Charles Davies (abt. 1706 - 1801)

Born about 18 Apr 1706 in England [uncertain]

Husband of Hannah (Matson) Davis — married 9 Dec 1732 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Descendants

Died 13 May 1801 at about age 95 in Cane Creek, Alamance, North Carolina, United States

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Caution: The parents previously attached Thomas Davies and Mary (North) Davies are entirely undocumented and have been detached by the Quakers Project. Please do not reattach absent primary source documentation and first posting in the G2G discussion thread found at the upper right corner of this profile page.

Biography

Charles was a Friend (Quaker)

The parents of Charles Davies (also seen Davis) are unknown though considerable false information may be found online and in published form.

It may be seen entirely without documentation of any kind that His father died when he was a boy and his mother put him at the weavers trade but not being pleased with his situation he left England without his mother's knowledge and landed in Philadelphia where he was sold (indentured) to pay his passage. (from MOFFITT GENEALOGY)

From the book "Davis: A Quaker Family" by Eleanor M Davis (Gateway, 1985). The current information that circulates on Charles Davies' origins was started in 1845 by a fraudulent attorney and 'Quaker minister' hawking unclaimed fortunes to heirs of those originally in England. At that time Quaker genealogist Gilbert Cope was consulted and found only a few references to a Charles Davis in Pennsylvania and believed the entire thing false. Various members of the family pursued these claims as late as 1915. Eleanor Davis goes on to say that the birth year of 1706 is purely an estimate based on the date of marriage and an average length of indenture. A set of names that could be Charles and parents were found in LDS records for Luton, Bedfordshire long ago. There is nothing to prove (or disprove) that there is any connection at all with that Charles Davis of Luton, Bedfordshire. It is also unknown to whom Charles might have been indentured...if he was in fact indentured. There are a few possibilities listed but there is no evidence to support any of those theories. Davis' book is available here as of November 2018.

Immigration: 1727, Maryland^[1]

Charles and Hannah Matson were married 9 Dec 1732 in a typical Quaker ceremony at the home of Charles Read, Esq., Blockeley, Philadephia, one of His Majesty's Justices for the County and City of Philadelphia. Guests who signed the marriage document as witnesses included John Matson, Jr. and Daniel Matson, believed by some to have been Hannah's brothers, Evan and Jane George, Richard George, Thos, George, James and Ellin Jones, Enoch Lewis, Mary Andrew, Thos. Evan, Thomas Williamson, Daniel Williams, Edward Williams, and a few others.^[2]

Charles was disowned by the Quakers 6th of 12th month 1766.^[3]

Children

It should be noted that many of these birth records are much later records and not contemporaneous with the birth.

• Thomas b 16 May 1734^[4]
• John b 28 Nov 1735^[5]
• Elizabeth b 12 Feb 1737^[4]
• Sarah b ? - a primary source birth record has not yet been located. She is frequently seen born 1837 but this seems unlikely given the 12 Feb 1737 birth of her sister Elizabeth. Her marriage document does list her parents as Charles and Hannah Davis.
• Hannah b ? - her birth is frequently seen as 1744 but lacks a primary source
• Mary b ? - she is a known child of Charles and Hannah but no primary source giving her date and place of birth is currently known.
• Thamar b ? - is seen in Cane Creek records as a daughter of "Charles and Hannah" with a 1771 marriage to Thomas Cox and 1818 marriage to Matthew Barker. Sarah is also recorded as having married a Thomas Cox in 1760.

The 1790 Census appears to show him living in Stokes County, North Carolina^[6] and the 1800 Census in Hillsborough, Chatham County, North Carolina^[7]

d. 13 MAY 1801^[8]

Alternate death information: :d. 05 AUG 1771, Cane Creek Monthly Meeting, Chatham County, North Carolina^{[citation needed]}

Research Notes

It may be read but is undocumented: Charles Davis went by the name "Davies" but was referred to as "Davis" in some records. His son Thomas was said to have dropped the "e" to become Davis. The Davies name was said to have been carried down through Charles' son John and some of John's children. He was said to have appeared in some Quaker monthly meetings records, but was unknown if he was a Quaker prior to living with the Quaker family. He passed away about 1801.^{[citation needed]}

Cane Creek Monthly Meeting minutes dated after 1756 contain the following: "Charles Davis was brought over the ocean and sold to pay his passage. Married perhaps in Chester County, Pennsylvania moved to NC Chatham County was a member of the society of Friends of C C Mo meeting had eight children viz Thomas, John, Sarah, Elizabeth, Mary, Thamar [looks like Thomas but is Thamar], Hannah and Abigail who all married." The record continues with Thomas children, their marriages and later information.^[9] This gives the appearance of the family history as remembered by a child or grandchild.

Hinshaw Vol I:385 has a good collection of Davis records beginning 1754 including movements of children between monthly meetings.

The Hinshaw citation above shows Charles was disowned in 1766. Hinshaw contains no further entries regarding Charles except noting him as a father of his children.

Sources