The name of COLVIN is said by some historians to be of ancient Anglo-Saxon origin and derived from one Colvin or Colvinus, who was a "tenant-in-chief", of Devonshire, England, in the early eleventh century. It was first used as a personal or baptismal name and taken as a patronymic by the sons of one so called. Others assert that the name is of Scottish origin, but it is probable that the first-mentioned theory is correct. [More recent scholarship points to a Norman origin derived from de Colleville. Guillaume de Colleville and Gilbert de Colleville were both knights who served in William the Conqueror's invasion forces, though it is not clear that these de Collevilles are related to the Colvins. Later, the Coleville name came to be associated with the Roxburgh District of Scotland, and Colvin was derived from it. At any rate, the two names are closely associated. An American example may be found at Colvin's Mill in Virginia. The original mill was established by a Coleville in the 1700s, but the name was changed to Colvin sometime later. -- Michael Colvin]
In the ancient British and early American records the name is found in the various forms of Colven, Colvine, Colvyne, Colvyn, Colwyne, Colwyn, Colwin, Colvan, Colvin, and others, of which the last-mentioned spelling is that most generally used in America today. Families of this name were resident at early dates, not only in Scotland and in the English Counties of London and Devon, but also in the Counties of Donegal and Monaghan and other parts of Ireland. They appear to have been , for the most part, of the British landed gentry and yeomanry. One family bearing the name of Colvin was established at Dublin, Ireland, in the seventeenth century. Of this line, a "Mr." Colvin (Christian name unknown) was married about the beginning of the eighteenth century to Mary, daughter of Patrick Mór Duffy, of Attyduffy, County Monaghan, and his wife Mary, daughter of John Dawson, a Cromwellian officer, who settled at Dummany, County Monaghan. The issue of this marriage is not recorded, but the line undoubtedly continued at Dublin.
In England, the Colvins resided chiefly in Devon, but were settled at London before the beginning of the eighteenth century. Of this line, one Jane Colvin was married at St. James, Clerkenwell, in 1733 to Thomas Brewer. The records of this line are, however, only fragmentary. While records of the family in the British Isles are few and the connection between it and the first immigrants of the name in America is not in evidence, it is generally believed that most, if not all, of the Colvins trace their descent from a common European progenitor of a remote period.
Probably the first of the name in America was John Colvin, who came from England to Dartmouth, Mass., between 1679 and 1700. He removed to Providence, R.I., shortly afterward, probably about the year 1705. In that year he bought three hundred acres of land at Providence, and in the following year he bought more land at Mashantatack, on the north side of the Pawtuxet River. By his first wife, Dorothy, who he married sometime before the year 1679, he was father of none children, Anna, John, Stephen, Abigail, Samuel, Amey, Deborah, James, and Josiah, of who Stephen and Josiah are believed to have died young and without issue, since no further record of them is found. The immigrant John was married in 1726 to a second wife, named Mary Keach, by whom, however, he had no further issue; and he died in 1729.
John, eldest son of the immigrant John, removed with his father from Dartmouth to Providence and later made his home at Scituate, R.I. He was the father, probably by his first wife, Lydia, of eight children, Johnathan, Lydia, Charity, Stephen, John, Hopkins, Matthew, and Jeremiah, although one or two of these may have been by his second wife, the Widow Mary (née Lapham) Dyer, whom he married in 1734. He is believed to have had a third wife, named Margaret, before 1757, but there were no children by this union.
Samuel, third son of the immigrant John Colvin, resided at various times at Providence and Coventry, R.I. By his wife, Phebe, this Samuel was the father of thirteen children, Thomas, Daniel, Abigail, Joseph, Elizabeth, Sarah, Mary, Susannah, Richard, Content, Phebe, Rufus, and Samuel.
James, fourth son of the immigrant John, also resided at Providence and Coventry. He was the father, probably by his first wife (whose name is unknown), of Benjamin, Caleb, Moses, Josiah, Stephen, John, David, Henry, and Anne. One Peter Colvin, who may possibly have been related to the above-mentioned Rhode Island line, although the connection is not in evidence, made his home at Scituate, R.I., before 1747 and was married in that year to Ruth Wight, by whom he was the father of Ruth and possibly of Stephen, Elizabeth, and Delana, although some historians are of the opinion that the last three were the children of Moses and Naomi Colvin, of the same place.
Another possible descendant of the early Rhode Island line of the family was Luther Colvin, who removed from Rhode Island to Danby, Vt., in 1765. He was the father by his wife Ludia of Stephen, Caleb, John, Catherine, Lydia, Esther, Anna, and Freelove. Stephen Colvin, eldest son of the first Luther of Vermont, married Mary Merrithew and was the father by her of Benoni, Benajah, Luther, Moses, Jeremiah, Anthony, Alfred, Anna, Lydia, Sirena, and Phebe, of who Benoni and Luther removed to New York, while Alfred settled in Ohio. Caleb Colvin, second son of the first Luther of Vermont, married Anna Abbot, by whom he had issue of three children, Caleb, Anna, and Philadelphia, of whom the son made his home at Hartford, N.Y.
John Colvin, third and youngest son of the first Luther of Vermont, left issue by his wife, Lucy Frink, of Anna, John, James, Luther, and Caleb. Titus, Amos, Luther, and Oliver Colvin, who were living in Vermont at slightly later dates, may have been of the same family as the before-mentioned Luther, but their records are incomplete. Joseph Colvin, who was born in 1791 at Coventry, R.I., married Eunice Wight and settled at Abington, Pa. He had issue by her of Ocena, William Nichols, Anson George, Charles Alexander, and Marvin R.
One Colonel John Colvin, who is said to have been born in North Carolina in 1763, but whose parents' names are not given, was married in 1792 to Flora McAllister, by whom he was the father of Alexander, John, Charles, James, Mary, Henry de Rosset, William, and Timothy. Colonel John later married a second wife, Elizabeth Jones, and a third, named Catherine Rutledge, and had other children, whose names are not, however, in evidence. In connection with this line it is interesting to note the marriage of Jean Colvin, of Colvins Creek, N.C., to Colonel Alexander McAllister in 1763.
Another John Colvin, who was born near Douglas Castle, Scotland, in 1752, came to America in 1770 and settled at Nine Partners, in Dutchess County, N.Y. In 1774 he married Sarah Fuller (who is said to have been descended from one of the Mayflower emigrants) and removed to Albany County, in the same State. He and Sarah had issue of at least one son, named James, and probably had others as well. This James married Catharine Verplanck and was the father of, among others, a son name Andrew James Colvin.
Record was to be found in Virginia before 1774 of Daniel and Mason Colvin, of Culpeper County. It is probable that Mason was the son of Daniel and that he had, among others, brothers named Elkin and George. One Mason Colvin, of Culpeper County, Va., in the latter part of the eighteenth century, who may have been the same as the above-mentioned Mason, married Catherine Stringfellow and was the father by her of John, Harry, Nathaniel, James, Howard, Robert, Lucy, and Martha. There is, however, a tradition in this family that this Mason came from England with a brother named Robert.
Sometime before 1776 one William Colvin made his home in Queen Anne's County, Md. He is on record in that year as having a wife, two sons, and a daughter, but their names are not given. The members of the family in America have been characterized in general by their integrity, fortitude, love of liberty, and courage. Some lines have also been known for their leadership, executive ability, and literary talents.
Among those of the name who fought in the War of the Revolution were James Colvin. of New York; Daniel, Henry, George, Benjamin, Mason, James, Jeremiah, Elkin, and Lowther Calvin, of Virginia; Daniel, Thomas, and James Colvin, of Massachusetts; Timothy Colvin of Connecticut; Hugh, Jacob, James, John, Robert Jr., and Robert Colvin, of Pennsylvania; Amos, Daniel, Isaac, Joshua, Levi, Luther, Reuben, Richard, Stephen, and Titus Colvin, of Vermont; and many more as well. John, Stephen, Samuel, James, Thomas, Joseph, Henry, David, Richard, Charles, Daniel, George, and William are some of the Christian names preferred by the family for its male progeny.
A few of the many members of the family who have attained distinction in various parts of the world in more recent times are: John B. Colvin (latter eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries), of Maryland, politician and author. Sir Auckland Colvin (1838-1908), of England, historian. Verplanck Colvin (1847-1920), of Rhode Island, geologist. Sir Sidney Colvin (1845-1927), of England, critic and authority on art and literature. Sir Richard Beale Colvin (b. 1856), of England, military officer and author. Addison Beecher Colvin (b.1858), of New York, journalist and public official. Fred Herbert Colvin (b.1867), of New York, aeronautical engineer and author. Stephen Sheldon Colvin (1869-1923), of Rhode Island and Illinois, educator and author. Ian Duncan Colvin (b.1877), of England, historian and novelist. David Leigh Colvin (b. 1880, of New York, politician and writer. Carl Colvin (b. 1889), of New York and Illinois, educator and agriculturist. Esther Marie Colvin (b. 1894), of Washington, D.C., agriculturist, compiler, and author.
The coat of arms of the ancient and honorable English family of Colvin is described in heraldic terms as follows (Burke, General Armory, 1884): Arms.--"Argent, a cross moline gules, on a canton azure a trefoil slipped or." Crest.--"A hinds head couped argent, charged with a trefoil slipped vert." Motto.--"In hoc signo vinces."
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