Quick Links: Tarvin Family NewsTarvin VideosTarvin HistoryTarvin ResearchTarvin DatabasesLine NumberingAssociation MembershipTarvin ReunionLifeLine NewsletterTarvin E-mail ListsTarvin Book ProjectTarvin Cemetery ProjectTarvin Quilt ProjectsTarvin DNA ProjectTarvin PlacesRelated Web Sites |
Tarvin Family Association
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Welcome |
Welcome to the Tarvin Family Association home page, on the web since 1995. The Tarvin Family Association is a very active organization of people named Tarvin or related to someone named Tarvin. Almost all Tarvins in
the United States are descended from Richard Tarvin who
immigrated from England in about 1708, settling in Maryland. From
there, Tarvins have spread to all States of the Union and today number
in the thousands. If you are a Tarvin or are related to one by
blood or marriage, you are welcome to join the Tarvin Family
Association.
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Tarvin NewsNew on this website:
- Tarvin Videos is a listing of short videos on YouTube about Tarvin family history and the Tarvin Family Association.
- Gathering William's Lines is a proposal to connect the various lines we believe are related to William Tarvin who moved to Georgia. Reddick Tarvin, Churchwell Tarvin, and William J. Tarvin seem to be related but are too young to be William's sons but too old to count among his known grandsons. This essay proposes a solution to that problem.
- Tarvin Westward Migrations is a compilation of the migrations of the descendants of Rev. George Tarvin away from Northern Kentucky to various locations farther west during the Nineteenth Century. It is interesting to see how many of the cousins and their families formed "pockets" of Tarvin kin in certain area.
- Tarvin Online Genealogy Database is a new feature of this website. This new, password-protected area is a place to find ancestors in all the Tarvin lines, linked by lineage. We now have over 45,000 names in the Tarvin Online Genealogy Database. See details below.
Recent Events in the lives of Tarvin family members are recorded in the Tarvin Online Genealogy Database, including births, marriages, and deaths. You can quickly access them by clicking the links below. You will need to register to see this information, but registration is free for Tarvin Family members.
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Latest News-All are welcome to join us at the 2025 Tarvin Family Reunion. This year, the reunion will be held September 11-13 in Lodi, California. A block of rooms with a special rate has been reserved for us at the Hampton Inn & Suites, 1337 Beckman Rd, Lodi.Read the invitation message from President Roger Hoffman. Here are the highlights:
- The 2024 Reunion recently wrapped up in Cincinnati, Ohio. By all reports, it was a great reunion. Watch the LifeLine newsletter for a fuller report.
Other news: Here are some pictures of the activities. (Click to enlarge.)
For more information on the Tarvin-Moore Cemetery, see our latest Tarvin video, below.
- Tarvin LifeLine is now online. Every issue of the Tarvin LifeLine newsletter ever published is now online on this site, including the current issue. If you missed a copy or just want to see what valuable genealogical information was published in the past, you can now read every issue. Jump down to our LifeLine section for details.
- The Tarvin DNA project attempts to fill in the gaps in the documentary record that ties the various branches of the Tarvin family together. We are seeking men carrying the Tarvin surname to participate. Here are some more details. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Tarvin Videoson
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Many presentations from recent reunions and articles from recent newsletter issues have been made into videos that are posted on our YouTube channel. Visit our video index page for a full list of videos in this series. Here is the latest episode:
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Tarvin History Scan of William Tarvin Family Tree probably by Dr. Marion E. Tarvin, Jan 1908 Click picture to learn more about our family trees. |
For three generations following their
immigration from England, the Tarvins stayed in the area of Port
Tobacco, Maryland, where they raised tobacco for export to
England. As the family grew and the pull of westward expansion
was felt, the family began to spread into Virginia, Kentucky,
Ohio, Indiana, Kansas and then west to California.
One branch of the family moved to Georgia, and spread to Florida and Alabama.
The Tarvin Family Association is compiling a history of the movements of
family members. The following documents are now available on line:
Several family members have made excellent web sites, describing Tarvin history for several branches of the family, including:
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Tarvin Research |
Research into the history of the Tarvin Family in American and its European roots is continuing. Active research is being conducted on the thirteen "lines" corresponding to the children of Reverend George. The on-line descendant chart identifies the children and grandchildren of Reverend George. If you are interested in assisting this research effort, you should contact Gary Hoffman (ghoffman@tarvinfamily.org) to receive an assignment. Current research "problems" are also posted on line to help coordinate research among family members. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Go now: Tarvin Online Genealogy Database
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Genealogy research in the Tarvin Family has been focused on compiling the descendants of early Tarvin ancestors, such as Rev. George Tarvin and the elusive William Tarvin, and on researching the ancestry of these forebears. To assist these goals, we have established an online genealogy database to help coordinate the research in both these directions. This is a password-protected site but any family member may register to view the database.
Click here to access the Tarvin Online Genealogy Database, powered by TNG. Other data stores here: | ||||||||||||||||||||
Line Numbering |
Most people in the Tarvin Family Association trace their ancestry to Reverend George Tarvin and his wife Sarah Craycraft. (Some, however, trace to William Tarvin, Reverend George's uncle.) Reverend George and Sarah had 13 children. In our descendant charts and histories, we number each child by their birth order. For example, if you trace your ancestry to the 10th child, you are in Line 10. Careful research has revealed errors in early assumptions about the birth order of these 13 children and as a result, some of the orginal line numbering has changed. (See the descendant chart for details of these changes.) Family researchers are confident they have established the proper order of the family, but research is continuing. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Association Membership
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Membership in the Tarvin Family Association is currently $20 per year for a individuals or $30 for a family (in one household). Life Memberships are now available with a one-time dues payment of $250 for a family or $200 for an individual.
If you prefer to sign up by mail, send your check made out to TFA to Membership Chair
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Tarvin Family Reunions |
A few descendants of Richard Tarvin organized the original Tarvin Family reunion in 1983. Reunions have continued yearly at various locations around the country with historical significance to Tarvin family members and have grown in attendance every year. The 2023 reunion will be held in Salt Lake City, Utah. See details above, when available. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Tarvin Newsletter
Read the latest issue here. |
 The Tarvin Family Association has published a periodic newsletter called Tarvin LifeLine which is distributed to association members and other interested family members. It contains reports of association activities and events in the lives of family members. Starting in 2018, the newsletter will no longer be mailed, but can be accessed on this site. An archive of LifeLine issues is now available on this site in PDF format. To access these issues, please see our LifeLine index page. Note: a password is required, but it is given at the top of the index page. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Tarvin E-mail List |
A Google Groups e-mail mailing list has been
established to link family members who would like to communicate
electronically about Tarvin Family Association matters. To join the list, send an email message to alltarvins+subscribe@tarvinfamily.org.
In addition, we support a Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tarvin-Family-Association/147874778589341?v=wall Please like to follow | ||||||||||||||||||||
Tarvin Book Project
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One of the publishing projects of
the Tarvin Family Association is a series of histories of the
Tarvin Family depicting the descendants of George Tarvin, a
grandson of Richard Tarvin, the immigrant. This ancestor is
referred to as "Reverend George" because he was a
Dunkard preacher in Virginia and Kentucky.
Our website now has a searchable and browseable index of all the names published in the Tarvin Books. The Tarvin Book Index contains nearly 23,000 names in a single database. Check to see on which page and in which book your ancestor's name (or your name) falls. Then order the book that contains the story of your Tarvin ancestor. To encourage family members to purchase books for themselves or for donation to local historical socities or family history libraries, the Association board has reduced the price of all current books. In addition, CDs containing an electronic copy of the now out-of-print Line 1 and Line 10 Books are now available. The new Line 12 Book is now available.
To order your copy of these books or CDs, click on one of these forms:
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Tarvin Cemetery Project |
Many deceased Tarvin
family members are buried in private cemeteries which would be in
a serious state of disrepair without Association support. The
Tarvin Family Association undertakes to restore grave markers and
clean up gravesites wherever family members are buried. The
Association currently supports the maintenance of the Tarvin-Moore Cemetery in Campbell Co., Kentucky.
Now, a complete listing of those buried in several key Tarvin locations is available on this web site. Just go to The Tarvin Cemetery Survey page to see our survey database. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Tarvin Quilting Projects
The 2002 Tarvin Quilt |
At each reunion, members of the Tarvin family contribute panels to a family quilt that depicts historical aspects of the family. The quilt is then raffled off at the annual reunion, with the proceeds going to support the
association's activities. The quilt raffle is the highlight of the auction during the banquet at the annual reunion. A Tarvin Quilt is truly a keepsake and the quilting project is one that ties the whole family together. If you would like to participate in the quilting project, please contact
Images of each year's quilt and its winner is included in the Quilt History page. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Tarvin DNA Project
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DNA testing can help us close gaps in our family history, and help us answer the question "Where did I come from?"
The Tarvin Family has done a good job of documenting the thirteen Kentucky branches of Reverend George Tarvin's family with several books to show for the effort and more underway. However, other branches of the Tarvin family have gaps in the family line despite the hard work of many people over the years who have pursued the paper trail. It now appears that DNA testing offers us the best chance to close these gaps. We know that William Tarvin of Columbia County, Georgia, had seven children and that two of them were named George and John. We suspect that William Tarvin of Baldwin County, Alabama, (grandfather of Dr. Marion Elisha Tarvin), and Richard Tarvin who went to Alabama with him, were two other sons. We think that Reddick, Churchwell, and William J. Tarvin, were grandsons of William Tarvin. These men were the patriarchs of several important Tarvin clans. We believe that DNA testing can help us to determine their relationship with each other and with the Kentucky Tarvins. The male DNA is passed from father to son, just like the surname. By testing male family members carrying the Tarvin name, we might be able to establish relationships that we can't document from the historic record and thus close the gaps in our family history. If you are a Tarvin man and are willing to participate or just would like more information, please see the Tarvin DNA project website at FamilyTree DNA http://www.familytreedna.com/public/tarvinfamilyassociation. Help us close the gaps in our family history. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Tarvin Places |
Many researchers have compiled and published indexes to resources covering the areas where the Tarvin Family has had major settlements. These include:
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Related Web Sites |
Web sites covering related surnames include the following:
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| This site is linked to the Surname Web. | 
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| This site is linked to the Genealogy Linkpendium. | 
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Last Updated: 20 Aug 2025 17:23 UTC
