Capt. George Givens

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Historical Marker #1328 in Lincoln County remembers Captain George Givens and his remarkable military service to his country.

Givens was born in Orange County, Virginia, in 1740. His Irish immigrant father died before he was born, but made provisions for the child in his will. During Lord Dunmore's War (1774), which pitted the Virginia colony against Native Americans, George Givens served in the state militia. In 1776, Givens was made captain of the Botetourt County militia. Duty called again during the Revolutionary War, and Givens once again responded with service in his state's militia.

For his Revolutionary War service, Givens was awarded four hundred acres of land in Lincoln County, Kentucky. Around 1780, he moved his family there. Part of his land was adjacent to fellow soldier and future Kentucky governor, Isaac Shelby.

The military career of Givens was not over with the Revolutionary War. It appears that he participated with George Rogers Clark and Benjamin Logan in a campaign against Wabash and Shawnee Indians in 1785-1786. Then again, when Kentucky called for volunteers after the defeat at the Battle of the River Raisin during the War of 1812, Givens, at the age of 72, joined other Kentuckians and marched with governor Shelby to defeat the British and Native American force at the Battle of the Thames in Canada.

George Givens died at his Lincoln County home on January 17, 1825. He was buried on his farm in the family cemetery, but his remains were later moved when a local airport was expanded onto the land.