Author: Douglas Harold Nelson
John Dever Sr. was born in Ireland on October 20, 1735 and came to America in 1755 with General Braddock's troops in preparation for The French and Indian War. His surname name in the Hampshire County, Virginia (now West Virginia) Tax Lists is variously spelled Dever and Deaver. He married Mary before 1765 and settled in Hampshire County, Virginia. There exists no documentation to verify Mary’s maiden name. John Dever Sr. was 40 years old when the American Revolutionary War broke out in 1775. He was not too old to fight in the Revolutionary War, especially for a person with previous military experience in the French and Indian War, but there is no record of military service. John Sr. could not write as all of his property deeds in Hampshire County, Virginia have his mark and the mark of his wife Mary. The family lived in what was Hampshire County, Virginia, near Romney, where the children grew up. In 1802 he purchased land in Belmont County, Ohio from the Steubenville land office and gave his address as Brooke County, Virginia. Sometime between 1802 and 1807, he moved to Belmont County, Ohio with many of his grown children and died there, a widower, about February 2, 1810 at the age of 75. The names of John Dever Sr.'s children are known from a Belmont County, Ohio court case of 1824 contesting land distribution 14 years after John's death in 1810. His wife Mary died in Hampshire County. They were the parents of eight children, among whom, born 1766, was John Dever Jr. (1766-1827), who stands next in the author’s lineage. His son John Dever Jr. married Hannah Cubberly whose father was James Stell Coberly (SAR Patriot P-135347) was also a patriot. John Sr. and Mary’s eight named children were: 1. John Dever Jr. 2. Jonathan Dever. 3. Sarah Dever. 4. William Dever. 5. Mary Dever. 6. Abraham Dever. 7. James Dever. 8. George Dever.

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