John Sarver[1]

Male Abt 1744 - Abt 1848  (~ 104 years)


Personal Information    |    Notes    |    Sources    |    Event Map    |    All    |    PDF

  • Name John Sarver 
    Birth Abt 1744  PA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Death Abt 1848  Sumner County, TN Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I3298  Drollinger Genealogy
    Last Modified 2 Sep 2017 

    Father Casper Sarver,   b. Switzerland Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1782, Botetourt County, VA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Mother Unknown MNU 
    Family ID F11702  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Margaret Trollinger,   b. Abt 1755   d. Bef 1840, Sumner County, TN Find all individuals with events at this location (Age ~ 84 years) 
    Marriage Abt 1770  VA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
     1. Samuel Sarver,   b. 1770, Botetourt County, VA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1851, Giles County, VA Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 81 years)
     2. John S. Sarver,   b. 21 Feb 1773, Botetourt County, VA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 31 Jan 1848, Allen County, KY Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 74 years)
     3. Henry Sarver,   b. 1773, Botetourt County, VA Find all individuals with events at this location
    +4. Elizabeth Sarver,   b. 1777, Botetourt County, VA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. Bef 1830, Sumner County, TN Find all individuals with events at this location (Age < 52 years)
     5. Mary Sarver,   b. 1785, Botetourt County, VA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1869, Sumner County, TN Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 84 years)
     6. Jeremiah A. Sarver, Sr.,   b. 3 Oct 1788, Botetourt County, VA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 13 Sep 1867, Sumner County, TN Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 78 years)
     7. Catherine Sarver,   b. 1790, Botetourt County, VA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. Sumner County, TN Find all individuals with events at this location
    Family ID F1077  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 7 Apr 2016 

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBirth - Abt 1744 - PA Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarriage - Abt 1770 - VA Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDeath - Abt 1848 - Sumner County, TN Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Notes 
    • John Sarver and Margaret Trollinger
      From notes of Janet King
      John Sarver was born about 1744 in Pennsylvania to Casper Sarver a recent Swiss Emigrant. John was fluent in German and passed his knowledge of the language down at least three generations. Casper Sarver probably found land in Pennsylvania scarce and over priced so moved the family to Virginia sometime before the American Revolution.
      John Sarver married about 1770 in Virginia to Margaret Peggy Trollinger daughter of Jacob Trollinger and Anna Barbara Widmer. Peggy's parents were emigrants from Germany. It is believed she was born in Pennsylvania ca 1755 and moved to North Carolina as a child. The family eventually settled in Virginia where Jacob Trollinger owned and operated a salt peter mine where he made gunpowder for the American Revolution.
      John and his brother Casper were part of Captain Taylor's militia for the Craig's Creek area of Botetourt County set up the 31 August 1782 The unit consisted of 43 men for the purpose of carrying into execution the state's quota of troops to serve in the United States army for the term of three years or during the War. A public service claim dated 30 July 1783 shows John Sarver was reimbursed for a blanket he furnished to the militia.
      John Sarver was living on 189 acres of land south of Craig's Creek adjoining his father in 1772. The 1785 tax list for Botetourt County reported eight souls in John's household including one dwelling and one outbuilding.
      John's father Casper Sarver died in Botetourt County, Virginia in 1782 leaving John the Still, Still vessels and the Bible. Casper split his farm between his other two sons Casper and Henry Sarver.
      John was appointed a constable for Botetourt in 1791 and in 1800 was taxed for one male over 21 years, four slaves and eight horses. In the spring of 1808, John left Virginia and moved to middle Tennessee. His wife and most of his children accompanied him. John purchased 472 acres of land in Sumner County, Tennessee for $1416.00 from James Wilson. His land was located on the waters of the middle fork of Drake's Creek.
      John Sarver was one of the first settlers in what would become the Fairfield Community built around the Fairfield Methodist Church. John and Peggy Sarver were living in Sumner County in 1830, according to the census he's between 80 and 90 and she's between 70 and 79. They owned eight slaves. In 1840, John's age is recorded as 100 plus. Peggy is missing and presumed dead. John now owned 17 slaves. On the 2 February 1842 John's heirs sold their interest in his 272 acres plantation. John was living but apparently unable to maintain his estate. According to a family tradition, John died at the age of 104 years old from drinking dye he mistook for whiskey. He is thought to be buried in the Sarver family cemetery located on his son Jeremiah's Belvidere Plantation in the Fairfield Community located in upper Sumner County, Tennessee.

  • Sources 
    1. [S337] H. Jackson Darst, The Darsts of Virginia, (Williamsburg VA 1972).