WARNING: THEORY ONLY!!!!!
My husband’s Jarvis line has been somewhat of a challenge. Valinda Jarvis, born c1799, married Abraham Douthit on 29 December 1816 in Rowan County, North Carolina. Abraham was born 11 April 1797 in North Carolina and died on 17 February 1863 in Newton County, Missouri.
Facts become a bit murky after that. Valinda (Jarvis) Douthit appears to have died in the 1830s, possibly in Davidson County, North Carolina. Abraham Douthit never remarried.
Valinda Jarvis is said to be the daughter of Zadock Jarvis, whose wife has never been identified, not even by a first name.
In 1810, there are three Jarvis men living in Rowan County, North Carolina – Zadock, over 45, James, 26-45 and William, 26-44.
The census enumerations provide a possible grouping of children for Zadock:
- James, born c1774; married Sally Paget, 6 January 1796, Rowan County, North Carolina
- Daughter, born after 1775
- Daughter born after 1784
- Daughter, born after 1784
- Zadock, born c1789; married Lucy Owens, 13 February 1813, Rowan County, North Carolina
- Nathan, born c1790; married Sally Peck, 26 September 1811, Rowan County, North Carolina
- Son, born after 1794
- Valinda, born c1799; married Abraham Douthit, 29 December 1816, Rowan County, North Carolina
- Daughter, born before 1800
- Daughter, born after 1800
To further complicate matters, Zadock Jarvis apparently left North Carolina in his old age, traveling with son James to Union County, Indiana. “Zadocks Jarvis” was so enumerated in 1830, aged 80-89 years old with one female aged 20-29 also in the home. This female might be the proposed daughter born after 1800.
Zadock Jarvis apparently lived in Montgomery County, Maryland during the Revolutionary War. Zadock, Elisha and James Jarvis all appear on the county militia roll.
Zadock moved to Rowan County, North Carolina before 1790, as he appears in census records there from 1790-1820.
Further – and here is where UNPROVEN theories really come into play – it is “believed” that Zadock was the son of one James Jarvis. This idea perhaps came about because James Jarvis seems to be the eldest son of Zadock and, back in 1776, Zadock was on the militia roll with Elisha and James Jarvis.
There are no Jarvises who appear in the NSDAR Ancestor Index. All that means is that no one has joined DAR under Zadock, Elisha or James.
A Jarvis descendant found me and PROPOSED the following lineage for Zadock Jarvis. Again, this is just a THEORY to be proved or disproved!
- Francis Jarvis, born July 1623, Bishopwearmouth, Durham, England arrived in Virginia in 1635 indentured to Francis Stockley and first lived in Northampton County, Virginia; married Ann Gascoigne, c1642, probably in Accomack County, Virginia
- John Jarvis, born c1644; married Mary (MNU), probably Northampton County, Virginia
- John Jarvis, born c1675; died 1720, York County, Virginia; married Elizabeth Wilkinson, c1700
They reportedly were the parents of eight children, including James, born c1712. This James Jarvis is possibly the proposed James jarvis, father of Zadock Jarvis, born c1750.
There are definitely a lot of maybes, possiblys, proposed, purporteds to be found in the Jarvis family.
While the time frame seems to work, there is a lot of research needed to document the lives of Francis, John and John Jarvis and figuring out how James and Zadock ended up in Montgomery County, Maryland.
We have Francis Jarvis in Accomack and Northampton Counties (they were the same place at one time before splitting in half with Accomack to the north of Northampton County, John Sr. marrying probably in Northampton County and John Jr. dying in York County, Virginia in 1720.
York County is across the Chesapeake Bay to the west of Northampton and Accomack Counties, but not far away.
The leaves the big question to be answered – Did this Jarvis family move north into northern Maryland to Montgomery County between the 1720s and 1776?
I rarely try to connect ancestors working both backwards and forward in time. This is one of those rare times that I have to. I will begin with Montgomery County to see what else might be learned about the Jarvis family there during the Revolutionary War.
More to come!
Hi there!
I’ve been reading through your thoughtful notes on the Jarvis line, and I just wanted to say how impressed I am by the care and time you’ve put into trying to untangle this family. The Jarvises are not an easy group to track — they reused names constantly, migrated in every direction, and left just enough of a paper trail to confuse even the best researchers. You’ve clearly done a lot of work already, and it really shows.
I noticed one thing that might help both of us keep the lines clear moving forward: it looks like two different men named Zadock Jarvis may have gotten mixed together in some of the online trees and theories. There is one Zadock who lived his life in Montgomery County, Maryland and then Rowan County, North Carolina, and another Zadock who later appears in Indiana. Their ages, locations, and household patterns don’t line up, so they seem to be completely separate men who just happened to share a very unusual name.
Once those two Zadocks are separated, the Maryland → North Carolina migration path becomes much clearer, and some of the theories involving Indiana fall away naturally. It actually simplifies the picture a lot, which is a relief because the Jarvis family leaves just enough clues to make things tricky – trust I have been carefully teasing this apart!!
I also wanted to gently mention that the proposed Francis → John → John Jr. → James lineage from early Virginia is a very interesting theory, but so far there aren’t any documents directly connecting that York County line to the Jarvises in Montgomery County, Maryland. It’s absolutely fine to keep it on a “maybe someday” list — but it might save you some frustration to focus first on the earlier Maryland records where Zadock, Elisha, and James Jarvis appear together in the 1778 Oath of Fidelity and militia lists. Those are such solid, promising starting points.
Please don’t take any of this as criticism — genealogy is messy, and these early families test everybody’s patience! You’re doing wonderful work by asking questions and exploring possibilities, and I really admire your persistence. I think you’re closer to the right trail than you realize, and I’m happy to help however I can as we sort out which Jarvis belongs where.
You’re onto something good — we just have to gently untangle the strands so the right story can come through. Would love to see any artifacts that you have that may counter my theories!