Thomas P. Hibbard was born around 1842 in Palmyra, New York, to Pliny and Dency Hibbard. His father was a master carpenter who owned $1,500 of real estate and $100 of personal property by 1860. He grew up and attended school in Palmyra, and by 1860, he was working as a day laborer.
He enlisted in the Union army on July 5, 1861, and he mustered in as a private in Company B of the 33rd New York Infantry. The regiment took part in the Seven Days’ Battles, the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Fredericksburg, and the Battle of Chancellorsville. He was wounded in the right leg at Chancellorsville on May 5, 1863, and he mustered out on June 2, 1863. He applied for a federal pension in August 1863 and eventually secured one. He returned to the Union army soon afterward, mustering in as a private in the 1st New York Veterans Cavalry on November 19, 1863. He mustered out on July 20, 1865.
Hibbard returned to Palmyra after the war and resumed his work as a day laborer. He married Lillian Webster around 1896, and the couple apparently had no children. They lived in Palmyra, and he earned a living as a farmer. He died sometime after 1910.