Descendants of Thomas Tavenner

First Generation


1. Thomas Tavenner [scrapbook] was born on 18 Apr 1776 in Loudoun County, Virginia. He died on 23 May 1857 in Parkersburg, Wood County, Virginia. He was buried in Old Tavenner Graveyard, Parkersburg, Wood County, Virginia.

The following information was contributed by Patricia B. Duncan, in an e-mail on 18 June 2006:
Index to the 1782-1850 Loudoun County, Virginia, Personal Property Tax Lists
1793A Third Battalion Tavener, Thos. residing with Nichols, Isaac
1795C First Battalion Tavener, T. residing with Nickols, Isaac (cooper)

The following information was found at: ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/wv/wood/taxlists
Wood County West Virginia -- Names of Early Landowners taken from Tax Commissioners Books, 1802--1822. (WPA Records)
Year of: 1804, 1806, 1807, 1809, 1811, 1812, 1814, 1815, 1816, 1817, 1819, 1820, 1821, 1822
Tavenner, Thomas

The following information was found at ancestry.com:
Sims Index to Land Grants in West Virginia – by Edgar B. Sims, State Auditor, Charlestown, West Virginia, 1952
Name of Grantee: Tavener, Thomas; Acres: 100; Local description: Adjcent his own; Year: 1816; Book 1, p. 185

The following information was contributed by Cynthia Buskirk, who mailed me copies of numerous Tavenner documents on 11 Jan 2006.
1) Excerpt from an article in: West Virginia Heritage Encyclopedia Supplemental Vol. 8:
pp. 8-9: February 1st, 1802 -- ...Hugh Phelps presented a commission from the governor appointing him sheriff of Wood county, and was qualified, and Thomas Tavenner was qualified as his deputy.
2) Excerpt from an article in: West Virginia Heritage Encyclopedia Supplemental Vol. 9:
pp. 142-143: Chapter VII. West Virginians in the Second War with England --The War of 1812 -- Correspondence Connected Therewith.
County: Wood; Division: 3rd; Brigade: 20th; Regiment: 113th; Major Thomas Tavenner; Date of Commission: June 27, 1809.
3) Excerpt from an article in: West Virginia Heritage Encyclopedia Supplemental Vol. 10-11:
pp. 266-267: The TAVENNER HOUSE (private), Central Ave. between George and Pike Sts., was erected in 1800 and is the oldest house in the vicinity. It is a two-story rectangular structure of crumbling red brick with inside brick chimneys, a massive, square, paneled doorway, and squere sash windows. Before the house, which stands 100 yards form the street, is a stone outbuilding, crumbling with age, and two frame out-buildings. The bilding was erected by Colonel Hugh Phelps, who operated a tavern and ferry. As a militia officer in 1806 he was ordered to arrest Aaron Burr and Harman Blennerhassett, but found that they had escaped down the Ohio River. In 1823 he sold the house to Colonel Thomas Tavenner, also an officer of the militia, and it is still in the possession of the Tavenner family. For many years this section of the town was known as Tavennerville. In the Tavenner Cemetery, Central Ave., a small fenced-in area across from the Tavenner House, the oldest marked grave is that of Alexander Tavenner (1768--1848).

The following information was found posted under the Wood County, Virginia section of the GenForum at genealogy.com:
1804 TAVENER, WOLF, GLAZE, DUTTON, VANVLARA, & BADGLEY
Wood Co.,(Va.) 2 July 1804, Deed Book 2, pg.166.
“Tavener, Thomas to Episcopalian trustees, Reece WOLF, John GLAZE, Kingman DUTTON, Andrew VANVLARA, and John BADGLEY...for erection of a place of worship and school house for Episcopal Church.”

The following information was taken from online images of original handwritten U.S. Census Forms:
1810
New Point, Wood County, Virginia; Page No. 4; Dated: 6 Aug 1810.
Thomas Tavinor; Males: "under 10y" =1, "26y thru 44y" =2; Females: "26y thru 44y" =1
1820
Wood County, Virginia, Page No. 1090
Thomas Tavner; Males: "under 10y" =2, "10y & under 16y" =1, "16y & under 26y incl. heads of families" =1, "26y & under 45y" =1, "45y & older" =1; Females: "under 10y" =1, "26y & under 45y" =1
1830
Wood County, Virginia, Page No. 401
Thomas Tavenner; Males: "5y & under 10y" =1, "15y & under 20y" =2, "20y & under 30y" =1, "50y & under 60y" =1; Females: "5y & under 10y" =1, "10y & under 15y" =2, "15y & under 20y" =1, "40y & under 50y" =1
1840
Western District, Wood County, Virginia, Page No. 133
Thomas Tavenner; Males: "15y & under 20y" =1, "20y & under 30y" =1, "60y & under 70y" =1; Females: "50y & under 60y" =1
1850
District 65, Wood County, Virginia. Dated: 17 August 1850.
Line 25: Thomas Tavenner; 74y; Occupation: Farmer

The following Information was found at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~garfield/history/wirtform.htm:
Acts of the General Assembly of Virginia
Passed at the Session Commencing December 4, 1848, and ending March 19, 1849
In the Seventy-Third Year of the Commonwealth.
Chap. 59. - An ACT to change the place of holding a separate election in the county of Wirt.
[Passed March 12, 1849.]
1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That the separate election heretofore authorized to be holden at the house of Thomas Tavenner in Elizabethtown in the then county of Wood, (now county of Wirt,) at the same place, and but a short distance from the courthouse thereof, shall be and the same is hereby discontinued, and in lieu thereof the usual election shall be holden at the courthouse of said county of Wirt, as required by law to be holden at the courthouse or place of holding courts of each and every county of this commonwealth.
2. This act shall be in force from its passage.

The following information was copied directly from the indicated Register Book by Teresa Fordyce, and forwarded to me by e-mail (Frank Tavener).
Register Book 1, p. 13 – Thomas Tavenner
Died 23 May 1857 in Wood County, West Virginia; Aged 81 yrs.
Born in Loudoun Co., Virginia; Informant: T. J. Tavenner, Son

The following information was found at: www.interment.net
Tavenner Cemetery, Parkersburg, Wood County, West Virginia. Contributed by Teresa Fordyce, Jul 21, 2003. I walked and transcribed this cemetery on Jul 17, 2003.
Tavenner, Thomas, b. Apr 18, 1776, d. May 23, 1857

The following information was found in the Internet GEDCOM file: gemmavic.ged.
Ref. Hardesty's Biographical Atlas of West Virginia, Vol. 8 (1882)
Reprinted by West Augusta Historical & Genealogical Society
Parkersburg, Wood County, West Virginia
p. 176: "COLONEL THOMAS TAVENNER. Prominent among the pioneer settlers of Wood County, was Colonel Thomas Tavenner, who, born in Loudoun County, Virginia, April 18, 1776, left an orphan in childhood, came west in 1798, and found a home among the colonists of Neils Fort, as it was then called, now Parkersburg, West Virginia. In his day he was one of the leading and most influential citizens of his county, and filled many public offices, occupied many positions of honor, and ever proved faithful to the trusts reposed in him. He was of the Whig persuasion politically, and regarded as the true friend to the people, and possessed that great strength of mind and force of character which go so far to make the man. In appreciation of his high worth, his friend selected him their representative to the House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia for the year 1806, in which capacity he served, protecting and caring for the interests of his constituents, from whom he received the endorsement of being again and again returned to that honorable body. He qualified as one of the early justices of the county, in 1807; served as president of the County court from 1819 to 1821; in1816 was appointed and qualified as deputy sheriff for the county and deputy marshal for the Fourth Chancery district, and served as such until 1821, when duly commissioned by the governor of Virginia, he qualified as high sheriff for the county, and creditably discharged the duties of that office for two years, the limit of time fixed by law. For many years he held the rank of colonel of the 113th Regiment of Virginia Militia, until April 8, 1823, when he resigned that honor, but was always popularly known as 'Colonel Tavenner'. In 1839, February 18, he again qualified as justice, and for a number of years served as president of the County court. He was married February 22, 1807, to Elizabeth Beauchamp, only daughter of Rev. William Beauchamp, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, whose name is connected with the early history of Wood and Wirt counties. Of their five children, two alone are now living, but of their numerous descendants, many still reside in this county. Colonel Tavenner was a man of vigorous intellect, scope of mind, probity of conscience, strict ideas of honor, and notwithstanding his austerity of manner, possessed a kind and sympathetic heart. He was never connected with any religious denomination, but educated a Friend or Quaker; was a firm believer in the truths of Christianity, and ever assisted its advancement. Persuaded of the wrong of slavery, in settling his earthly affairs, he provided by will for the enfranchisement of his slaves to the support of those of them unable to care for themselves. The influence derived from his public life, and the moderate fortune he had acquired, he exercised for the good of his county, and was an important factor in the formation of Wirt County; the establishment of the Northwestern Bank of Virginia, the first permanent bank of the county; the building of the northwestern turnpike, Elizabeth and Parkersburg turnpike, and the Parkersburg branch of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, in all of which he invested liberally of his means. Having buried his wife and oldest son, after a lingering illness, he died May 23, 1857, at the age of 81 years, followed to the grave by a concourse of friends and mourned for by a family of affectionate children, and while more than a quarter of a century has since elapsed his name is still so familiar and his memory so fresh with the older citizens of Wood County, that its history were incomplete without mention of him whose friends were legion and whose handiwork was not in vain."

Ref. "Gleanings from Wood County, West Virginia, History; and Traditions and
A Little About the Lives of Some of the People Who Were Called 'The Pioneers'"
by Nancy Stout Beckwith, Rt. 2, Box 311, Washington West Virginia 26181(1969)
p. 40: "In 1776 Thomas Tavenner settled at Ft. Neal; was Deputy-Sheriff for Hugh Phelps; wife, Elizabeth Beauchamp, of Wirt Co., W. Va., and Ch: Cabell - Thomas J. - Elizabeth - Franklin. Thomas J. md.1st, Nancy Spencer Maddox, widow; second, Ann Rebecca Lydia Butcher, daughter of Benjamin Metzger Butcher; 7 children; Ray md. (Elizabeth Hanks); Hattie - Elizabeth - and others."

Thomas married Elizabeth Beauchamp [scrapbook] daughter of William Beauchamp and Elizabeth Manlove on 22 Feb 1807 in Wood County, Virginia. Elizabeth was born on 15 Mar 1781 in Wirt County, Virginia. She died on 30 Sep 1844 in Parkersburg, Wood County, Virginia. She was buried in Old Tavenner Graveyard, Parkersburg, Wood County, Virginia.

The following information was found at: ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/wv/wood/taxlists
Wood County West Virginia -- Names of Early Landowners taken from Tax Commissioners Books, 1802--1822. (WPA Records)
Year of: 1809, 1810, 1811, 1813, 1814, 1815, 1816, 1817, 1819, 1820, 1821, 1822
Tavenner, Elizabeth

The following information was found at: www.interment.net
Tavenner Cemetery, Parkersburg, Wood County, West Virginia. Contributed by Teresa Fordyce, Jul 21, 2003. I walked and transcribed this cemetery on Jul 17, 2003.
Tavenner, Elizabeth, b. Mar 15, 1781, d. Sep 30, 1844, w/o Thomas Tavenner, (very worn)

Thomas and Elizabeth had the following children:

+ 2 M i Cabell Tavenner
+ 3 M ii Franklin Benjamin Tavenner
+ 4 M iii Isaac Tavenner
+ 5 F iv Ann Elizabeth Tavenner
+ 6 M v Thomas Jefferson Tavenner

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