THE FIRST GENERATION OF PAVE'S IN AMERICA
Research has indicated that Guillaume Pave, who later Americanized his name to William Pavy, was the first Pavy from our family in America. William was born in 1775 in or around Paris, France. He was supposedly an officer in Napoleon’s Army for approximately 10 years. William was alleged to have been with Napoleon during the ill-fated invasion of Russia in the Summer of 1813. Of the 440,000 men who began the campaign, only 10,000 survived. It was during the retreat that several Nations came together in hopes of crushing Napoleon once and for all (known as the Battle of Nations). It is believed that during these battles, William was captured by the British and sent to fight the Americans in the War of 1812 (which lasted from 1812 to early 1815). Wingfield’s History of Caroline County, VA, alludes to the fact, that while anchored in the Chesapeake Bay, William (Wingfield refers to John, but Census records positively conclude otherwise) and some companions escaped and swam ashore. From there, William made his way up the Rappahannock River and settled at Bowling Green, Virginia. He met Nancy Allport, who was 20 years his junior, and married her on 30 June 1817. Nancy gave birth to four children that we know of: John Gilam Pavy; Mary Jane Pavy Taylor; Joseph Hiter Pavy, Sr.; and Thomas L. Pavy (who later changed the spelling of his surname to Pavo). Nancy was last reported in the 1850 Census. Her death and location of burial are unknown. William was last reported in the 1860 Census. Virginia State Death Records indicate he died in September 1861; however, his location of burial is unknown.
John Gilam Pavy (born 1817) married Jane Ann Madison on 18 June 1836 and they had seven children: Sarah Ann Pavy Selph; Caroline Virginia Pavy Elliott; Cassandra Elizabeth Pavy Morris Barlow; James Samuel Pavy; Lucy Ellen Pavy Frank; Mary Frances Pavy Self; and Nancy Jane Pavy Covington. John served in the Confederate Army in Thornton’s Light Artillery during the Civil War. He remained in and around Bowling Green, Virginia, for most of his life. Before and after the war, he was a carriage maker by trade. In his later years, he lived with his only son James in the Fairfield District of Henrico County, Virginia. He is last recorded in the 1880 Virginia State Census living there. His exact date of death is unknown, but he is buried at Lakewood Cemetery in Bowling Green, Virginia.
Mary Jane Pavy (born 1825) married Mordicai E. Taylor on 18 November 1847 and they had five children: Leland M. Taylor; Elizabeth A. Taylor; William T. Taylor; Mary L. Taylor; and Mordicai H. Taylor. Mary is last listed in the Virginia State Census in 1880. Following her husband’s death, she worked as a spinweaver. Her death and location of burial are unknown.
Joseph Hiter Pavy, Sr. (born 1829) married Sarah Ann Barlow on 13 March 1851 and they had five children: Thomas Boswell Pavy; an unnamed male child who died at five days old in March 1854; Joseph W. Pavy who died as a young child in August 1858; Joseph Hiter Pavy, Jr. (later changed the spelling of his surname to Pavay); and John William Pavy. According to the 1860 Census, Joseph was a merchant, possibly owning a store in the Sparta or File area of Caroline County. During the war, he enlisted with the Confederacy. He initially served with the 30th Virginia Infantry and later was transferred to the 47th Virginia Infantry. It was with this unit that he was wounded at Cashtown on 3 July 1863 just outside Gettysburg while serving under Maj Gen Heth. At some point in the battle he was captured and supposedly taken and held at Point Lookout, Maryland. He remained there until he was exchanged back to the South due to ill health in early 1865. According to Sarah’s application for benefits, he died at home shortly after returning from Chimborazo Hospital in Richmond, VA, in July 1865. His death certificate on file in the State Archives lists his death as a result from some form of paralysis, while Sarah’s pension application lists it as consumption and scurvy. He is buried in the Pavy Family Cemetery in File, Virginia, in an unmarked grave along with Sarah who died in January 1912.
Thomas L. Pavy (born 1835) has been very difficult to track. He last appears in the Virginia Census Records in 1850 living with his brother John Gilam Pavy. Research conducted by Frederick Payne Pavay (born Aug 1892) indicates he moved to Tennessee. Frederick further stated Thomas was married twice: once to Margaret Southworth (1853) while he lived in Virginia and again when he lived in Tennessee. Supposedly he fathered one girl in his first marriage (which has not been confirmed) and nothing but girls in his second marriage. A review of the Tennessee Census Records from 1860 to 1900 lists no Pavy’s or like spellings. However, the 1880 Census lists a man named Thomas L. Pavo who was born in Virginia in 1835 (Thomas Pavy’s place and year of birth), worked as a painter (Thomas Pavy’s occupation), lists his father’s birthplace as France (William Pavy’s birthplace), his mother’s birthplace as Virginia (Nancy Allport’s birthplace), and he had six children, all of whom were girls. Finally, in Frederick's notes, he states one of Thomas' girls married a man named Hall and moved to Florida. Annie Pavo Hall resided in Fort Myers, Florida, until her death. These may be coincidences, but it leads one to believe Thomas L. Pavy and Thomas Lewis Pavo are one in the same. Thomas Lewis Pavo married Mary Jane Massey on 1 December 1864 and they had six children: Jennie Pavo Walker, Annie Pavo Hall, Minnie Pavo, Artie Missie Pavo Lankford, Josephine Pavo Broderick, and Betty Pavo Maxwell. According to the descendants of Thomas Pavo, he died in 1888 following a fall from his ladder while painting. He is supposedly buried in the Marable Cemetery in Waverly, Tennessee, along with his second wife, Mary Jane, who died in September 1934. There is a street named Pavo in Waverly, Tennessee, where the local library is located. It is supposedly named after him, presumably because he and Mary Jane owned much of the surrounding land.
This provides a brief history of the first Pave' to come to America along with the first generation of those born here. Through the years, the spelling of the name has been modified or changed to Pavy, Pavay, Pavey, Pavie, and Pavo. Connections with other like spellings continue to be researched. One notable site which contains information on the Pavey lineage is
The Doyle Hopkins Homesite.
Return to main page