Like much of the new nation, economic hardship worsened in Harford County in the years after the war.
The Jervis families didn’t fare well.
Continue reading113 – Hard Times in Harford 1786-1790
Author: Mark Jarvis
112 – Bel Air Becomes a Town 1781-1785
Bel Air, Belle Air, Belle Aire, Bell Air, and once, enchantingly, Belleaire, but never, never Belair.
Bel Air: The Town Through its Buildings
It had been Scott’s Old Fields, a played-out crop field. In 1780 there were four houses. James and Elizabeth Jervis and their children lived in one of them.
111 – Revolutionary War Years 1775-1781
The British are coming!
On April 19, 1775, the first battles of the American Revolution took place at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts. British troops were sent to capture military supplies at Concord. But the colonial militia had been warned and were waiting for the British.
The first shots were fired on Lexington green, and the war had begun.
110 – Harford County, Maryland 1770-1774
During the 1760s, the Jervis families had moved to Maryland.
Whatever their reasons, they did as their two previous generations had done. They moved west. This time, southwest to Maryland.
109 – James Jervis’ Generation
Joseph Jervis died in 1752.
Esther and her younger children continued to live on their land in White Horse. Esther was age 54. Caleb, Joshua, Catherine, and James (6G) were in their teens.
Joseph Jr., John, and Solomon, and William were in their twenties, so were probably living on their own.
Continue reading108 – Joseph Jervis 1673-1752
Joseph Jervis died in 1752.
What an interesting life. Born in England. One of the first settlers of William Penn’s Pennsylvania. One of the first settlers to go west to Lancaster County. Farmer, miller, trader, entrepreneur, innkeeper, scoundrel.
Continue reading107 – Life in White Horse 1740s
In 1740, James Jervis (6G) was born to Joseph and Esther. This completed their family; Joseph Jr., John, and Solomon, then William, Caleb, Joshua, Catherine, and James.
James Jervis is our 6th great-grandfather.
Continue reading106 – Life in White Horse 1730s
Joseph and Esther and their growing family were well settled. The village of White Horse had grown up around them. Their farming and milling activities provided their sustenance.
The 1730s would prove prosperous for them.
105 – Elizabeth Jervis Cookson 1653-1730
I didn’t want to write this story. I knew the day would come, but I was dreading it.
Elizabeth died in September 1730.
I’ve really grown attached to Elizabeth. She’s been at the center of this quest for Jarvis/Jervis origins. Her life story is filled with drama, struggle, success, and hard work. I’ll miss her.
Continue reading104 – Lancaster County
As the 1720s began, the Jervises lived “at the head of the Pequea”. There were very few other settlers.
Over the decade, more people moved to the area and took up lands. In 1729, there was a small settlement known as White Horse, in a new township named Salisbury, in a newly-formed Lancaster County.
Continue reading
Family Nibbles 