no image
Privacy Level: Open (White)

John Davis (1643 - 1704)

John Davis
Born in Roxbury, Suffolk, Massachusetts Baymap
Ancestors ancestors
Husband of — married 5 Feb 1667 in Roxbury, Suffolk, Massachusettsmap
Descendants descendants
Died at age 60 in Roxbury, Suffolk, Massachusetts Baymap
Problems/Questions Profile manager: David Bratka private message [send private message]
Profile last modified | Created 19 May 2011
This page has been accessed 1,367 times.
This profile is part of the Roxbury, Massachusetts One Place Study.

Contents

Biography

John settled on a farm of approximately 100 acres near present day Roslindale, now part of the Arnold Arboretum. By trade, John was a blacksmith.[1] He was born on 1 Oct 1643 (“Davis: John [Davies]. CT. R], s. William, Oct 1, 1643” Roxbury Births Vol 1 p 94).[2][3][4][5][6] On 5 Feb 1667 in Roxbury he married Mary Devotion ("Davis, John and Marie Devotion, Feb 5, 1667" p 108).[7] Mary was the daughter of Edward Devotion and Mary Curtis baptized 25 Feb 1648/49 at 4 days of age.[8] Mary joined the First Church of Roxbury in 1671.[9]

Children

John and Mary Davis had six children:

  1. John Davis born on January 11, 1670/1 in Roxbury, Suffolk, Massachusetts, (“John, s. John, Jan. 11, 1670” and “John s. John, bp. 14:3m:1671. C.R.1.”) Roxbury Births Vol 1 p 94.[2] Note he is not mentioned in his father's will so it may have died young. He is not the John Davis of Amesbury who married Elizabeth Cilley. He is not the John who died in Jul of 1683 - he was the wrong age. No further record.
  2. William Davis born on August 11, 1673 in Roxbury, Suffolk, Massachusetts (“William [Davies. C.R.1.], s. John, Aug. 11, 1673.” Roxbury Births Vol 1 p 97).[2] He died on 23 Jan 1705/6 in Roxbury.("DAVIS, William, [died] Jan. 23, 1705-6." Roxbury Deaths Vol. 2, p. 506)[10] He married Charity Holmes before 1701.[5]
  3. Mary (or Marie) Davis born on April 6, 1675 or 1676 in Roxbury, Suffolk, Massachusetts,(“ Mary, d. John, jr., bp. 14: 2 m: 1675. C.R.1.” and “Marie d. John, Apr. 6, 1676” Roxbury Births Vol 1 p 96 note the discrepancy of year).[2] She married first to George Bacon on 4 May 1699 in Roxbury ("Bacon: George and Mary Davis, May 4 1699" Roxbury Marriages Vol 1 p 17).[7] After his death she married second to Nathaniel Carpenter on 13 Nov 1716 ("Carpenter: Nathaniel [of Attleborough C.R.2.] and Mary Bacon [Boson C.R.2.], Nov. 13, 1716]" Roxbury Marriages Vol. II p 62).[7][11] She must have died after 1716 (the date of her second marriage) and may even have remaried a third time after her second husband died on 28 Feb 1727 in Rehoboth. There is no death recorded for Mary Carpenter in Rehoboth after 1716 that matches her.
  4. Elizabeth Davis born on April 18, 1678 in Roxbury, Suffolk, Massachusetts (“Elisabeth, d. John, Apr. 18, 1678.” Roxbury Births Vol 1 p 92)[2][5][1][12]and died 1756 at age 77 years.[1][13] She married Thomas Mayo on 4 May 1699 in Roxbury.[5][1][12][14]
  5. Deacon Samuel born on June 23, 1681 in Roxbury, Suffolk, Massachusetts, (“Samuel, s. John [sr. C.R.1.], June 23, 1681.” Roxbury Births Vol 1 p 97)[2] and died 8 Apr 1760 a. 78 y. 9 m. 3 d. ("Davis, Dea. Samuel, [died] April 8, 1760, a. 78 y. 9 m. 3 d." [Birth calculates to about 5 Jul 1681.] Oxford Deaths p p 278[15] Samuel married first Mary Chamberlain on June 23, 1709 at Roxbury, Massachusetts. Mary was born at Roxbury on August 1, 1687, a daughter of Jacob Chamberlain and Mary Child.[16] and married 2nd Oct 13 1731 Mary Weld.
  6. An infant died at birth on January 4, 1683 in Roxbury, Suffolk ("Davis: ____, inf. ch. joh[n], sr., bur. 7:11m: 1683-4 C.R.1.") Massachusetts.Roxbury Deaths Vol 2 p 506)[10]


Death and Will

John’s wife Mary died eight days later on January 12, 1683 apparently in connection with the birth of that last child.

His will was dated February 23, 1704/5. It was John’s will that his son William should have his upland and meadow homestead lying on both sides of the road leading to Dedham, also two acres of salt marsh and all of his “movable” estate except two guns. The will directed that William pay twenty pounds to John’s daughters Mary Beacon and Elizabeth Mayo within four years, five pounds each year. Son Samuel was left two small wood lots (10 and 7 acres each) and John’s two guns. Samuel was directed to pay daughters Mary Beacon and Elizabeth Mayo five pounds each within one year, their inheritance from their grandfather Edward Devotion. Finally, John directed that upon the death of his son William, the homestead left to William would go to John’s grandson John Davis.[17]

John Davis died at Roxbury on March 16, 1704/5 within a month of writing his will (”Davis, John. Sr. Mar 16 1704-5 [a. abt. 62 y. G.R.1]” Vol 1 Roxbury Deaths p 504)[18] He is buried with his wife Mary at Eliot Burying Ground. Their grave markers read:


  • Here Lyes Ye Body of John Davis Aged About 62 Yrs Died March Ye 16th 1704-5
  • Mary Davis Wife to John Davis Aged 35 Yrs. Decd Jan 12 1683

See Find A Grave Memorial# 27065497 John Davis[19] and Find A Grave Memorial# 27065530 Mary Devotion Davis.[20]

THE WILL OF JOHN DAVIS

The last Will and Testament of John Davis of Roxbury in the County of Suffolk in New England the Three and Twenty of February One thousand seven hundred & four or five, as followeth having my perfect understanding and memory by the blessing of my merciful father into whose hands I commit my soul & dispose of my worldly estate; in the first place my will is that all my just debts & funeral charges be paid and discharged by my Executors hereafter named with all Convenient speed after my Interment.

Item. I will and constitute and appoint my 2 sons William and Samuel to be my Executors.

Item: my will is that my son William shall have all my hosted of upland and meadow lying one both sides of the country road leading to Dedham Including in it that part of wood Land and pasture land adjoining upon Johne May and Josheway Seivers and also I give my son William all my movables with outdoors and within excepting 2 guns one at the castell and my hunting gun itis my will that my son William shall pay to my daughters Marah Beaken and twenty pound to Elezebeth Mayo in curr[ent] money of New England within four years five pound to each a year.

Item. I give to my son Samuel all my land lying up at Jacob Chamberlins with all appurtenances belonging there too with too small wood lots lying in the 2 division now to Sammuell Morelis the one being for ten acres and the other Seven Acres, likewise I give to my son Samuel my hunting gun and the other gun mentioned.

Item. My will is that my son Samuel shall pay to my 2 Daughters Mary Baken & Eliz Mayo Ten pound in curr[ent] money of New England, in one year’s time as their Legacies given to them by their Grandfather Edward Devotion, which is to each five pounds it being forgot in the place of it by recollecting of my thoughts.

I do will that my Son William shall have my 1 acres of Salt marsh lying in Gravelye point.

Item. It is my will that this my Estate of house and lands given by me to my son William might not at his decease be any ways alienated but that it might successively fall to my grandchild John Davis if he lives till he come of age and if he dye that it should fall to the next heir.

John Davis. (L.S.)

Signed sealed in the presence of us: John Paison, Joseph Weld, Benjamin Davis.

Deposited with this will in the Probate records of Suffolk County is "The Account of Samuel Davis the surviving Executor of the Estate of John Davis late of Roxbury, Husbandman, deceased." This account was approved 31 March, 1718 and bears the signature: Samuel Davis. [17]

Sources

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Chester Garst Mayo, John Mayo of Roxbury, Massachusetts 1630-1688 A Genealogical and Biographical Record of His Descendants, (Rutland, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1965).
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Vital records of Roxbury, Massachusetts to the end of the year 1849. (Salem, Mass.: Essex Institute, 1925-1926) Vol. I. Roxbury births. Link
  3. Mary DeWitt Freeland, The Records of Oxford Including Chapters of Nipmuck, Huguenot and English History, (Albany, New York: Joel Munsell's Sons, 1894)
  4. George Norbury MacKenzie, Colonial Families of the United States of America, (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1966).
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 George L. Davis, Samuel Davis of Oxford, Mass and Joseph Davis of Dudley, Mass. and Their Descendants, (Worcester, Massachusetts: Charles Hamilton, 1884).
  6. Ancestry of Robert Roy and Related Families
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 Vital records of Roxbury, Massachusetts to the end of the year 1849. (Salem, Mass.: Essex Institute, 1925-1926) Vol. II. Roxbury Marriages.
  8. First Church of Boston
  9. Walter Eliot Thwing, History of the First Church in Roxbury, Massachusetts, 1630-1904 p 64, list of church members Mary Davis, wife of John Davis, under date 2 m. 30 d. 1671. Also mentioned on page 120 along with John Jr., with a date of March 7, 1674.
  10. 10.0 10.1 Roxbury, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States. Vital Records of Roxbury, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849. (Salem, Massachusetts: Essex Institute, 1925-1926)
  11. William3 Carpenter (William2-1) of Rehoboth, Massachusetts, in Zubrinsky, Eugene Cole. Carpenter Sketches: Links to Sketches And Articles Representing the Most Current and Reliable Scholarship Concerning Early Generations of the Carpenter Families of Rehoboth, Massachusetts, and Providence, Rhode Island and Their Ancestors. (Carpenters' Encyclopedia of Carpenters, 2008), pages 3, 5. 'CHILDREN: All born at Rehoboth (RVR 1:9). ... NATHANIEL CARPENTER, b. 12 May 1667, d. prob. Rehoboth or Attleborough, date unknown (not 28 Feb. 1727 [see bro. Josiah, above]), living 1740/1 (will); m. (1) Rehoboth 19 Sept. 1692 or 18 Sept. 1693, RACHEL COOPER, b. Rehoboth 6 Aug. 1671, d. or bur. there 9 July 1694, aged 23, dau. of Thomas Jr. and Mary (Kingsbury) Cooper; of Attleborough when he m. (2) Dorchester 13 10th mo. [Dec.] 1695, MARY PRESTON, b. Dorchester 1 Sept. 1675, d. Rehoboth 26 (not 25) May 1706, in 31st yr., dau. of Daniel and Abigail (Jackson) Preston; m. (3) Rehoboth 18 (not 8) July 1707, MARY (SABIN) COOPER (widow of Nathaniel), b. Rehoboth 8 Sept. 1675, d. there 9 April 1712, aged 36, dau. of William and Martha (Allen) Sabin; of Attleborough when he m. (4) Roxbury, Mass., 13 Nov. 1716, MARY (DAVIS) BACON (widow of George), bp. Roxbury 14 1st or 2nd mo. [March or April] 1675 (Mary, dau. of John) or b. there 6 or 16 April 1676 (Marie, dau. of John), dau. of John and Mary/Marie (Devotion) Davis (Carpenter [1898] 53 [unrecorded will]; RVR 1:7, 10, 89 [not 91], 93a, 162 [not 94], 163 [not 95], 164 [not 96], 160, 175 [not 171], 178 [not 179], 181 [not 173]; NEHGR 5:255, 14:26, 16:338, 36:52; DVR 14, 102; Old Rehoboth Cem 16, 18; RI Cems 69; RVR [pub] 5, 331; RoVR 1:96, 2:17, 62, 108, 459; Davis Fams 43-46; Woodstock Hist 2:281).'[Note: stricken text is another John Davis, John Davis Junior in the records, whose daughter Mary was born in 1675. The baptism of Samuel in 1681 calls the father John Davis Senior, and Samuel is named in John Davis' will, as given in the Davis source cited, along with "Marah Beaken". John Davis Jr. had no son Samuel per Roxbury VRs.]
  12. 12.0 12.1 George F Daniels, History of the Town of Oxford, Massachusetts, (Oxford, Massachusetts: by the author, 1892)
  13. Suffolk County Probate Records: Elizabeth Davis died in 1756 in Roxbury, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, at age 77 years. The estate of Elizabeth Davis was administered on 27 March 1761 in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, by Thomas Hutchinson
  14. Davis, George Lucien. Samuel Davis, of Oxford, Mass., and Joseph Davis, of Dudley, Mass., and their descendants. (North Andover, Mass.: George L. Davis, 1884), p. 5. Children of John Davis and Mary Devotion: 4) Elizabeth, b. 18 Apr 1678, m. 4 May 1699 Thomas Mayo of Roxbury. [Note: the transcript of the will of John Davis in this source, dated 23 Feb 1704/05, names daughter Eliz'a Mayo, mentioning a legacy given her by her Grandfather Edward Devotion.]
  15. Oxford, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. Vital Records of Oxford, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849. (Worcester, Massachusetts: Franklin P. Rice, 1906)
  16. Linzee, John William. The history of Peter Parker and Sarah Ruggles of Roxbury, Mass. and their ancestors and descendants. (Boston, Mass.: Samuel Usher, 1913), 233. Mary, d/o Jacob Chamberlain and Mary Childe, m. Roxbury 23 Jun 1709 Samuel Davis, s/o John Davis and Mary Devotion, b. Roxbury 23 Jun 1681, d. Oxford 8 Apr 1760. [p. 229:] Will of "Jacob Chamberlaine of Roxbury", dated 3 Nov 1731, mentions "my Eldest Daughter Mary Davis the wife of Samuel Davis"
  17. 17.0 17.1 Suffolk County (Massachusetts) Probate Records, 1636-1899; Author: Massachusetts. Probate Court (Suffolk County); Probate Place: Suffolk, Massachusetts (Database Provo, Utah: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2015). Case Number 2918 John Davis 20 Feb 1704, Item Description Probate Records, Vol 15-16, 1699-1709 Index P 216
  18. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 for John Davis, Roxbury, Records Births, Marriages, Deaths, 1630-1785; Vol. 1 p 504
  19. Find A Grave Memorial# 27065497 John Davis
  20. Find A Grave Memorial# 27065530 Mary Devotion Davis




Is John your ancestor? Please don't go away!
 star icon Login to collaborate or comment, or
 star icon contact private message the profile manager, or
 star icon ask our community of genealogists a question.
Sponsored Search by Ancestry.com

DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with John by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with John:

Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.



Comments: 1

Leave a message for others who see this profile.
There are no comments yet.
Login to post a comment.
Three secondary sources report that John's middle name was Stringer. If correct, it confirms speculation that his mother was Elizabeth Stringer.
posted by James Bogart

D  >  Davis  >  John Davis

Categories: Roxbury, Massachusetts