James Orsemus Bibbins, 1811 - 1892, captain of the 77th Regiment New York State Militia in 1884, and his wife Lovisa Storm Bibbins, 1816-1898, of Dutch and Welsh lineage, were among the pioneers who came from Western New York and settled in this neighborhood in 1837, when it was largely a primeval forest and still a favorite hunting-ground for the Indian. They built their log house on the east bank of the adjoining lake that bears their name, and it often sheltered the frontier Methodist itinerant of the region. They were charter members of the first religious society in this vicinity and remained actively identified with it until their deaths. From the beginning they took a firm stand for Christian culture, popular and higher education, patriotic citizenship, and community enterprise, encouraged railway transportation by giving free right of way for two lines across their estate, and were among the founders of the Village of Hanover in 1870.