by Conduskeag@aol.com

The Colvin family is the one side of our family that does not trace quickly back to it's immigrant roots. The earliest notation of our Colvin ancestors may be Alexander Colvin in Culpepper Co. Virginia in tax records 1787. There were other Colvins in this area at this time including a John Colvin b.1758 and in the DAR Patriot index a Benjamin b.1758, a Mason b.1760, a Daniel b. 1737, a Henry b. 1762 but whether they are related remains unclear. It is possible that Alexander immigrated from Ireland or Scotland directly.

The 1780's were a time when Western Virginia's populace was 95% English, Irish, or Scottish. The people in this area were on the move through Daniel Boone's Cumberland Gap into the new state of Kentucky, which was formed after the land west of the Cumberland mountains split from Virginia on 1 June 1791. The people who left Virginia were the small farmers of the "Barrens", an area between the rich tidewater planters and the poor mountain people. They were a group of people who had come to the colonies frequently as indentured servants, but had earned their freedom and had been able to buy small farms in this area which was hotly contested by the Indians, and the land was less expensive.

The Alexander Colvin Family
Many of these Colvins appear to have gone through the Cumberland Gap and then followed the waterways to Central Kentucky. The first notation of "our" Alexander Colvin is in the Marriage records of Christian County Kentucky on 19 Jan 1809. Alexander Colvin had settled in Christian Co. Kentucky and married an Isbell Grayham. They are listed as having no land, 5 blacks and 3 horses in 1810. By 1814 they have 50 acres of land , one black and 2 horses, as well as a son Robert, b. 20 Nov 1812 and a daughter Catherine, b.1814. They had one other son John Colvin born in 1817. Robert was the oldest son. Isbell appears to have died ( childbirth?) and Alexander after a relatively brief time as caretaker to 3 small children aged 1-5, took out a marriage license with Hannah Bleese, but did not marry her in July 1818.

He did marry Phebe Garner on 29 Oct 1818 in Howard Co Kentucky. Phebe had one son named Young, who was illegitimate and this son took the Colvin surname after their marriage. There is no adoption record. Phebe and Alexander had the other Colvin siblings. James (b. 1820), Hiram (14 Mar 1822), Sarah Ann (b.11 Feb 1824), William (1827), Delilah (1827?), and Henry ( 1825?). They moved to Boone County Missouri some time around 1828. All the children were married ( except bachelor John) in Missouri, with Catherine married at the age of 14 in Boone County Missouri to John Coates on 3 Feb 1828. The next marriages occurred in 1839 involving both James and Sarah in Monroe County. All the others were married in Scotland County. When Alexander died his wife Phebe listed his personal belongings as a gun, a clock, and 20 hogs. It is of interest that neither could write their names in the documents reviewed. They did make a mark which was witnessed.

Alexander did find himself in trouble in 1838 when he was charged with assault with intent to kill a man named Willis. He posted a bond by pledging his land and was then acquitted of the charge.

The forces that moved the Colvins appeared to be opportunity and distress. These were growth times for the United States. The original 13 colonies, whose original borders extended to the Mississippi River gradually gave birth to the newer Western States of Kentucky and and Missouri. Kentucky and Illinois were part of a land grant system in which Land Warrants were given for military service during the Revolution and the War of 1812.

Slavery was a dividing issue even in 1821, when the Missouri Compromise allowed Maine to be created as a Free State out of Massachusetts while Missouri came from land that was part of old Virginia as a Slave State.

It should be known that the Colvins were slaveowners, as were most small farmers of that time. These were politically charged times with violent actions by both Abolitionists and pro-slavery groups. These times in Missouri were marked by the Abolitionist movement's continual conflict with the slaveowners of "Little Dixie" in southern Missouri. Violence was common.

A large growth in population occurred as Irish (rural) and German urban ( ie Anheuser- Busch-St. Louis) immigrants arrived , and slaves fell from 28% to 10% of the population. The rural Irish had a well documented hate of the urban Abolitionist Germans (perhaps even Mr. Willis). An on going guerrilla war with private armies as well as a State militia had many conflicts. The Missouri militia fought with the Mormons in 1838, and drove the group out of the state and further West. War with Mexico over Texas drew huge military support from Missouri, and the soldiers served with Major Don Carlos Buell and supported General Zachary Taylor's Army.

In 1860, Missouri voted for Stephen Douglas in the presidential election, the only State to do so. In 1861 Federal troops invaded Missouri to seize the U.S. Arsenal at Springfield from the State Militia. The U.S. Army was defeated at Wilson's Creek in August and did not gain control of the arsenal until the following Spring when three divisions of federal troops drove all Secessionist troops into Arkansas. A vote to secede from the Union failed by an 80 to 1 ratio, and a Governor loyal to Lincoln then held power in the State until after the War. This did not bring peace to the State however. 109,000 soldiers mustered into the Union Army, and 50,000 into the Confederate Army, and the conflict split families and friends. A prolonged period of guerrilla warfare followed. Private armies with soldiers whose names would become famous prowled the countyside. Names like Jesse James, William Quantrill, and Cole Younger struck terror into the pro-Union citizens of Missouri. The secessionist militias killed pro-Union farmers and burned their farms. The Union army arrived to " protect" the interests of Abolitionists and hanged or shot secessionist traitors and burned their farms. These were bad times and many fled to more stable States in both the North and South. Union soldiers referred to Missourians as "Pukes" and assumed they were all disloyal secessionists or "Seceshes". One other term that was used was "Butternuts" due to the color of their clothes which were almost always the same color due to the fact that they dyed their homespun cloth with boilings of butternut squash.

The Robert Colvin Family
Robert Colvin was born in Christian County, Kentucky in November 1812, the eldest son of Alexander Colvin and Isbell Grayham . Robert Colvin moved with his half brothers Hiram, Henry, and William as well as with his father and Phebe to Missouri around 1828. Robert married Elizabeth "Betsy" Kite, noted to be from Ohio in Scotland County records, on 7 April 1843. A John Kite, who was Justice of the Peace in Scotland County and his wife Catherine, are undoubtedly Betsy's parents. It is possible that they came about the same time as the Colvins but from the Cinncinati area. John Kite was born in Maryland in 1784, and his wife in 1785 in Pennsylvania.

Robert cared for his stepmother Phebe for a time, until she remarried a man named Jefferson Bucklin in 1858. She then was widowed again living out her last years in Robert's home. She is present in the family photo in the lower left hand corner. She was born in 1797 and represents the oldest photo of any of our ancestors.

Family history repeated by Corinne Colvin, a granddaughter of Isaac Colvin, was that a slave of Robert's named "Simmy" lived with the Colvin family and outlived Robert. Robert Colvin seems to have been a slaveowner and a pro-Union man. Robert enlisted in the Union Army on 30 April 1864 and served as a Private in Company A of the Missouri Militia until 29 Nov 1864. He most likely was involved in maintaining the peace in Missouri.

Robert is listed in the 1850, 1860, 1870, and and 1880 censuses. Robert died 20 September 1898 and in 1902 Betsy applied for pension assistance based on his Civil War service. Betsy died on 23 March 1918.

Robert, Elizabeth Kite Colvin and a grandson Robert Burr Colvin are buried in the Pleasant Hill Cemetary in Scotland County. Robert died without a will, and probate records of Scotland Co. list his heirs as we know them.

The Siblings and Family of Isaac Colvin
Isaac Colvin was born in Scotland County, Missouri, 26 January 1856, probably near Memphis. Scotland County is one of the most northeasterly counties in Missouri. It was settled later than the St. Louis area which had been settled in pre-colonial times by the French, and only opened up after the Louisiana Purchase and some settlement of Kentucky to the East in the 1820's. Although Robert Colvin came to Scotland County in the very early days of it's settlement,by the time of Isaac's birth Memphis was a thriving town. He was the youngest son in a family of 7 children.

Isaac's oldest sister was Isabel Colvin born in 16 Nov 1843 in Missouri, married a John Ridge in 1862 and lived her life there and is buried in the Friendship Cemetary in Scotland Co.

Another sister was Mary born in 9 Feb 1861. She married Alfred Vaught in 1878. They are buried in the Memphis Cemetery.

The next was Elizabeth, or Lizzie as she was better known. She was the youngest and was born in 1864 She married Henry Bish who died and left her a widow after 30 years of marriage. They are buried in the Richland Cemetary. There is no record of any children born to Lizzie.

His brother James was born in 1847 in Scotland Co., and married Sarah Elizabeth Smith in 1868. They lived out their lives in Nodaway Co. probably in Maryville near Isaac. I knew of one son named Oakley Colvin.

Jane Colvin was born in Scotland County in 1851. She married a Robert Lancaster in Scotland County.

Sarrah Colvin was born in Scotland County near Memphis in 1853 and married a Frank Meek in 1870's. She died in 1944.

Isaac was third youngest of the family, and grew up during the Civil War years. He would have been an adolescent in the 1860's, a dark and terrible time in Missouri, when neighbor killed neighbor, and two armies took turns robbing, looting ,and burning the terrorized countryside. He married Mary Elizabeth Hall on 9 October 1879 in Scotland County, at the age of 23. Most of his children were born near Memphis.

Isaac at some point moved to Maryville Missouri and raised his family there. He raised a family of 8 children and lost one son, Robert Burr Colvin, at the age of one year. His oldest son, Bill, moved out to Western South Dakota with John J. O'Connor in the early 1900s, and Isaac eventually followed them there. His pictures reveal a well-dressed man with a long nose and large ears, but these notwithstanding, he was a handsome man. In his early years, he was a devout atheist and argued violently with anyone who chose to differ with him.

He read incessantly on the existence of God. At some point he had read enough and gave up on the idea and became a devout Catholic. He was the force in Western South Dakota that summoned the priest to the ranch once a month and held a mass which was celebrated on a bureau at his home. Attendance was mandatory. His last years were plagued with kidney failure, probably from an enlarged prostate. This was, in those times, the curse of a perpetually full bladder, followed by slow failure of the kidneys.

The Siblings and Family of Helen Ethel Colvin
Helen Ethel Colvin was born on 4 February 1882. She was second in a group of 9 siblings. She was known as Ella and was a pretty young girl seen in a grade school picture taken in Memphis when she was about 12. As the oldest girl in the family she must have had a number of family responsibilities in raising of her younger brothers and sister.

She had one older brother William Colvin born on 11 July 1880. Willie was the first Colvin to move to South Dakota when it was opened for homesteading under the Mondell Act in 1908. He went with her husband John O'Connor in the initial trip in which the Claim Shack was built and the claim for 500 acres apiece was made. William moved to Canada at some point near WWI and stayed there for some time.

Pearl was born next in Scotland County on 21 August 1886.

Robert Burr was born next on 21 October 1888, but he died only 1 year later on 19 November 1889.

Culvin Colvin was born in Scotland County on 8 Decmber 1890. Cull was a musician and a cowboy. He was known as the guitar playing uncle, and drank his whiskey straight. He looked as if he had been born on a horse and was never without his boots. His work in life was that of a carpenter and he gave up ranching early. He was married to Margaret Marie Smith on 10 April 1918. He died in May 1966 after living a number of years in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Virgil Colvin was born on 11 August 1893 in Scotland County. He moved to Powell, South Dakota, with the family around 1910, and became enamoured with ranching and remained close to ranching all his life. Virgil was in the US Army in WWI, and after the war received an appointment as Postmaster at Powell. While he was in the Army he married Martha Anne Hayes, (who was known as Sadie and who used the name Evelyn when she taught)wearing his uniform.. According to the O'Connors Sadie "took" her sister's teaching certificate to S.D. in around 1916 and taught until she married Virg, all this without the benefit of a real degree. Virg resigned as Postmaster and Sadie took over in that capacity and through rain and sleet and snow and dark of night pregnant or not the mail went through. Virg and Sadie were married 50 years, Virg and Sadie dying the same year. They are buried in Fairbault Minnesota. They had six children, their first 2 children dying in infancy. Phillip, Corinne, Florence, and John survived childhood and Corinne has supplied much of this and more.

Harley Colvin was born on 25 January 1897.

Marie Colvin was born on 20 July 1900, marrying Dick Olney. They lived out their lives and contributed to the large number of Olneys in the West River country of S.D.

Leo Colvin was born on 9 March 1903, and was his mother's darling. He married Harriet as a young man, and died fairly young also. Harriet is still living.

Ella's life as the oldest daughter took her to the age of 26 before she met "the only man that she ever loved", John J. O'Connor He was a transient member of a harvest crew, and at the time they were both from the Maryville Missouri area. After a first year, he promised to return, which he did in 1908 and they were married. Isaac, at no time ,was pleased with this arrangement. In 1909 Ella and John moved to South Dakota.

Although Ella lived a good life in the West River Country, her first few years probably seemed more like a nightmare. Her big brother, Bill, and her new husband staked claims in South Dakota in 1908, and then took their spouses to their new homes. The house was a 12x16 tarpaper shack. Her first baby, Paul, was a difficult labor in the winter of 1909 that left her hair frozen to the pillow by the time the baby was born. Paul died at the age of 2 in 1911. The house was so poor that John O'Connor was quoted that the house was so drafty that you could throw a cat out through the cracks! The alternative house was sod, and usually shared with critters such as snakes. Ella, even when I knew her from her 60's on, would talk about the howling wind and the howling wolves with a certain fear.

Ella insisted upon a new house, which an increasingly successful John was able to provide. Her next son Francis, named after her husbands younger brother, was born in 1911. Her next child Doris was born in 1915. These were good times for the Colvins and the O'Connors as they worked closely, played together in bands and enjoyed what for Western S.D. was a period of unprecedented rainfall, grass growth, and success in the cattle business. By 1920 nature was reverting to its' old ways and the dry spells were returning. John was born in 1920, and Rita Ruth was born in 1923.

John and Ella were well to do, with fine clothes and smiling pictures taken at this time confirm the good stories of these times. Many of these stories are in the O'Connor Family History. The good times were not to last. In 1924 John's father died in Dell Rapids SD. They went back for the funeral returning to Powell with a new sense of urgency.

John recognized the changing climate and was trying to breed cattle that would be a cross between the old Longhorn breeds and the newer breeds in hopes that they would be able to get by well on the poorer quality grasses left by the drier climate. John took a personal loan from a banker in Phillip by the name of Braddock, who foreclosed when John missed a payment. Although this seems unbelievable today, John lost his farm, his registered cattle, and his future. More unbelievable is that he simply walked away. He and Ella moved to Dell Rapids where he became a street maintenance man, and she a house wife. Times had changed and there was little money. Francis and Doris left home for college at the insistence of their father. The younger children, Jack and Rita felt a quiet sadness descend on the house. Ella began to suffer from depression, although all of her children remember her as a devoted mother and there was no feeling of poverty in the house, which is most likely due to a mothers management... and love.

John developed Hodgkins Disease in 1943, and he died after radiation therapy that left him horribly burned in1944. Ella moved in with Rita who was now working for an insurance company in Sioux Falls. Ella as a widow lived with a number of women roommates, and then finally by herself. I spent alot of time with her as a kid and enjoyed her old things like her toaster with doors, her pictures, and her amazing patience with a youngster teaching him to play cards.

Ella died after some time in a nursing home in Aberdeen. She suffered a lot from depression in her later years, but always was a proud woman. She had drawers full of gifts she saved for her future, even at the age of 90. Her mind was always good, and she was always friendly, even in her later years. As I remember, she gave me a most wonderful picture of being old, and a great sense of family. Perhaps best of all, she gave me my own mother, and in turn is resposible for my existence. How does one repay that?

Most of the connections with the Colvins have been lost at this time. My own life has moved away from the Dakotas. The Colvins, however remain an integral and interesting part of our heritage.