Lybarger Revolutionary War Memorial -- Medley, Bedford County, Pennsylvania
Nicholas Layenberger brought his family across the Atlantic on a ship named the Snow Betsy. By August of 1739 the family was settled in Bedford County, Pennsylvania. Less than forty years later his son Ludwick, two of his brothers and two nephews were serving with the 4th Company, 1st Battalion Bedford County Militia in the Revolutionary War. According to the Bedford County Census of 1790 the spelling of the surname had changed from Layenberger to Lybarger. Ludwick Lybarger’s grandson, Samuel, was the first Lybarger to move to the prosperous French village of Kaskaskia, Illinois.
MONTREUIL TO MONTROY
The surname “Montreuil” came into use during the early 17th century in what is now Canada. In 1636 Louis Sedilot arrived in Quebec, New France. Born in Montreuil-les-Bresches in Picardie, France, he attached “dit Montreuil” to designate his place of origin. Louis is the progenitor of the Canadian Montreuils whose descendants traveled from Quebec and settled at Kaskaskia. Jean-Baptiste Sedilot dit Montreuil was born November 24, 1749, in Quebec Diocese Montreal Canada. He was a 5th generation descendant of Louis Sedilot and Marie Grimoult and the first to reside permanently in Kaskaskia. The surname Sedilot was eventually dropped and the name Montreuil survived. During the Revolutionary War, George Rogers Clark liberated Kaskaskia from English rule. Jean-Baptiste Montreuil served with Captain Francis Charleville’s company of Kaskaskia Volunteers when George Rogers Clark captured Fort Sackville (Vincennes) in March of 1779. Sometime around 1848-50 the spelling of the name changed to the English phonetic spelling of Montroy.
I am descended from Ludwick Lybarger. My husband and I are both descended from Jean-Baptiste Montreuil. There is a little stone cottage still standing on Lot 20 Chestnut Street, Chester, Illinois. The restoration of this stone cottage has been dedicated to the memory of these two revolutionary War Patriots.
Joan Montroy, Liberty Bell of the West Chapter, NSDAR.