#52 Ancesters Week 24: Father's Day

#52 Ancestors Week 24 Father's Day: William Boswell Scrivener

William Boswell Scrivener, my 2X great-grandfather, was one of five sons, twelve children of John Scrivener and Eliza Smith Boswell of Anne Arundel County MD.  William and his wife Sally Jane Barber had ten children, including five sons.  Now what make this so unusual is that despite all those Scrivener boys in two generations, this line of the family almost daughtered out.  My grandfather, Frank Phillip Scrivener Sr., was the sole surviving male of the line when he was born in 1900.

John Scrivener, the oldest son of Francis Scrivener, was born about 1780 in Anne Arundel County MD.  He served in the War of 1812, defending the Chesapeake Bay from British invaders.  In 1817, he married Eliza Smith Boswell, the daughter of Henry Boswell, in Prince George's County MD.   John and Eliza, as noted above, had twelve children:

John Henry (1819-1863) married Mary Sparrow and had one son, John Sparrow Scrivener, who died without issue in 1859.
Sarah Jane (1823-1904) married John Howe Somervell and had three sons and a daughter.
Samuel Wesley (1824-1904)  married Elizabeth Chew and had a daughter Elizabeth and a son Samuel.  Both children died in 1864.
Elizabeth Ann (1827-1907) married Luther Owen Sullivan of Virginia and had three sons and three daughters.
William Boswell (1828-1895) married Sally Barber and had five sons and five daughters.  More below.
Elizabeth Sydney (1829-1863) married George Washington Welch and had four sons and three daughters.
Francis George (1832-1853) never married.
James Edward (1834-ca. 1880) married Kate Garner and had five sons, all of whom died without male issue.  (One daughter among the five.)
Mary Priscilla (1835-1884) married Stephen Lee Bird and had four daughters and one son.
Maria Louisa twin  (1838-1875) married John Poultney Hanson and had one son and one daughter.
Emily Augusta twin (1838-1902) married Charles Porter Culver and had three daughters.
Rose Matilda (1843-1899)  married William Corwin Burgy and had a son and three daughters.

So, in this generation, only William had sons who lived to marry and have sons of their own to carry on the Scrivener name.

William and Sally had ten children:

Mary Wheeler Kent (1857-1942)  never married.
William Boswell Jr. (1859-1928) never married.
Sarah Jane Barber (1862-1945) married George Bourne Gantt and had a son and a daughter.
Leila Mary (1864-1941) married Howe Somervell Allnutt and had two sons.
Frank Phillip (1865-1939) married Louise Gwynn and had one son, Frank Phillip Jr.
Kate Estelle (1865-1918) married Harry Weems Wilkerson, no issue.
Lillian (1869-1948) married Robert Franklin Garner and had one daughter.
Frederick William (1870-1959) married Annie Vaughn and had one daughter who died as an infant.
Jonathan Yates (1876-1957) married Jean Macintosh, no issue.
Kent (1877-1941) never married.

So, again in this generation, only one Scrivener son to carry on the name.  Fortunately for the name, Frank Scrivener was prolific. This picture shows William Boswell Scrivener and Frank about 1870.

Frank Phillip Scrivener Jr. married Ida Elizabeth Dent in 1924 and had five sons and a daughter with her, including my, father Frank Phillip III.  My father had three sons and between them they had 13 sons, who have, in their turn produced another dozen sons and still counting.

I think this line of the Scrivener name is safe for a good while to come.  The picture below shows the Scrivener clan in 1986. Elizabeth Dent Scrivener is seated with her five sons seated next to her. I am seated on the ground in front of my father with my son James next to me.