GIVENS FAMILY OF VIRGINIA AND TENNESSEE
GIVENS FAMILY OF PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY, VIRGINIA, AND HANCOCK COUNTY, TENNESSEE
Since marrying into the Givens family nearly forty years ago, I have had a fascination with the Givens name, finding it not so common as names go. In 1984 while visiting an uncle and aunt of my husband, I decided to actively pursue a genealogical search of the Givens family. Old family photographs of the family were given to me by Uncle Elmer Givens, but the names of family members were only guesses.
That fall a friend of mine told me of her aunt in Kansas City who had purchased a book about the Givens line written by Dorothy Hall Givens. Since I could not obtain that book, I decided to call the author who lived in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Dorothy was most kind in giving me advice on how and where to search. From my husband George's baby book, I determined that George's father Ralph Givens, grandfather Jesse Bedford, and great-grandfather William Jesse were all born in the Sneedville, TN, area, having all their birth dates, plus information on the Seals line back to great-grandparents who were also all born in the Sneedville area.
Dorothy suggested that I visit the Sneedville area to begin my search in the local courthouse records. I did visit Sneedville only to find that the Hancock County Courthouse had burned in the 1920s. However, I was able to find an elderly gentleman named William Groshe who lived just over the "ridge" northeast of the town. Mr. Groshe was the unofficial historian of the area. (He is now deceased.) He invited me out to his home where he had collection of genealogical materials, which included handwritten notebooks containing census records from as early as the 1830s with annotated remarks of various family connections.
In Sneedville, TN, I found a virtual "gold mine" in genealogical circles in Mr. William Groshe's notebooks. I was able to document not only the great-grandfather, William Jesse Givens, but also the great-great grandfather, Joshua Givens, the g.g.g grandfather Thomas Givens with an annotation that his parents were John R. and Elizabeth Seals Givens, who would be the g.g.g.g. grandparents. Upon arriving home, I had a letter from Mr. Groshe with further information that the earliest ancestor of our Givens clan in the area was John R. Givens, a Baptist preacher, who had brought his church from VA in the late 1790s to the Bever/Beaver Creek area of NE Tennessee.
In Mr. Groshe's handwritten notes, I also found information concerning the line of Grandmother Ibbie Seal Givens who was married to Grandfather Jesse Bedford Givens, father and mother of Ralph and his brothers Elmer and Olen. The note regarding Ibbie's father Frank Seal was that his early ancestor was a William Seals of Virginia who had fought in the French and Indian War. Also noted was the name of a Mr. Elmer Scalf now of Maui, Hawaii, who had written a book of the SEALS FAMILY. I contacted Mr. Scalf and was able to purchase his book and found that William Seal's--of Halifax Co, Va--daughter, Elizabeth Seals, had married the Baptist preacher, John R. Givens, our earliest ancestor in the Sneedville area. The Seal/Seals family entered the Givens line twice.
Dorothy Givens had earlier sent me information that Lana Givens of Manchestor, Missouri, had mailed to her regarding a John Givens in Lana's husband's line who was also a Baptist preacher. He and his brother Samuel had moved before the Civil War to the NW area of Arkansas. Together with Lana's information of ten years searching plus mine, we were somewhat able to put the pieces together that will join our families. A search of Pittsylvania County, VA, resulted in finding the marriage of John and Elizabeth Givings, 1788. A John and Edward Givin were in the area with land patents in 1746 and 47.
Dorthy Hall Givens later wrote to say that even though she was unable to make a direct connection of her family line with ours that she could make certain statements concerning the Givens clan: all the people named Givens, Given, Givin, Givings, and even Gibbons probably come from a common ancestor named Given. Documentation from various sources point to this fact.
In her book she states that the earliest evidence of the Givens Clan can be found in northern Ireland as early as 266 (maybe B.C.?) on Celtic monuments, the CELTS having invaded this part of northern Ireland from central Europe. I found that these people have been traced to an area near Hallstatt, Austria—this being near Salzburg, where the movie the SOUND OF MUSIC was filmed. Archaeological findings have traced similar relics in northern Ireland to those found near Hallstatt. Many of these artifacts buried with Irish Celts were the same as buried at Hallstatt. As a teacher of archaeology and anthropology, I find the Celts one of the most intelligent and creative peoples of Europe.
The early Irish records mention a Glen Given, which meant the land of the Given. This later became Dungiven, meaning the parish or castle of the Given. The Givens Clan left northern Ireland moving to Scotland in the 3rd and 4th centuries and lived in the Strathclyde area—owning much land until around 1620 when their lands were taken away because they were not Catholic. The Given Clan (Gavine/Gavin was the spelling in Scotland) was Protestant, most likely Presbyterian, the official Protestant religion of Scotland.
Most of the Given/Gavine Clan had to leave Scotland, returning to that part of northern Ireland where they had earlier lived, the Ulster District, near Dungiven, which is still on some maps today. In the early 1700s numerous Givens, "s" was added to their name in America, began arriving in American from Ireland, some of these descending from Samuel Given of Ireland who had sons and many grandchildren that came to America during this period. A book written by Jane Craig Reichlein about the SAMUEL GIVENS FAMILY, from whom she descends, probably gives the best clues to our family's earliest ancestors, due to the commonality of names.
Georgina Given, a recent librarian from northern Ireland, gave information concerning the Given Clan, its living in Scotland and eventually coming back to Ireland. The Given/Gavine Clan or its leader was awarded a coat-of-arms by the King of Scotland about the year 1000, indicating a knight in the family. This coat-of-arms is documented in the ANNUALS OF HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. It is the same arms used by the Given Clan which returned to Ireland in the 1620s.
The Givens Clan and its descendants are described in general terms as a sturdy, independent, thrifty, persevering and intelligent tribe, possessing oftentimes a characteristic courage tempered with caution and common sense. The bearers of the Givens name have found congenial occupations in this country in the field of agriculture, law, letters, education, political, military and ecclesiastical affairs.
ANCESTORY OF THE JOHN R. AND ELIZABETH SEALS GIVENS FAMILY
John R. Givens was born 1766 in Pittsylvania Co, VA, which means he was could have been too young to have been in the Revolutionary War. He died before 1840 in Monroe Co, TN. Elizabeth Seals Givens was b. @ 1764 in Halifax Co, VA. John E. and Elizabeth Givens were married on 3/7/1788 in Pittsylvania Co, VA. Elizabeth died after 1840 in Monroe Co, TN. Their male children were the following:
James b. 1789 in VA; d. 1870 in Monroe Co, TN
Thomas b. 1792 in VA; d. in Sneedville, TN, area
Edward b. 1795? In VA or TN
Zachariah b. 1797 in TN; died in Monroe Co, TN, in 1860
Samuel b. 1804 in TN; died in AR in 1860-63?
John b. 1806 in TN; died in AR in 1885
John R. Givens was a Baptist preacher who brought his entire church from VA into the Claiborne/Hawkins/Hancock area in the late 1790s, settling near the Bever Creek area. His son, John, also became a Baptist minister, first in the Monroe Co, TN, area, where a John and Elizabeth Givens were listed as charter members of a new church along with Samuel Givens. The elderly John and Elizabeth apparently were living with son John by 1834, listed on the 1840 census with John and his family. Before the Civil War John moved to Arkansas where is credited with starting many Baptist churches in northern Arkansas. Their brother James remained in Monroe Co, and their brother Thomas of our line remained in northeastern TN. Brother, Edward, has not been researched enough to know where he was living after the 1830 census which placed him in Claiborne Co, TN, living near Thomas. Zachariah and Samuel were living in Monroe Co, TN, with Samuel moving to Arkansas later.
Biographical information provided by Lana Givens indicates that John II, son of John R., stated that his father had fought in the Revolutionary. However, this could have been his father. {A good clue might be the Battle of King's Mountain.} As early as 1746 and 1747 an Edward Givin and John Givin were granted land patents in the Pittsylvania Co, VA, area. It is believed that John R.'s grandfather was John and that Edward was an uncle. These Givins were two of several Givens moving from Ireland into the Shenandoah Valley area of Virginia. I believe there is strong evidence which would link this line of Givens back to a Grandfather Samuel Given who lived in the late 1600s in Ireland.
This is an on-going search of the Givens found in Ireland, Scotland, USA, and even Australia.
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