The Trivettes of Western North Carolina

This website is copyrighted 2004

|||||     Introduction     |||||     The Earliest Trivettes     |||||     North Carolina Political Boundaries     |||||     Whose Child Is Whose?     |||||

|||||     How Do You Spell Trivette?     |||||     Sorting Out the William Trivettes     |||||     Trivettes in the Civil War     |||||

|||||     Descendants of John and Richard Trivette     |||||     What Was It Like As An Early Trivette?     |||||

||||     What Happened To Nathaniel C. Tribet?     ||||     Works Cited     ||||

 

The Earliest Trivettes

 

 

In 1536, a French priest named Andrew Trevit sailed along the coast of Swan Island, Maine, meeting with local people attempting to win conversions to Catholicism (35).  I have no idea if he is an ancestor to any of today’s Trivettes or if he was the first one here, but it shows that a Trivette was here quite early.  There are  numerous, unconnected records of Trivettes who came to America under varying circumstances after that time, and most all originated in England.  On his website, John Trivett presents copies of documents showing at least a few Trivettes lived the life of nobility there going back into the 11th century (49).  In fact, the name Trevet appears on the Roll of Battle Abby, a list of names composed by William the Conquerer of warriors who served with honor in the Norman conquest of England (7).  The Normans were from the Normandy area of France, which had effectively been taken over by the Vikings.  I have found no evidence that Trivettes were among the Hugenots.  

 

One group of Trivettes took root in New England.  They all possibly descended from one man, Henry Trevit, who came to Massachusetts in the early 1600s.  How, why, or exactly when is not known.  He was a prominent man in his community, having been a founder of Marblehead, Massachusetts.  He had four or five children, and those children had many children.  Many achieved prominence in their communities as business people and physicians.  They eventually spread to Vermont, western New York, Maine, and Rhode Island (46).  At least one owned a business in the Canadian Maritime provinces (54).  The town of Trevett, Maine, zip code 04571, was founded in 1826 and was named for a probable Trevett descendant (11).  Today these people mostly spell their name Trevett, although some Trevit’s and Trivett’s can be found.

 

There are records of several Trivettes living in the Mid-Atlantic States going back into the 1600s.  Several, if not all, of them came on prison ships.  Between 1614 and 1775 over 50,000 English people were sentenced by English courts to be transported to the American colonies.  There were over 200 offenses that could receive the death penalty, but executions were seldom carried out.  English jails were often bulging and provided terrible living conditions, so permanent removal to a far away place offered a convenient solution.  The offenses that received this sentence ranged from murder to sometimes even for vagrancy.  These are a few of the Trivettes arrived on prison ships (56):

 

Charles Trevett, December 1692

Noah Trevett, 1756

John Trevit, 14 years old, March, 1753

Mary Trevith, June, 1756, on ship Lyon

Robert Trevitt, landed in Virginia August, 1729, on ship Elizabeth

Mary Trivet, September, 1755, on ship Tryal   

 

The transportation of prisoners to the colonies effectively ended with the Revolutionary War.  England then started sending prisoners to Australia.

 

Sometimes people wanted to leave England for the colonies to start a new life.  If they did not have enough money to pay for their family's passage, they could “work off” the cost by being indentured to their benefactor for a stated number of years.  This was done through an arrangement whereby a person in the colonies would receive a land grant in exchange for transporting people to work the fields.  They effectively were slaves during their period of indenture and were considered part of the master’s estate.  These are a few Trivettes who arrived under these circumstances (55):

 

Georg Trevett – among five people transported in 1640 by Christopher Kirke, who received 300 acres in Accomake County, Maryland.

Johnathan Trevett – among 40 people transported in 1658 by Christopher Harris, who received 2000 acres in Westmoreland County, Maryland.

Fortune Trevett – among 14 persons transported in 1665 by Johnathan Marshall, who received 700 acres in Isle of Wight County, Maryland.  

 

There is an often repeated story, but without documentation that I am aware of, that says a Robert Trevit was brought to America on a prison ship from Surrey, England in 1729.  That Robert subsequently married Anne Kess in Boston, Massachusetts.  Robert and Anne had a son named Samuel.  Samuel joined the 2nd Virginia Regiment in the revolution and served with George Washingtion at Valley Forge.  He then died sometime before 1780.  His widow Elizabeth and two sons John and Richard came to North Carolina with Elizabeth’s second husband, Solomon Jones. 

 

There are unconnected pieces of documentation verifying much of this information, but there is no direct evidence that this Samuel was the father of John and Richard Trevit, whom we know existed.  A Robert Trevit is documented to have arrived in Virginia on a prison ship in 1729 (56).  And a Robert Trevett is documented to have married Ann Kess in Boston, Massachusetts on December 10th, 1741 (31).  Also, a Samuel Trivet did serve as a private in the 2nd Virginia Regiment (57).  That Samuel did serve with Washington at Valley Forge in the winter of 1777-1778 (50).  No one has been able to document a connection of these facts to the North Carolina Trivettes.

 

If you are wondering if Trivette is English or French, the answer is yes.  It simply depends on how far back you wish to go.

 

The existence and relationship of Solomon and Elizabeth Jones, and John and Richard Trivette are well documented by Rowan County property records, the United States census, and Solomon Jones’ will.  A hint as to where they came from can be found in the U.S. Census.  Beginning with the 1850 Census, the birthplace of all household occupants is recorded.  All of John and Richard's known children were born after arriving in North Carolina, but Solomon and Elizabeth Jones had eight children, all female, in their household in 1790.  According to Nova Lemmons, a Jones family researcher, one of those daughters, Elizabeth, stated in the 1860 Lauderdale County, Alabama U.S. Census that she was born in Pennsylvania.  Elizabeth was the wife of Moses Estep (48).

 

Richard and Margaret Tribit were 83 and 82 years old, respectively, in the 1850 U.S. Census.  They were living in a neighbor's household.  Their birthplaces are listed as North Carolina, which is not likely.  The head of the household probably provided the responses and did not know where they were born.

 

The 1880 U.S. Census records the birthplace of the parents of all household occupants, and five of John and Richard's children were still living and appear in that enumeration.  John Jr. and Patsy show their parents were born in North Carolina.  Again, this is not likely.  Samuel shows both his parents as born in Maine.  David shows his parents were born in Pennsylvania.  Fanny Trivette Johnissie shows her father’s birthplace as Pennsylvania and her mother’s as North Carolina.

 

So we have three North Carolina’s, one Maine, and three Pennsylvania’s.  Both Maine and Pennsylvania could be true.

 

So this is my wild guess on the ancestry of John and Richard Trivette.  All I can do is take seemingly unconnected facts and string them together to form a plausible story.  So here goes.

 

Robert Trivett married Martha Chadwick in March, 1716 in Reading, Massachusetts.  Robert was a poor man, having received charity.  Their first child was Robert, who was baptized on March 6, 1720.  A second child, Samuel, was baptized on April 7, 1723.  The third child, also named Samuel, was baptized on March 14, 1725.  It was common at that time to name a child the same as that of a previously deceased child in the family.  The fourth child was Solomon (39).  Robert Jr. married Ann Kess in Boston on December 10, 1741 (31).  Robert Jr. was a mariner, and was known to be at Cape Breton, Nova Scotia in 1755 (39).  While Robert Jr. was away Ann Tribute took their two children for baptism on October 14, 1744 to the Brattle Street Church in Boston.  The children were Samuel, three years old, and John, two months old (58).  Son Solomon was also a mariner, and he purchased property in Bertie County, North Carolina in 1755 (3).  He is also shown to be deceased in a 1759 property record. (4). It is not known if he took a family with him to North Carolina or if he made one there.  During the Revolutionary War, son Samuel was in his mid-twenties, living somewhere in the northeast, and had married and had two sons, John and Richard.  As the 2nd Virginia Regiment, on loan to the Continental Army, moved through where he lived (38), Samuel decided to enlist.  Samuel and the 2nd Virginia Regiment, among other engagements, spent the winter of 1777-1778 with George Washington at Valley Forge (50).  Samuel subsequently died in the revolution of unknown causes and at an unknown location.  His widow, Elizabeth, married Solomon Jones, also probably a widower, and moved to North Carolina with sons John and Richard before 1790.