Origin Sarver Name
A Summary of
The
Early Sarver’s
And
Their Migration to Pennsylvania
Sarver, Server, Serber, etc., how do we spell thee?Let us count the ways: Sarver, Server, Sorver, Sarvar, Sarvas, Savar, Sarier, Serveas, Sevier, Servier, Serieux, Soerver, Serber, Surber, Szaruas, Servi, Sarve, Zerver, Zarva, Zerbi, Zerbe, Zerbes, Zerbey, Zerbis and more.Probably every “Sarver” living today, who trace their line back in this country beyond 1800, had ancestors who carried one or more of these spellings to their name. Some individuals had their names spelled three different ways on three different list—Example, [ship’s list] Jacob Serber, Ship-Elizabeth, Aug 27, 1733; [PA Foreign Oaths of Allegiance] Jacob Server, Ship-Elizabeth, 1733; [Pa records] Jacob Sorver, Ship-Elizabeth, 1733.But all these variations in spelling are not important, they are believed by many historians to be all from the same origin, “Servi” (the “e” having the sound of “ah”--Sar-ve) and are all therefore of the same name.
“SERVI” was the tribal name of a group of Norsemen that is believed by some to have originated in Scandinavia in the early centuries A.D.They, along with members of the other early races like the Gauls, Goths, Normans and Teutons, were known as the Norsemen.In the ninth century the Servi were among the Norsemen that began to inflict great suffering upon the European coasts.They sailed up the navigable rivers and ravaged the countries along their shores and the freeholders were despoiled of their homes and their possessions by the marauders.The Norsemen became, more or less, a nomadic race.The frequency with which they made war upon the southern countries and weaker principalities led them into frequent migratory expeditions.In 894 A.D. the Norsemen were defeated by Arnuff(580-899), Corolingian emperor (896-899), king of the East Franks (887-899), great-great-grandson of Charlemagne.Among the defeated Norsemen were some of the Servi (pronounced Sarve, two syllables).Some migrated to Italy and became “Zerbi”.Others settled in the duchy of Hanover, where it was known as “Zarva” but the greater number of these northern feudal Servi migrated to middle Europe. Eventually uniting with the Galicians, where they became powerful and noted for their vigor of frame, valor in war and love of freedom.Their coat of arms is that of a knight with the heraldic device, “To Serve” emblazoned on it.
Some of the spellings commonly accepted for around the 1700’s and 1800’s are “Zarva” from Germany and Austria, “Sevier” or “Servier”(the “e” having the sound of “ah”) from France and “Zarvar” from Switzerland.The major variations of these names came from phonetic interpretations make by the Masters or Captains of the ships on which the immigrants sailed.Most of these Captains and their passengers spook little English and therefore were phonetic spellers and wrote the names exactly the way they sounded to them at the time.Additional variations came from the Colonist writing the “naturalization list” (swearing allegiance to England) as the immigrants came ashore.Some families still carry these deviations such as Server, Surber, Zerbey and others.“Sarver” seems to be the more commonly accepted anglicized version of the original names.It began showing up as such in the late 1700’s records and became more prevalent by the mid 1800’s.
Although 18 male Sarver’s (this spelling on ship’s list) immigrated to America in the 1800’s, it appears that the seed stock for most of the Sarver’s in this country today came from 58 males (with the above mentioned ship’s list names) who immigrated to the Colonies between 1710 and 1799. They mostly came from an area that encompassed southern France, southern Germany, and Switzerland.Many of them immigrated first to England and then to the Colonies.Oppression due to wars and religious persecution is believed to be the core cause of the immigrating.Most were Lutheran or Quakers.
Some of these “”Sarver’s” settled near the borders of Virginia and North Carolina and later westward from there.A few settled elsewhere but most settled in Pennsylvania. The majority settled in what are now Lancaster, Lebanon, Schuykill, Berks and Dauphin Counties (early records, deeds, wills and bibliographies). While a few Sarver’s ventured West early, most who moved didn’t make the passage west of the Appalachian Mountains until after the suppression of most of the Indian uprisings in Pennsylvania in the later part of the 1700’s and the building of the Forbes Road from near Harrisburg to Pittsburgh around the same time (early state records and census).This road closely followed the same road built by the British and General Braddock in 1755 on their quest to overtake Fort Duquesne (later known as Fort Pitt) at the convergence of the Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers (now Pittsburgh).The current Route 30 closely follows this route from Pittsburgh to near Harrisburg.
By 1800, most of the land west of the Appalachian Mountain’s in Pennsylvania had been surveyed (warranty maps).Many of the Revolutionary soldiers were paid for their services during the war with land grants west of the Appalachians (early PA records). One such grantee was Philip Server (later Sarver) in what is now Franklin Township, Allegheny Co., PA (PA records).Others could purchase land for one third of what it would cost east of the Appalachians (1800 land prices in Dauphin and Westmoreland Counties).The cheaper cost of good farmland was probably the reason most Sarver’s continued the westward movement into Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois and beyond.Sarver’s now have a notable presence in all fifty states.
Compiled by:
John(Jack) Taylor Sarver, January 23, 2005
Offered as reference material only not guaranteed to be absolute..
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Re: Origin Sarver Name
Martha Murphy 7/21/11