Oliver W. Tibbetts and His Violin

A rare Gaurneri violin (image from an NPR article about the violins, from Matthew Tolzmann)

I came across an interesting tidbit about one of my 1st cousin 4x removed, Oliver Whitfield Tibbetts (1853-1941).  Six years ago I had added a note for him, informed by Tibbetts family historian May (Tibbetts) Jarvis or Dick Dunlop:

Amateur violinist: According to Dunlop/Jarvis, one of his daughters remembered him owning seven Guarnerius violins, made about 1715.

While looking for Oliver's obituary today I found some information similar to this:

NewspaperArchive.com
La Crosse Tribune And Leader Press (La Crosse, Wisconsin)
Sunday, January 15, 1939
page 14, col 4.
[excerpted from a longer article 

Dakota's oldest pioneer today is Oliver W. Tibbetts.  He was born in Linn county, Ia. Dec. 28, 1853, coming here with his parents when a small lad.  He was married to Miss Alice Wilson, daughter of J. G. and Sarah (Brown) Wilson, who passed away several years ago.  Their oldest daughter, Ethel, now married, lives in Iowa.  Their other two children, Mrs. William Stanton and George, live in this vicinity.  Two grandchilden, Mrs. Harry Aiken and Jerry Tibbetts, reside in La Crosse, Wis. 

Mr. Tibbetts enjoys good health and is active despite his advanced age.  He has always manifested an interest in the welfare of the community.

Mr. Tibbetts' hobby is his violin, and nothing gives him more pleasure.  One of his most prized possessions is a Guarnerius, one of seven instruments made by Joseph Guarnerius in Cremonia, Italy.  The one in the possession of Mr. Tibbetts was made in 1715.  Mr. Tibbetts says that the whereabouts of only five of them are known.  One is in a British museum in London, one is owned by a Miss Astor of New York, another by a Corby family in Milwaukee and the other by the king of Italy.  The former owner of the Tibbetts violin claimed it had been in his family for more than 100 years.

I suspect the Joseph Guarnerius mentioned was probably Giuseppe Giovanni Battista Guarneri (1666-1740).  According to Wikipedia:

Giuseppe Giovanni Battista Guarneri, better known as Giuseppe filius Andrea Guarneri (25 November 1666–c. 1739/1740) was a violin maker from the prominent Guarneri family of luthiers who lived in Cremona, Italy.

There seem to be many more way than seven Guarneri violins.  Depending on the condition you can get them for 100's or 1,000's of dollars (from a quick look at eBay).

I share Oliver's grandparents and 4 great grandparents.  His father Jeremiah Tibbetts was a younger brother of my 3rd great grandfather Henry Charles Tibbetts.(1826-1902).

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