Gilbert Purvis, Revolutionary War Patriot

Gilbert Purvis grew up in the Cheraw District of South Carolina prior to the Revolutionary War.  This part of South Carolina was up state near the North Carolina State line.

1769-1784 ¹

Gilbert served as a soldier in the War as shown by this Stub indent for payment of 34 days.







STUB INDENT
No.632  } Issued 18 April 1785 to Mr. Gilbert Purvis for
Lib N     }Two pounds 8/6 3/4 Sterling: 34 days duty done
               in the Militia in 1782 ... account audited----------
                                       Principal £2. .10---- Interest £0..3..4

Gilbert’s service in this war qualifies his descendants for membership in the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) and in the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).  

This is a very large family consisting of thousand of descendants; yet, only one person in the past 127 years has applied for entry into the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) organization.
Some of this may be due to loss of records in Chesterfield County, South Carolina during the Civil War and other sundry reasons.

In 1915, Mary Virginia Hagerman had her DAR Application #115797 approved accepting her into the DAR organization as a descendant of Revolutionary War Patriot – Gilbert Purvis.

Much has been learned about Gilbert since this application was submitted; yet, many still leave out a complete generation when documenting the lineage of Gilbert Purvis and his wife Effica Howell.
Gilbert and Effica Purvis were only known to have two children Gilbert Johnston Purvis and Sarah “Sally” Purvis. DAR Application #115797 was the first document to show another child; that child being Johnson Purvis. This Johnson Purvis whose wife was called Sarah had two children – James P. J. Purvis and his brother William H. H. Purvis.



That portion of the lineage can be seen here in this snippet from Mary Virginia Hagerman application.

For years no other document could be found naming a Johnson Purvis but he did exist. Even today researchers have no knowledge that there are other documents.

Johnson J. Purvis or J. Johnson Purvis was alive and well in 1831, 1832 and 1833. He can be found in the Tax records for Simpson County, Mississippi. I have posted the 1833 Tax list here:

Johnson J. Purvis was not found after 1833 and is believed to have passed away.Johnson J. Purvis and his wife Sarah had two sons; James P. J. Purvis and William H. H. Purvis.

James P. J. Purvis married Elizabeth Rose Campbell daughter of  John Beasley Campbell and Mary Rosa Franklin on 19 January 1832.  Four years after his marriage to Elizabeth, James P. J. Purvis passed away leaving Elizabeth Rose pregnant and with two children.

Elizabeth Rose Campbell Purvis then married Joseph Edward Miller. Elizabeth Rose Campbell was born 16 July 1814. Mary Virginia Hagerman was Elizabeth Rose Great Granddaughter. Her mother Mary Ann Purvis Campbell  was Elizabeth Rose Granddaughter. Mary Virginia was born in 1882 and Mary Ann was born in 1856. Elizabeth Rose died in 1906 and Mary Ann died in 1912 so you can see that both the grand daughter and the great grand daughter spent many days of their lifetime under the arms of their grandmother and Great Grandmother.

After the death of Johnson and his son James P. J. Purvis; Sarah, his wife and remaining son, William H. H. Purvis along his wife Jemima Magee packed up their family and moved to Polk County, Texas.  

William H. H. and his mother Sarah Purvis can be found in the 1850 census for Polk County, Texas. 

1850 CENSUS: Polk County, Texas; Roll: M432_914; Page: 188B; Line 3, Dwelling 178, Family 178; W. H. PURVIS, male, age 36 [1814], born in SC; Jemima PURVIS, female, age 39 [1811], born in MS; William PURVIS, male, age 17 [1833], born in MS; Mary PURVIS,female, age 14 [1836], born in MS; Purdy PURVIS, male, age 8 [1842], born in MS; Gabrian PURVIS, female, age 3 [1847], born in TX; Jemima PURVIS, female, age 6 mo. [1850], born in TX and Sarah PURVIS, Female, (widow), age 60 [1790], born in SC.







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[1] County Chart courtesy of http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/guide/CountyRecords/1769.htm
[2] DAR App #115797
[3] 1833 Tax List - Simpson County, Mississippi, Purviff, Johnson J.
"Mississippi, State Archives, Various Records, 1820-1951," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-21381-31596-87?cc=1919687&wc=M6J9-YWL:211953101,211963301 : accessed 27 Apr 2014), Simpson > County tax rolls 1824-1845, Box 3764 > image 86 of 276; citing Government Records, Jackson.