Rev. George Tarvin

Reverend George Tarvin was an ordained minister for the Church of the Brethren. He was a compassionate individual, an outstanding leader, and a pioneer in the true sense of the word.

Rev. George was born about 1744 in Charles County, Maryland, to second generation Americans who were prominent land owners in Southern Maryland, near Port Tobacco. His ancestors were members of the Church of England, which, along with the Catholic Church, was prominent in early Maryland.

Rev. George's father, also named George Tarvin (George II in the Tarvin histories), died in Charles Co. in 1750 and his estate was administered that year. At that time, George was only six years of age.

Ref. Estate settlement, Charles Co., Maryland, 1750. The next probable recorded date in the life of Rev. George was his release from apprenticeship in Fairfax Co., Virginia, in 1757 when he was thirteen years of age. Speculation has it that George was apprenticed out sometime after both of his parents had died. He continued to have ties in Charles Co., however, as his aunts still lived there and his future in-laws, the Craycrafts, were also residents of Charles Co.

Ref. Bound in apprenticeship and discharged from apprenticeship in Fairfax Co., Virginia, 1757, court order 1754-56, part 1, page 77, 17 April 1754. Rev. George's introduction to the Church of the Brethren, commonly known as the "Dunkers" or "Dunkards," could have come early in his life, during his apprenticeship or most likely when he started courting Sarah Craycraft. Sarah was the daughter of Joseph Craycraft, a Dunker preacher himself, and his wife, the former Ann Stanton, called Nancy, whose family was also affiliated with the Dunker faith.

Note: It was formerly thought that Sarah's mother was Margaret Bowles, but it was her brother, Joseph, not her father, who married Margaret Bowles. Several Cracraft family historians agree that Sarah's mother was Ann "Nancy" Stanton.

Family tradition has it that Rev. George was disinherited when he joined the Dunker Church. His parents would not have disinherited him because he was only a boy when they both died; however, his aunts were still living during the years when he is likely to have joined the Dunkers. Perhaps it was they who disinherited him. A record of George's ordination has not been found, but it probably would have been sometime after his marriage to Sarah Craycraft in 1767, when he was 23 years old.

Ref. Allegeheny Passage by Emmert Bittinger The next official record of Rev. George was as a witness to a deed in Hampshire Co., then in Virginia, in 1779. (Note: Hampshire Co. later joined nearby Virginia mountain counties in supporting the North in the War between the States and seceded from Virginia in 1863, when it was made a state of the Union called West Virginia.) He could have been in Hampshire Co. as early as 1765, for he probably married Sarah Craycraft there in 1767. Their first child, Thomas, was born in June 1769 in Hampshire Co., Virginia.

Ref. Early Records of Hampshire County Virginia Now West Virginia, compiled by Clara McCarmack Sage and Laura Sage Jones, Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Company, 1969, page 33. The family is listed in Hampshire Co. in the State Census of 1782 and again in 1784. (The Federal Census of 1790 for Virginia was destroyed in the War of 1812) During those years, Rev. George was involved in a number of land transactions in the Cacapon Valley near the Potomac River in Hampshire Co., Virginia.

Ref. Early Records of Hampshire County Virginia Now West Virginia, compiled by Clara McCarmack Sage and Laura Sage Jones, Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Company, 1969, page 97. He also served as a witness for a transactions of several of his neighbors, many of whom show up later in Kentucky, both as neighbors and probably as members of his congregation.

Ref. Early Records of Hampshire County Virginia Now West Virginia, compiled by Clara McCarmack Sage and Laura Sage Jones, Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Company, 1969, page 24, 13. The last land transaction Rev. George made while still living in Hampshire Co. was the sale of 417 acres, one mile from the Potomac River on October 18, 1794.

Ref. Early Records of Hampshire County Virginia Now West Virginia, compiled by Clara McCarmack Sage and Laura Sage Jones, Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Company, 1969, page 56. The Charles Co. records also reveal that in 1785, Rev. George relinquished his rights to a portion of his grandmother's, Elizabeth Dent Tarvin's, estate for 55 pounds. This was done in order to clear title as his grandmother had been dead since 1759.

The move of the large family to Kentucky was a major undertaking and probably occurred early in 1794. Twelve of the thirteen children were living at that time. The last major Indian uprising in Kentucky had been quelled about 1793. No doubt that news had some effect on Rev. George's decision to move along with the migration of a number of his neighbors and members of his congregation.

The route most likely taken would have been overland to Ft. Pitt (now Pittsburgh) then down the Ohio river on a flat boat to Limestone, Kentucky, present day Maysville. The family reportedly first gathered near the Shannon Church about ten miles southwest of Maysville, living there for six years.

In August 1796, Rev. George was granted permission to perform marriages in Kentucky by the county court of Mason Co. His first marriage , however, had united his son Richard to Sarah Armstrong on 23 February 1796, six months prior to his receiving official permission.

Ref. Mason Co., Kentucky marriage records. In August 1798, Rev. George granted a power of attorney to his son Joseph to return and sell the remainder of his land in Hampshire Co., Virginia.

Ref. County Clerk's Records, Hampshire Co., Virginia, Romney, West Virginia, Deed Book #11, page 546-548 By 1801, Rev. George and family had moved to Fleming Co., Kentucky, adjacent to Mason Co. Land records show that he purchased 100 acres of land on Fleming Creek.

Ref. Fleming Co. Kentucky, Land and Property Records, page 346, date 28 February 1801. In the southwest portion of Fleming Co., near Fleming Creek, was once an early meetinghouse and graveyard of the Church of the Brethren known as "Log Union." It was unlikely that Rev. George preached here and performed a number of marriages because the church was not established until 1833 even though the first recorded burials occured here in 1823. The Log Union cemetery contains the graves of some of his neighbors from Hampshire Co., Virginia, and some of the couples he married in Kentucky.

Ref. Record of tombstones compiled by Enos C. Hinton, 410 Dye St, Flemingsburg KY 31041. On 27 March 1807, Rev. George married a widow named Mary Wood who was with him the remaining six years of his life. They had no children.

Ref. Bracken Co. Kentucky marriage Records About 1809, Rev. George moved to Bracken Co., near both Mason and Fleming Counties. He continued to perform marriages. In May 1810, he returned to Fleming Co. to perform a marriage for his son and namesake, 10 George Tarvin (referred to as George IV) who married Keziah Harman. After Keziah died in 1812, he officiated at the subsequent marriage of 10 George to Rachel Rhodes in July 1812 in Bracken Co., Kentucky.

Rev. George died early in 1813, a result of a grist mill accident he had suffered in Augusta, Bracken Co., some time previously. In the estate settlement, his widow, Mary, received $12.29 after all bills were paid.

Ref. Bracken Co. Kentucky Will Book, settlement and inventory, page 34, dated December 1816. Rev. George had amassed little of the material things of life. He did, however, leave to his family a rich heritage of life, dedication, service to his neighbors, and a great example of religious faith.

No tombstone to mark his final resting place has ever been found. This was common for many of those who could not afford such a luxury. Nevertheless, the mark that Rev. George left was the legacy of thousands of his posterity who have excelled in many walks of life and have contributed to the development of America. This record will remain long after any tombstone had disappeared.