the scovilles

Scoville Origins and Name

"The Atlantic Ocean to the north and west and the English Channel to the south borders Cornwall, the homeland to the Scoville family name. Even though the usage of surnames was common during the Middle Ages, all English people were known only by a single name in early times. The manner in which hereditary surnames arose is interesting. Local surnames are derived from where the original bearer lived, was born, or held land. The Scoville family originally lived in Cornwall. 

The surname Scoville was first found in Cornwall where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor of St. Austell and also having branches at Mavaggissey, Polrudden, Tregonnan and Menagwins. Another reference claims this name in old Cornish language signifies broom-plant. Their name however, is derived from the village of Scoville, Normandy, where the family lived before arriving with the Norman Conquest in the 11th century.

- https://www.houseofnames.com/scoville-family-crest

A Brief History of Our Scoville Line

The Scovilles descend from Sir Ralph de Scoville, born 1160, earliest known ancestor. They came to America from England early in the nation's history and there are many Scovilles of note in the U.S.

The first of our line to come to the U.S. was Arthur Scoville, who emigrated from Dorset, England in 1660 and settled in Connecticut.

Five generations later, in the early1800s, his great-great-great grandson Sheldon Scoville would leave Connecticut for Oneida, New York, as many did after the Revolutionary War during the Westward Expansion. One of Sheldon's sons, Hector H. Scoville, would be born in Connecticut, raised in New York, then move to Laurel County, Kentucky, where the Scovilles would stay for many generations after.

Hector would have a son named Sheldon and Sheldon would marry Paulina Pigg and have nine children, who are quite interesting. The eldest was Amelia Frances "Fanny" Scoville, who is the great-grandmother of the Millennial Alvarezes. Amelia Frances married Montgomery Jones, whose daughter was Daisy Jones. Daisy Jones married John Raymer, and they had Betty Raymer (who we know as Ma), who married Victor Alvarez (who we know as Pa). They can be found over at the Jones, Raymer, and Alvarez pages.

You could say Amelia's brother, Hector, is the reason the Alvarezes are Puerto Rican. His fruit farm there offered the opportunity for his sister's daughter and her husband to live in PR. He had one son, Francis, who sadly died in his 20s. I list him in this tree below, even though I don't list his many, many Scoville cousins, because he seems to have been largely forgotten from family lore, and from the public record, and I'd like to explore him further and see how much of his story we can restore.