Zerah Marvin ^{1 2 3 4}

   Another name for Zerah was Zera Marvin.⁶

  General Notes:

Cabinet maker, merchant, farmer, preacher.

Sometime before his death, Zerah purchased 160 acres of land in Hancock Co., Ohio. He bought it from Miner Nisbitt who had purchased it in 1835. Zerah willed the land to his son Matthias. ^{7 8}

  Research Notes:

The Harvey Book by Oscar Jewell Harvey, 1899.

Zerah Marvin was for many years a Baptist "elder" or preacher and resided in Union Township, Luzerne County, near the present village of Muhlenberg - where he died in 1859. Children: William, Zerah Cyrenus, Matthew, John, Rhoda, and Martha.


History of Luzerne County, Pa., by H. C. Bradsby, 1893

Zerah Marvin removed from the Valley to Union township when twenty-two years of age, at which time he married Miss Rhoda Williams, who bore him eight children, six of whom grew to maturity. He owned about 200 acres of land, which he tilled to some purpose. He was a man of deep piety, a practical philanthropist, whose deeds live after him. His life was one of usefulness, devoted to the good of mankind. By craft, he was a cabinet maker; by necessity, a merchant; by choice, a farmer; and by the grace of God, a preacher of righteousness in the Baptist Church. His heart always beat in sympathy with the needy; and his hand was always ready to help. Mr. Marvin held the first post office in Union township, then called Union. He died September 28, 1857, aged eighty-two years, after a life of toil and usefulness. His wife died March 11, 1857.


Descendants of Reinold and Matthew Marvin of Hartford, Ct., 1638 and 1635 by George Franklin Marvin, William Theophilus Rogers Marvin

Zerah, son of Uriah and Phebe (Nesbit) Marvin, born 11 April 1775 in Wyoming or Plymouth, Luzerne Co., Pennsylvania (probably the latter); died 28 Sept 1857; married 1797, Rhoda, daughter of Jabez and Martha (Sovereign) Williams, born 12 Feb 1780 in Huntington, Luzerne Co., Pennsylvania; died 11 March 1857 in Union, Luzerne Co., Pennsylvania. He was an early resident of Union and "spent a long and useful life as farmer, merchant, and often as a preacher of the Baptist faith".
Children born in Union:
·William, b. 16 July 1798.
· Reuben, b. 5 March 1801; died young.
· Isaac, b. 29 July 1803; died young.
·Zerah, b. 18 Nov 1804; d. 1886; he is said to have been a soldier in the Union army in the Civil war, but more probably that was a relative whom we have not placed, possibly his son.
·Matthias, b. 24 Aug 1807; d. Oct 1880; m. Amy Davenport
·John, b. 18 April 1810.
·Rhoda Ann, b. 12 Feb 1813; d. 18 Aug 1893 in Salt Lake city Utah; m. 18 Sept 1831, David, son of Peter and Susannah Fullmer, b. 7 July 1803 in Northumberland Co., Pennsylvania; d. 21 Oct 1879. In the fall of 1838 having accepted the Mormon faith be settled in Nauvoo, Illinois; driven from Illinois in the winter of 1846-7 they went to Garden Grove, Iowa and a year later crossed the plains in ox teams to Salt Lake City. His son, Hannibal O., informs us that there are more than two hundred descendants (including the third generation) of Rhoda and her husband.
·Martha Jane, b. 1 Jan 1818; d. 9 July 1896; m. 27 Feb 1840 in Muhlenberg, Pennsylvania, William Seymour, son of Truman and Keziah (Franklin) Monroe, b. 21 Oct 1815 in Huntington; d. 4 June 1872.

Zerah married Rhoda Williams, daughter of Jabez Williams and Martha Sovereign, on 10 Aug 1797 in Union, Luzerne Co., Pennsylvania. (Rhoda Williams was born on 12 Feb 1780 in Bloomingdale Twp. (now Huntington Twp.), Northumberland Co. (now Luzerne Co.), Pennsylvania, died on 11 Mar 1857 in Union, Luzerne Co., Pennsylvania and was buried in Marvin Cemetery, Muhlenburg, Luzerne Co., Pennsylvania ⁹.)