Back to the Line

Next in line, after Sophie Gilmer Bibb, is Martha Dandridge Bibb Bibb. This portrait was painted in 1856.

My Great-Great Grandmother

Martha Dandridge Bibb (Bibb)

1828 - 1910

Daughter of Lucy Ann Sophia Gilmer

and Benajah Smith Bibb

Married 1849

1st cousin Joseph Benajah Bibb

1821 – 1869

Son of Reverend Peyton Bibb and Martha Cobb (Bibb)

Children-- Dr. William George Bibb

Captain Peyton B. Bibb

Martha lived in the family home at Moulton Street for her entire life.  She and her husband raised their family there and one of their sons, William George, came back to Montgomery with his bride, set up a medical practice, and continued to live and raise his family under the same roof that had covered him as a young lad.

Sophie's daughter. Martha, known affectionately at "Ma Dike" to family and close friends, picked up where her mother left off and continued to carry the torch ignited by Sophie and the Ladies' Memorial Association. I have dozens of letters written by and to her. She obviously made duplicates of all communications relating to her obligations to carry forth and conclude the efforts of her mother on behalf of the Confederacy.

"M.D.B’s son, William George Bibb, graduated from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa and received medical degrees from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, the University of Virginia, and three Universities in New York. He practiced medicine first in Nashville, then went home to practice in Montgomery, Alabama. In 1878, Dr. Bibb married Susanna Dunlap Porter, daughter of James Davis Porter, Governor of Tennessee."  The portrait of the child is William George Bibb, their infant son. He wears a coral sleeve bracelet that I have framed in my "curio case".

Little is recorded from Martha Dandridge’s written history about her two sons, although each of them gained prominence in their respected fields, one as doctor and the other as a Captain in the Navy.  According to records, Louisa S. Bibb known as Aunt Lou, never married but took on the responsibilities of house and parenting while her sister, Martha Dandridge, carried their mother’s torch to the finish line.
From my book:

"Ma Dike and Aunt Lou have stared at me from their gold-leafed encasements all my life, and before me, they stared at my mother. A slight smile on M.D.’s oil-painted once young face is now cracked and dried. It camouflages the true grit that drove her as well as what must have been a deeply entrenched adoration for her mother. The portraits of her, her husband, her sister Aunt Lou, and her child, William George Bibb, hang together now in my house that feels like a wrong turn on their long journey into these modern times and small spaces. The voices from the past secured their place on my mother’s walls with their “Treasure these…Forever!” proclamation that held her allegiant to a cause she never fought. "
For the time being, they are secure on my walls. I do not, however, feel I owe my soul to their immortal care.

Louisa S. Bibb, Aunt Lou. Painted 1856