Sinclair David Gervais
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Matagorda Cemetery Road SH 60 & S Gulf Road 28°42'1.72"N 95°57'16.75"W |
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| Sinclair David Gervais, born
February 21, 1779, in Charleston, South Carolina, came
to Matagorda from Yazoo, Mississippi, in 1835, after the
death of his wife. He received land grant #65 for one
league and labor of land. Gervais became the second
county judge of Matagorda County in 1837, a post he held
until his death in 1838. Judge Gervais' father, John Lewis Gervais, was born in France, but left during the times of religious persecution. John Lewis was a military man in England. Since he came to South Carolina before the American Revolution, he served as a colonel in the American army during the Revolution. His son, Paul T., was an Episcopal minister. Paul's daughter married a man named Robinson, and their daughter, Susan , married William Bell. Judge Gervais was the father of four children: Mary Ann, John Lewis, Eliza Amelia and Claudinia Olivia. His daughter, Mary Ann, married a Mr. Turnbull had lived in Washington County, Misissippi. A son, John Lewis Gervais, resided in Warren County, Mississippi. Eliza Amelia Gervais married Joseph W. J. Niles, editor and publisher of county's first newspaper, The Matagorda Bulletin, which began publishing the latter part of 1837. His father, Jonathan Niles, who published Niles' Register in Washington, D. C., was also a man of great talent. Joseph W. J. Niles came to Matagorda previous to October of 1837, when he received land grant #21 for 640 acres in hthis county. He and his wife, Eliza Amelia, were members of Christ Church, Matagorda, where their first child, Sinclair David Gervais Niles, was baptized on February 15, 1843. Judge Gervais' youngest daughter, Claudinia Olivia, was married April 4, 1838, to Dr. Albert Moses Levy, son of Abraham and Cornelia (Bernard) Levy of Richmond, Virginia. They were the parents of five children: Katherine, born in 1839; Albert Gervias, born November 21, 1840 Laura Virginia, born April 4, 1843; Charles Gillette, born May 29, 1845; and Lewis Fisher Levy, born December 29, 1847 Judge Sinclair David Gervais died prior to November 10, 1838, since his will was admitted for probate on that date. Historic Matagorda County,
Volume I, page 68 |