It appears that “Sauvain” was the originial spelling of the family name.\u00a0 Sovain is also found spelled: Sovine, Souvain.\u00a0 Abraham Sovain is DAR patriot A209706 for assisting the colonist by paying the 1783 Supply Tax,\u00a0 Source:\u00a0 LIB OF VA, PERSONAL PROP TAX 1782-1802, REEL # 124; HENINGS STATUTES, VOL XI, PP 112-129.\u00a0 Before arriving in the colonies, he was born about 1741 in France or Switzerland.\u00a0 I have proven the connection of each generation.<\/p>\n
A History of Monroe County, West Virginia p. 404 gives the Sovain family as: Abraham (d. 1805) (Lydia). C: Nancy, Lydia, Henry, Polly, (_____ Wade), Kate (_____ Spickard), Elizabeth (_____ Smith), and Susannah (_____ Cooper).<\/p>\n
Provided by Alicia Keatley Polk: Their children were:<\/p>\n Mary, b Frederick Co VA, m Thomas Wade 1787, Frederick Co VA On Oct 26, 1768, the ship Crawford, Charles smith master, docked at 20 Jun 1773 there was the christening of Maria Catharina, their daughter, at the Evangelical Reformed Church, Frederick, Frederick, Maryland.<\/p>\n On 2 Sep 1777, Joseph Jones and his wife executed to Abraham Sovain a On 8 March 1780, Abraham Sovain and Lydia Sovain, his wife, of On 2 May 1780, William Baylis conveyed to Abraham Sovain Lot or The 1782 census of Frederick Co records Abraham Sovain as head of a On 8 Apr 1784, Abraham Sovain and Lydia, his wife, executed a mortgage In Winchester on 16 Oct 1785 an early Lutheran minister baptised Abraham On 9 June 1787, Mary Souvain (sic) was married to Thomas Wade in On 7 July 1788, the ship LeBrie, a barque from London, arrived in The first US Census lists Abraham Sovain as Head of Family with 7 white people and 1 black person in the household. This census does not provide details of the other persons gender or names.<\/p>\n The next record of the Sovains appears in Botetort Co, VA in 1793, when In 1799 Monroe Co VA, now WV, was formed, and for a few years a court Nancy After the death of Abraham Sovain, his widow Lydia<\/a> apparently moved to In the same county on 30 Dec 1812, Samuel Burk married Ann Sovain, no In 1821 Lydia Sovain<\/a> made her will, showing that after the death of In 1859 one Henry Sovaine (sic), 76, son of Abraham and Lydia Sovaine While the marriage of James Keatley<\/a> and Lydia Sovain<\/a> took place in Morton stated that the name “Sovain” was French in origin, a fact The above notes suggest that Abraham Sovain was essentially a townsman, Abraham apparently was neither very rich nor very poor, it was still necessary for his widow to support herself after his death. He was a Huguenot who was literate in an age when many men were not; his wife was illiterate in an age when few women were otherwise. I have no record of his marriage <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It appears that “Sauvain” was the originial spelling of the family name.\u00a0 Sovain is also found spelled: Sovine, Souvain.\u00a0 Abraham Sovain is DAR patriot A209706 for assisting the colonist by paying the 1783 Supply Tax,\u00a0 Source:\u00a0 LIB OF VA, PERSONAL PROP TAX 1782-1802, REEL # 124; HENINGS STATUTES, VOL XI, PP 112-129.\u00a0 Before arriving in … Continue reading Ancestor 114 Abraham Sovain<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1034","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marysfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marysfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marysfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marysfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marysfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1034"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.marysfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1034\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1299,"href":"https:\/\/www.marysfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1034\/revisions\/1299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marysfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nLydia<\/a> was the daughter of Abraham and Lydia Sovain<\/a>. Abraham arrived in Philadelphia 26 Oct 1768 on the ship Crawford, which sailed from Rotterdam via Cowes, which is adjacent to Portsmouth, England. From 1768 to 1792 he lived in Winchester, Frederick Co, VA. He lived in Botetort Co VA from 1793 to 1797, and in Monroe co VA from 1799 until his death in 1805. After his death, his wife Lydia moved to Blacksburg, Montgomery Co VA, where she lived until her death in 1828.<\/p>\n
\nCatharine, b Frederick Co VA, m Joseph Spickard 1793, Botetort Co VA
\nSusannah, b Frederick Co VA, m Isaac Carper 1797, Botetort Co VA
\nRebecca, b Frederick Co VA, m Samuel Clark 1797, Botetort Co VA
\nElizabeth, b Frederick Co VA, m Henry Smith 1797, Botetort Co VA
\nAbraham, b 16 Oct 1785 Frederick Co VA, d 17 June 1786, Frederick Co VA
\nHenry, b 1783 Frederick Co VA, m 1) Milly Brown, 1805, Monroe Co VA, 2)
\nCatharine
\nThomas, 22 Aug 1826, Montgomery Co VA, d 1859, Lawrence Co KY
\nLydia<\/a>, m James Keatley<\/a> 2 May 1809, Montgomery Co VA, d 1869 Monroe Co VA
\nAnn, b Botetort Co VA, m Samuel Burk 30 Dec 1812, Montgomery Co VA<\/p>\n
\nPhiladelphia, having completed a voyage from Rotterdam via Cowes. Male
\npassengers debarking in PA were required to sign an oatf of loyalty to
\nthe British crown, due to uneasiness caused in that colony by the heavy
\ninflux of immigrants, mostly from Germany. Of a passenger list of 198,
\n86 “subscribed to the usual qualifications.” Among them was “Abraham
\nSaurain.” The record does not reflect whether he brought a wife to
\nAmerica, or where he boarded the Crawford at Rotterdam or at Cowes<\/p>\n
\ndeed of release of Lot 44, Winchester, in Frederick Co VA, indicating
\nthe paying off of a mortgage. The borrower executed to the lender a
\n“deed of lease” and upon payment of the loan, the lender executed to the
\nborrower a “deed of release” thereby putting ownership in him.<\/p>\n
\nWinchester, executed a deed of release to Elias Holding “Gaoler of
\nFrederick County” conveying an undivided one-half of Lot 44. Abraham
\naffixed his signature; Lydia signed by her mark.<\/p>\n
\nhalf-acre No. 203 in Winchester, being the corner of Cork and Cameron
\nStreets.<\/p>\n
\nfamily consisting of seven whites and one black.<\/p>\n
\nto secure a bond of L100, exclusive of another mortgage, on Lot No. 203.<\/p>\n
\nSovain Jr, son of Abraham and Lydia Sovain, and on Dec 9 of that year,
\nbaptised one John William Heyl, with Abraham Sovine and his wife Lydia
\nas sponsors. On 17 June 1786 he recorded the burial of “Abraham
\nSovain’s child Abraham aged 9 months and 12 days.”<\/p>\n
\nFrederick Co. Other records confirm that this was a daughter of Abraham
\nSovain, and the existence of a daughter of marriageable age in 1787
\nsuggests that if he did not bring his wife with him on the Crawford, he
\nmarried not long after his arrival in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
\nPhiladelphia, carrying as passengers “Jean Pierre Sauvain, sa feme
\nCatherine, Abram Sauvain de Vinzestre en Virginie, and David Dauvain.”
\nWhile it is not indicated how these passengers were related to Abraham
\nSovain, it is likely that, after the Revolution, Abraham’s financial
\nstatus permitting, he returned to Europe to bring these relatives to
\nAmerica. No further record of Jean Pierre and Catherine has been
\nfound.<\/p>\n
\nJoseph Spickard married Catharine Sovain, and in 1797, when Isaac Carper
\nmarried Susanna Levain (sic) daughter of Abraham Levain (sic), Samuel
\nClark married Rebecca Levain (sic) daughter of Abraham Levain (sic), and
\nHenry Smith married Elizabeth Lorain (sic). These records appear
\npertinent in view of the fact that the handwritten records left much to
\nbe desired in terms of spelling, and the fact that the written “S’s”
\naaaand “L’s” of that time are difficult to distinguish.<\/p>\n
\nwas conducted at Sweet Springs. In the order book of that court it is
\nrecorded that Abraham Sovain, jailer, was allowed $2.00 per day for his
\nattendance. Oren F. Morton, in his history of Monroe County, reports
\nthat the court records of that county from March 1805 until 1811 have
\ndisappeared. Notwithstanding, he reports the death of Abraham Sovain
\nthere in 1805, survived by his widow Lydia and the following children:<\/p>\n
\nLydia<\/a> Sovain
\nHenry (Probably he who married Milly Brown in 1805, Monroe Co)
\nPolly Wade (no doubt Mary who married Thomas Wade in Frederick Co)
\nKate Spickard (Catharine who married Joseph Spickard, Botetort Co)
\nElizabeth Smith (who married Henry Smith, Botetort Co)
\nSusannah Cooper (probably she who married Isaac Carper, Botetort Co)<\/p>\n
\nBlacksburg, Montgomery Co, with the younger children. It was there that
\nJames Keatley<\/a> wed Lydia Sovine<\/a> (sic) on 2 May 1809, with Harmon Sifford,
\nguardian, consenting for Lydia.<\/p>\n
\ndoubt the Nancy who is listed as a survivor of Abraham, who was further
\nidentified as the daughter of Abraham Sovain, deceased. In Dec 1815 the
\nwill of Samuel Burks as probated, mentioning the testator’s wife, Nancy,
\nand on 22 Aug 1826 Henry Sevine (sic) married Catherine Thomas in
\nMontgomery Co. If this Henry was the son of Abraham and Lydia Sovain,
\nas is likely, this was his second marriage, as shown by the record of an
\n1805 marriage to Milly Brown in Monroe Co.<\/p>\n
\nAbraham, she had operated a grocery store in Blacksburg, apparently with
\nsuccess, for she left, among other property, two lots in that town which
\nshe had purchased since his death.. Nancy Burk, the widow of Samuel
\nBurk, had been her mother’s only assistant in accumulating her property,
\nand for this reason, and for the further reason that Nancy had received
\nbut little of the estate of her father, while the other children were
\nreasonable well cared for, Lydia made her daughter Nancy Burk her sole
\nbeneficiary and heir, referring to the other children, but not naming
\nthem. Lydia apparently died in 1828, the year in which her will was
\nprobated. Presumably the young widowhood of Nancy Burk provided the
\nolder widow an additional reason to name her as sole heir.<\/p>\n
\n(sic), and born in Giles Co VA, dies in Lawrence Co, KY. It is noted
\nthat Giles Co was not organized until 1806, and that in 1783, the stated
\nyear of Henry’s birth, the Sovain family was living in Winchester,
\nFrederick Co.<\/p>\n
\nMontgomery Co in 1809, it is noted that, at least to 1805, the Sovain’s
\nlived in Monroe Co, where the Keatley’s also lived, near the mouth of
\nIndian Creek, and on Brush Creek. It is possible that the younger
\npeople were acquainted before the death of Abraham in 1805; it is also
\npossible that the Sovain’s may have remained in Monroe County for a
\nfew years after his death.<\/p>\n
\nconfirmed by the spelling “Sauvain” and by the names of Abraham’s kin,
\nJean Pierre and his wife Catharine. That this family was Protestant is
\nshown by the baptismal records in Winchester. Many French Protestants
\nfled their native land to escape persecution in the 1600’s and 1700’s,
\nmany settling in England and later migrating to America. Thus, it is
\npossible that Abraham or his ancestors fled to England long before 1768
\nand that it was from Cowes that he sailed for Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
\nas distinguished from the Keatley’s, who were countrymen. In Winchester
\nhe lived in town and had real estate dealings with the local jailer, and
\nthat he later became a jailer suggests that he may have been employed
\nby, or in some position near to, the jailer of Frederick Co. It is also
\nlikely that he operated a grocery store, since it is unlikely that his
\nuneducated widow could have begun and successfully operated such a
\nbusiness without prior knowledge and experience. In this connection, it
\nis noted that she executed her will by her mark, indicating she had not
\nlearned to write in her later years.<\/p>\n
\nto Lydia or her maiden name. Some such record may exist in
\nPhiladelphia. It appears that “Sauvain” was the correct family name,
\nprobably corrupted by Anglo-Saxons attempting to spell the French name
\nphonetically.<\/p>\n