John COLVIN

Sources:

Ancestry World Tree
Ancestral File - Version 4.19 - nil
Pedigree Resource File - nil
Internet IGI, Aug 2007
Index to Early Tennessee Tax Lists
1830 Census Grianger Co.,Tennessee
Internet IGI (Aug 2006), Jul 2008

Notes:

                   Extensive research information included in notes

This was found on the Ancestry World Tree pedigree of Mary Colvin , who is mentioned in the notes.  The contact information is Victor@part.net , and it was posted in 2002.  It is unknown who the researcher is.

According to the "Index to Early Tennessee Tax Lists,"
transcribed & indexed by Byron and Barbara Sistler [1977: Evanston, IL], pp. 29 and
41: Grainger Co., TN lists John Callvin in 1804; John Calvin in 1805; and
John Colvin in 1821. Apparently these tax lists, at least for Grainger Co., are incomplete. Note the different spellings. Very common with this surname.

Per "Granger Co., Tennessee Court of Pleas," records compiled by Ella E. Sheffield:

pg. 40: John Colvin was appointed to a grand jury in Feb. 1813.

pg. 44: John Colvin was appointed to a grand jury in May 1813.

pg. 122: John Colvin was appointed to a jury in Feb. 1815.

There are no census indexes for Grainger Co., TN in 1810 and 1820 so we don't pick up on John until the 1830 census when he and several of his married sons appear [Microfilm Pub. M-19, Roll 180, pg. 357]:

Elijah Colvin 1 male 20/30, 3 females under 5, 1 female 5/10, 1female 20/30
[no slaves]

John Colvin 1 male 5/10, 1 male 10/15, 1 male 50/60, 1 female under 5, 1

female 5/10, 1 female 15/20, 1 female 40/50 [1 slave - a male aged 10 to 24].

William Colvin 1 male under 5, 1 male 20/30, 1 female 5/10, 1female 20/30.

The 1840 census of Grainger Co., TN [Microfilm Pub. M-704, Roll 525], lists the following:

pg. 130: William Colvin 1 male 5/10, 1 male 30/40, 1 female 15/20, 1 female 30/40 [no slaves]

pg. 131: John Colvin 1 male 15/20, 1 male 20/30, 1 male 70/80, 1female 10/15, 1 female 15/20, 1 female 50/60 [no slaves].

pg. 134: Elijah Colvin 1 male under 5, 1 male 5/10, 1 male 30/40, 1 female under 5, 2 females 5/10, 1 female 10/15, 2 females 15/20, 1 female 30/40. [no slaves noted]

pg. 136: James Colvin 1 male under 5, 1 male 5/10, 1 male 20/30,1 female under 5, 1 female 5/10, 1 female 10/15, 1 female 20/30 [no slaves noted].

The documents concerning the estate of John Colvin, deceased, appear in abstracted form in "Inventories of Estates and Wills, Grainger Co., Tennessee [Nov. 1833-May 1852]," by Mary E. Reeves. Pg. 131 is an account of the estate sale of John Colvin, dec'd, and mentions Elijah Colvin, James Colvin, Mark Kitts, Calvin Monrow, John A. Blackburn, Margaret
Colvin, A. M. Colvin, and others - signed 12 Oct 1849 by William Colvin, administrator, and recorded on 23 Oct 1849. Pg. 165 is an account of the settlement:

William Colvin, Esqr., administrator of the estate of John Colvin, dec'd, 3 Dec 1851. Mentions notes on various persons, payment to James Salling for "crying the sale," taxes for 1845, taxes for 1850 and 1851. It then lists:

"James Colvin, an heir; John A. Blackburn who intermarried with Anna Colvin, an heir; Mark Colvin, an heir; Rosanna Monrow formerly Rosanna Colvin, an heir; Alxd. Colvin, an heir; Margaret Colvin, an heir; Elijah Colvin, an heir; Wm. Colvin, Administrator & also an heir." Recorded 12 Mar 1852.

So from all of these, we can conclude that John Colvin was born either ca 1770-1780 or 1760-1770 [possibly ca 1770 to arrive at the two different age groupings as given in the 1830 and 1840 census], and was deceased after 1840 but before 12 Oct 1849 in Grainger Co., TN. He was married probably about 1802/1803, based on the about date of birth of his eldest known child and son, Elijah, ca 1804. As before given, John starts showing up on Grainger Co. tax lists in 1804. John's wife, born between 1780-1790, is unknown.

She may also have been deceased before 12 Oct 1849, as usually documents naming heirs will designate the widow. This abstract did not note any of the females as the widow. However, I am puzzled over the appearance of Margaret Colvin at the estate sale and again listed in the settlement as an heir. I have not found her in the 1850 census of Grainger Co., TN either living in another household or with one of her siblings. Margaret seems to be a given name for females which was pretty heavily used by these Colvins. However, the given name Rosanna for females is also pretty
heavily used by them so John's wife may have been named either - or neither

Children of John Colvin & Unknown:

1. Elijah Colvin bc 1804; m. 3 Dec 1822 in Granger Co., TN to Susan Moulder. Res. 1850 Grainger Co., TN; res. 1860 Union Co., TN [formed 1850 partly from Grainger]; res. 1870 Union Co., TN.

2. James Colvin bc 1806; m. 17 Dec 1826 Grainger Co., TN to Barbara Phipps. Res. 1850 Grainger Co., TN; removed to Miller Co., MO with his family ca 1859 along with a married daughter, Margaret, and her husband, Caswell Kitts, where they were listed living next door to each other in the 1860 census.

3. William Colvin bc 1807; m. Sophia ______ [marriage record not found in TN records]; res. Grainger Co., TN 1850 census; 1860 and 1870 in Union Co., TN.

4. Anna Colvin bc 1814; m. 12 Oct 1832 Grainger Co., TN to John A. Blackburn. Res. 1850 Grainger Co., TN.

5. Mark Colvin b. 28 Apr 1820; m. 28 Aug 1845 Miller Co., MO to Martha Ann Powell.

6. Margaret Colvin - perhaps the female b. 1820-1825 in John Colvin's household in the 1830 and 1840 census. A Margaret Colvin is named as an heir in John's probate records.

7. Alexander Colvin b. 3 July 1823; m. 12 Mar 1846 Miller Co., MO to Elizabeth Ann "Betsy" Bilyeu.

8. Rosanna Colvin bc 1825; m. 28 Apr 1845 Grainger Co., TN to Calvin Monroe/Monrow. Res. 1850 Grainger Co., TN. References for TN marriages: "Tennessee; Grainger County Marriage Bonds and Licenses 1796-1837," Book 1, compiled by Billie Wyrick Kennerly, Houston, TX [no date], & Book 2, 1838-1866. Also "Early East Tennessee
Marriages," Vol. 2, compiled by Byran Sistler, 1987.

I don't know how far you want to go with this, Mary. That is, if you want known children of Elijah, James, William, etc. Let me know if you do.

Wish I could give you a "connect" for the ancestry of John Colvin but I have only a vague speculation that he may have been an unrecorded son of Richard and Rosanna [Russell] Colvin of Rhode Island and Manchester, Bennington Co., VT. I say that for two reasons - first because of the use of the given name Rosanna among John's family; and second because Richard had a known son, Samuel Colvin, who left Vermont and by 1799 was in Grainger Co., TN where he appears on a tax list. In 1801, Samuel was apparently in Claiborne Co., TN [formed 1801 from Grainger Co.] but left there ca 1811 for Indiana. [Samuel served in Wayne's War 1791-1794 and some of this info comes from his pension application papers.] Have wondered if John was a younger brother who perhaps went to Tennessee with Samuel. Samuel is the only Colvin for whom I have a record who was in that area earlier than John's first appearance in Grainger Co., TN in 1804. Whether there's a connection or NO connection between Samuel and John, I can not say one way or the other. Just throwing it on the table.

There is one other even earlier mention of a CALVIN in that area from the following: "Annals of Tennessee to the End of the 18th Century," by J. G. M. Ramsey, A.M., M.D., 1853 [reprint 1926 by the Tennessee D.A.R. chapter], pg. 591. It reads as follows: 

1 Apr 1794: A party of Indians, 30 or 40 in number, ambuscaded a party near Calvin's Blockhouse, on Crooked Creek, and fired upon Samuel Wear, his two sons, and William McMurray. They escaped unhurt. [Note: Crooked Creek was near Knoxville in Knox Co., TN.]