Stibbs family. | Tulane University Special Collections

The patriarch of the Stibbs family is John Howard Stibbs (1840-1916), the son of Reasin Beall and Emeline Sprague Stibbs, who was born in Wayne County Ohio. As a young man, he moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to go into business with his brother, Henry and while there volunteered and was mustered into the United States Service in 1861 as a Private and Orderly Sergeant in Company K of the First Iowa Infantry Volunteers. His main service was with Company D of the 12th Iowa Infantry Volunteers, where he served from November 1861 to April 1866, and held the positions of Captain, Major, Lieutenant Colonel, Colonel, Brevet Colonel and Brevet Colonel for distinguished gallantry in the battles before Nashville. He is also known for being on the military commission that tried Henry Wirz, the Confederate officer in charge of Andersonville prison.

John Howard Stibbs' grandson, John Henry Stibbs, was Dean of Students at Tulane University.