeler was born in Concord, Mass., in 1661, son of Thomas^ and Hannah (Harrod, now spelled Harwood) Wheeler. According to the accounts of the Wheeler family given in the histories of Marlboro, Mass., and Marlboro, N.H., Thomas^ was a son of Thomas Wheeler, who was in Concord, Mass., in 1640, was a Captain in King Philip's War, and was wounded at Quaboag (now Brookfield), Mass., in August, 1675, when his horse was shot from under him. His son Thomas placed him on a horse whose rider had been slain, and both succeeded in escaping.
Mr. and Mrs. Luther R. Grover have two children: Elvira Anna (Mrs. Tibbetts) ; and Stillman Richmond Grover, a prosperous jewelry manufacturer in Attleboro, Mass. Stillman R. Grover married December 25, 1873, Thedora Ashley, of Taunton, Mass. They have one child, Esther Elvira, born in October, 1887, now a student in the Attleboro High School.
Elvira A. Grover completed her education at the Foxboro English Classical School, a private high school in the centre of the town. She taught school several terms in Dighton and Wrentham. On June 11, 1873, she was married to John Chase Tibbetts, a native of Hamilton, Mass.
Mr. Tibbetts was born November 15, 1846. He is a descendant of Aquila Chase, who came from England and settled at Hampton, N.H., as early as 1640, and a few years later removed to Newbury, Mass. Mr. Tibbetts has been successfully engaged in mercantile business since 1869. He is a public-spirited citizen of South Boston, interested in all that pertains to its welfare. He is one of the founders of the Boston Retail Grocers' Association; is a Past Noble Grand of Tremont Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Boston; has served as District Deputy of the order, and is a member of Massachusetts Encampment, I. 0. of 0. F. He is a member of the South Boston Citizens' Association, is treasurer and a Deacon of the Phillips Congregational Church on Broadway, and is an associate member of Dahlgren Post, No. 2, Grand Army of the Republic. It has been said of him that "his career is one that adds lustre to the history of South Boston."
Mrs. Tibbetts is interested in charitable and patriotic work. She joined the Ladies' Aid Association of the Soldiers' Home in Massachusetts soon after it was organized. She has served as visitor and director many years, and often visits the home on Powder Horn Hill in Chelsea. She has been a member of the Helping Hand Society and also of the Home for Aged Couples. She attends the Phillips Congregational Church. Mrs. Tibbetts is one of the charter members of the Charity Club, and served two years on its Board of Directors. She has charter membership in the Floral Emblem Society of Massachusetts, and is a member of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union at Upham's Corner, Dorchester, of which Mrs. Julia K. Dyer is president. Mr. and Mrs. Tibbetts have had two children: Alva Grover, born September 9, 1878, in Foxboro; and John Richmond, born in Foxboro, January 7, 1882 (died when ten months old). Alva Grover Tibbetts is a student in the Law School of Boston University. Mrs. Tibbetts, although deeply interested in public work, is devoted to her home. She enjoys the society of her friends, and a friendship once formed with her is never broken. Her house is situated on a part of Dorchester Heights, the historic ground where Washington viewed the departure of the British troops from Boston. From the tower of her house can be seen the ships in the harbor and many places associated with the history of Boston.