Givens family plot, Buffalo Springs Cemetery, Standford, Lincoln County, Kentucky.

Captain George Givens, of Augusta County, Virginia, married Rachel Black before the Revolutionary War.  After the war George and Rachel brought their family to Kentucky, arriving about 1781.  The youngest two sons, James and John, were born in Kentucky.  The above photograph is the Givens family plot in Buffalo Springs Cemetery in Standford, Lincoln County.  Twenty bodies were exhumed from the family farm in 1995 to make way for an airport expansion.  Bodies and stones were removed to Buffalo Springs.

The Advocate Messenger, Danville, Boyle County, Kentucky

Tuesday, May 28, 1985

Descendants of Captain George Givens’ family gathered at Buffalo Springs Cemetery Sunday to remember their forefathers and to mark the new resting place of many of the earlier Givenses.  This memorial service was organized by Joe Grimes of Standford, a descendant of Captain Givens, who has spent 10 years trying to get the graves moved from the family plot off Airport Road to the local cemetery.  The 20 graves and the Givens family monument were moved last year from the family plot on what used to be the Givens plantation to make way for the expansion of the Danville-Boyle County Airport, which is located in both Lincoln and Boyle counties.

During the memorial service Mary Reed Anderson, a representative of the Logan-Whitley Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, paid tribute to the memory of the pioneer Givens family, ‘whose influence – patriotically, educationally and historically – has helped Kentucky become a better state in which to live.

‘When this family came to Kentucky it was known as the bloody hunting ground of many Indian tribes; the Cherokees, being the largest, fought fiercely to keep it as their own,’ Mrs. Anderson said.

‘In the study of the history and the Givens family mementos they left behind, we learn they suffered many hardships, but their determination and desire to build their homes in the wilderness was fulfilled by an undaunted and unquenchable patriotism which stands as our highest ideal of all that is good, true and lasting today.

‘As these pioneers met death, their bodies were received by the soil of the farm that had sustained them in life.  But now, due to progress, the need of this soil for other purposes has caused the now existing descendants in loving remembrance to have their remains moved to this permanent location,’ Mrs. Anderson concluded.

William T. Grimes, a descendant of the Givenses, gave the military history of Captain Givens, who was born in Virginia in 1750 and died in Kentucky in 1825.  Givens spent 40 years fighting for freedom, beginning with the Revolutionary War and ending with the War of 1812.  Givens came to Kentucky in 1781 and settled on land granted to him for military service.

Speaking on behalf of the Givens family, Jack Givens of Houston, Texas, expressed his appreciation to the Grimes family for their work on the project.  He also talked about time he has spent in Scotland, where the Givenses lived before coming to this country.

Another descendant, Joe Givens of Birmingham, Alabama, who has done extensive research on the family, said he plans to publish a 1,600-page, three volume genealogy of the Givens family.  He said quite a bit of information has been gathered on the family and he has been researching library, church and census records.  Givens began his research with Samuel Givens and his wife, Sara Catherine, the parents of Captain Givens, who came to America in 1730.  Samuel and Sara Catherine had 10 children.

T. J. Hill, a local attorney, represented the Lincoln County Historical Society, and the Rev. Joe Faulconer, minister at Stanford Christian Church, closed the ceremony with a benediction.

A list of those buried in the Givens plot according to the numbers above.

1. Catherine Wallace Givens, 1786-1822, wife of John Givens
2. John Givens, 1783-1842, son of George and Rachel Givens
3. James Givens, 1788-1819, son of George and Rachel Givens
4. Rachel Black Givens, 1750-1822, wife of George Givens
5. Captain George Givens, 1740-1825
6. Phebe P. Givens, 1841-1851, daughter of Richard W. and Isabella Givens, granddaughter of John and Catherine Wallace Givens, great-granddaughter of Captain George and Rachel Black Givens
7. Sarah Margaret Givens, 1850-1851, daughter of Richard W. and Isabella Givens, granddaughter of John and Catherine Wallace Givens, great-granddaughter of Captain George and Rachel Black Givens
8. Mary E. Givens, 1838-1845, daughter of Richard W. and Isabella Givens, granddaughter of John and Catherine Wallace Givens, great-granddaughter of Captain George and Rachel Black Givens
9. Mary Givens, 1818-1835, ?
10. James H. Mitchell, died 1877, 27 years of age, ?
11. Sarah Mitchell, died 1876, 20 years of age, ?
12. Mary Belle Givens, 1847-1869, daughter of Richard W. and Isabella Givens, granddaughter of John and Catherine Wallace Givens, great-granddaughter of Captain George and Rachel Black Givens
13. Rachel Givens, 1852-1867, daughter of Richard W. and Isabella Givens, granddaughter of John and Catherine Wallace Givens, great-granddaughter of Captain George and Rachel Black Givens
14. Richard Wallace Givens, Jr., 1843-1866, son of Richard W. and Isabella Givens, grandson of John and Catherine Wallace Givens, great-grandson of Captain George and Rachel Black Givens
15. John Givens, 1842-1851, son of Richard W. and Isabella Givens, grandson of John and Catherine Wallace Givens, great-grandson of Captain George and Rachel Black Givens
16. Bettie L. Givens Denny, 1845-1871, daughter of Richard W. and Isabella Givens, granddaughter of John and Catherine Wallace Givens, great-granddaughter of Captain George and Rachel Black Givens, wife of A. K. Denny
17. Ann Givens Chenault, 1837-1874, daughter of Richard W. and Isabella Givens, granddaughter of John and Catherine Wallace Givens, great-granddaughter of Captain George and Rachel Black Givens, wife of W. Chenault
18. Richard Wallace Givens, 1814-1869, son of John and Catharine Wallace Givens, grandson of Captain George and Rachel Black Givens, and wife, Isabella Paxton, 1819-1884.
19. No stone – George Givens, 1779-1846,son of Captain George and Rachel Black Givens

In future blogs we will find out much  more about this family, with individual photos of each stone.