Tibbe-Cuthbertson Family, Papers, 1849-1975 (C3711)

.5 linear feet

INTRODUCTION

The papers of a Washington, Missouri, family whose patriarch, Henry Tibbe, and his son, Anton, founded the Missouri Meerschaum Company, include family and business correspondence, genealogy, property deeds, an early history of the Missouri Meerschaum Company, material on a patent infringement dispute, pipe catalogs, clippings, and photographs.

DONOR INFORMATION

The Tibbe-Cuthbertson Family Papers were donated to the State Historical Society of Missouri by Anna T. Tibbe on 14 September 1979 (SHS Accession No. 2261). Additions to the collection were made on 11 January 1980 (SHS Accession No. 2289) and 15 November 1982 (SHS Accession No. 2450).

BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCH

The history of the Tibbe-Cuthbertson family focuses on Henry Tibbe and his son, Anton, who founded the Missouri Meerschaum Company in Washington, Missouri, in the early 1870s. Henry's 1878 patent for improvement in pipes radically changed the traditional corncob pipe from a rural make-do object into a commercial product.

The Tibbe family not only produced a high quality tobacco pipe but also was instrumental in improving the quality of life in Washington, Missouri. In 1891 Anton A. Tibbe built the first electric light plant, which not only provided power to manufacture pipes, but also provided the town with power and light. In the same building he also began a telephone company.

The history of the Tibbe-Cuthbertson family focuses on Henry Tibbe, a Dutch woodturner who emigrated to America from Enschede, Holland, in 1867. After fire destroyed his home and factory in Holland, he brought his wife, Joanna, his eight-year-old son Anton Arnold, his brother Frederick, and his skill as a woodturner, eventually settling in Washington, Missouri, a small community located on the Missouri River fifty miles west of St. Louis. Soon thereafter, he set up a small woodworking business making spinning wheels, wooden handles, and furniture. Some time in 1869 Henry Tibbe turned his first corncob on his lathe, inserted a reed for a stem, and created a smooth version of the traditional corncob pipe.

The contribution Henry Tibbe made to the tobacco pipe industry was his idea for fire-proofing the traditional corncob pipe, which tended to burn out easily. Tibbe’s 1878 patent describes his process for fireproofing by filling the interstices of the cob from the outside with a plaster of paris type substance. This procedure not only fire-proofed the cob but also hardened it, allowing it to be worked on a lathe.

By 1878, with increasing demand for his corncob pipes, Tibbe had moved his business to a new location and increased his production by employing a steam engine to turn the lathes and operate the other machinery. By this time eighteen-year-old Anton had become a full partner in H. Tibbe and Son. In January 1883 Henry and Anton applied for a U.S. patent for a trademark for their pipe, calling it the Missouri Meerschaum.

Meerschaum, German for “foam of the sea” is a fine white claylike mineral, soft and light enough to float in water and found chiefly in Asia Minor and especially suited for intricately carved tobacco pipes. No doubt Henry Tibbe remembered the elaborate meerschaum pipes produced in Holland and felt his American invention merited a name tied to both countries.

During the years that followed, Missouri Meerschaum pipes became increasingly popular. In 1921 Anton Tibbe disposed of his interest in the pipe factory, retired, and moved to California, where he died eight years later. The Tibbe family’s direct supervision of the Missouri Meerschaum Company ended but essentially the same company is still in operation in Washington, Missouri, today.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The strength of the Tibbe-Cuthbertson Family Papers lies in the family correspondence, genealogy, and history of the Missouri Meerschaum Company sections. The business correspondence is sparse with little correspondence by Henry Tibbe and few financial records of the company.

FOLDER LIST

Correspondence, 1882-1975

Correspondence primarily between family members in California and Missouri discussing genealogy, travel, fashion, and family matters. Arranged chronologically.

f. 1Letters from Kate Cuthbertson Black in Guatemala, 1897-1898.
f. 3April 19, 1906, letter from Russell Tibbe to his mother, Wilhelmina Tibbe, describing the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
f. 5-7Roehm-Cuthbertson and Tibbe genealogies.

Family History

This section contains genealogical material including short biographical sketches of some family members, clippings, obituaries, certificates, and bank statements.

f. 8Tibbe-Cuthbertson family tree and biographical sketches.
f. 9Clippings concerning death of Anton A. Tibbe.
f. 10Henry Tibbe's Bank of Washington account book.

Miscellaneous

Articles and clippings on Washington, Missouri.

f. 11History of the Shakespeare Club to the Fort Knightly Reading Club of Washington, Missouri.
f. 12Autograph book, 18 April 1902, with clippings of pictures of residences and businesses of Washington, Missouri.

Legal Documents

Abstracts, Warranty deeds, deeds of trust, certificates of title, and quitclaim deeds of Tibbe property in Washington, Missouri.

f. 13Abstract of title, Lot (5), Block (31), of John F. Mense's Addition to the Town, now City, of Washington, Missouri, 1931.
f. 15Warranty deeds, 1869-1912
f. 16Warranty deeds, 1915-1936
f. 17Deeds of trust, 1915, 1934.
f. 18Quitclaim deeds, 1915.

Business Records

Material related to the business endeavors of the Tibbe family, primarily the Missouri Meerschaum Company. Includes history, correspondence, financial records, Tibbe patent dispute, pipe catalogs, and clippings.

f. 19History of the Missouri Meerschaum Company.
f. 20Business correspondence, 1883-1889, on the following topics: corncob pipe competition, pipe prices, and patent infringement.
f. 21Financial records.
f. 22Tibbe patent for improvement in pipes.
f. 23Patent infringement, Henry Tibbe vs. William L. Heineken.
f. 24Pipe catalogs.
f. 25Business cards and advertising.
f. 26-27Clippings.

Photographs

f. 28-31Portraits and snapshots of members of the Tibbe and Cuthbertson families, snapshots of the Tibbe house and environs, and photographs of the Tibbe family's businesses in Washington, Missouri.

INDEX TERMS

These index terms are the subjects, people, places, etc. under which this collection is listed in all available indexes at the Western Historical Manuscript Collection-Columbia. If you are interested in a specific index term, please contact the reference staff.

  • Architecture, Domestic, Missouri, Washington
  • Automobiles, Franklin
  • Black, Kate Cuthbertson ( -1926)
  • Bryan, Kate
  • Business cards
  • Cabinet cards
  • Camp Crowder, Michigan, 1918
  • Camp Custer, Michigan, 1918
  • Carriages and carts
  • Cartes de visite
  • Catalogs, Pipe
  • Clemens, Samuel Langhorne (1835-1910)
  • Corncob pipes
  • Corncob Pipes
  • Cuthbertson Family Genealogy
  • Cuthbertson, August Roehm (1830-1907)
  • Cuthbertson, Auguste Roehm (1830-1907)
  • Cuthbertson, John
  • Cuthbertson, Poddie
  • Cuthbertson, Poddie (1867-1932)
  • Earthquakes, California, San Francisco, 1906
  • Fashion, 1890s
  • Fleissner, Cuthbert M. (1882- )
  • Genelli Photo Studio, St. Louis, MO
  • German Heritage Archives
  • Guatemala, 1890s
  • Guatemala--Description and travel, 1890s
  • Hotels, Kansas
  • Houses--Missouri, Washington
  • Immigration and emigration, 1850s
  • Kahmann, George H.
  • Missouri Meerschaum Company, Washington, MO
  • Missouri, Washington
  • Newport (Steamship)
  • Photographers, Missouri, St. Louis
  • Photographers, Missouri, Washington
  • Postcards
  • Schnarke, Henry
  • Sim, Margaret Cuthbertson
  • Tibbe Electric Company, Washington, MO
  • Tibbe Family Genealogy
  • Tibbe family, 1957
  • Tibbe, Anton Arnold (1859-1929)
  • Tibbe, Anton Arnold, II (1898-1977)
  • Tibbe, Cuthbert Pierce (1902-1962)
  • Tibbe, Frederick (1841-1886)
  • Tibbe, Henry J. (1896-1974)
  • Tibbe, Jan (1907-1975)
  • Tibbe, Johanna Yaegers (1820-1904)
  • Tibbe, Madeline (1891-1982)
  • Tibbe, Russel J.
  • Tibbe, Wilhelmina Cuthbertson (1867-1932)
  • Tobacco pipes
  • Trademarks
  • Warranty Deeds, Missouri, Washington
  • Women--Societies
  • World War, 1914-1918, U.S. Army, Signal Corps, 1918
  • Yerbury, E.R. (Photographer)
  • Zoff, E. (Photographer)