Question

Need David Davis DOB(@1771)& place of birth(Wales or Scotland)& arrival in USA.

Answer 1

David Davis (or Davies, as it is spelled in the UK) is a very Welsh name and not remotely Scottish (David is the patron saint of Wales; Davis/Davies is a patronymic meaning "son of David"). So it's very unlikely although not impossible that this David Davis was born in Scotland. As there are no sources given, I have to ask if there's any reason for assuming him to be an immigrant rather than a second or third generation American.

Comments

Worth noting that Davis in wales is still spelt without the "e" by many families.

The biggest problem here is how common Davis was in Wales at the time, a quick check on FamilySearch brings up 81 David Davis's Born in wales in 1771 who took a ship to the US at some point.

Narrowing down which is the right one will be a bit of work

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I have an old letter from 1950s that says, DAVID DAVIS' son (George S. Davis, b:1805) came from Wales.  He landed in “Little Egg Harbor, NJ.”  His father (DAVID DAVIS) owned a ship that was wrecked.  They were rescued and a Bible from this ship was harpooned.  George’s oldest son, Richard, had this Bible, which I have seen many times.  The harpoon went through the entire book, the leaves were stained by the briny ocean water.  Richard’s heirs may still have this bible.” Later, the Davis family settled in Louisville, KY, where the older children were born, including my dad.  He was 5 years old when they left there for the West.”  In 1853 or early 1854, the family left Louisville by boat, hoping to settle in the West. There are indications a family by the name of Kelly was also on the ship, also moved to KY, and eventually they all went to Missouri in 1854. So, from this info, it appears that David Davis was originally from Wales (however, another letter said that David Davis was from Scotland). I can't find any info on this David Davis until he arrives in Lewis County, KY, other than something that may be completely unrelated. Apparently, a David Davis1799 - lived in Lee County, Virginia in 1799 according to 1799 Personal B Tax List, p.6 for Lee County.  Also, Jonathan Kelly lived in Lee County in 1799 according to same Tax List (John Kelly was a witness to David Davis’ Will in KY.  By 1810, David Davis & John Kelly lived in Lewis Co, KY 1810(1810 Lewis Co., KY Census). John Kelly's son and David Davis' son (George S. Davis) both left Lewis County, KY in 1834 & got to Missouri and established their families by Weston, MO. I am struggling as maybe David Davis' son (George S. Davis) was actually born in Wales as well as David Davis, but just put place of birth as New Jersey on US Census from 1834 until his death in 1878 in Buchanan County, MO. Any help would be appreciated.

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I have an old letter from 1950s that says, DAVID DAVIS' son (George S. Davis, b:1805) came from Wales.  He landed in “Little Egg Harbor, NJ.”  His father (DAVID DAVIS) owned a ship that was wrecked.  They were rescued and a Bible from this ship was harpooned.  George’s oldest son, Richard, had this Bible, which I have seen many times.  The harpoon went through the entire book, the leaves were stained by the briny ocean water.  Richard’s heirs may still have this bible.” Later, the Davis family settled in Louisville, KY, where the older children were born, including my dad.  He was 5 years old when they

left there for the West.”  In 1853 or early 1854, the family left Louisville by boat, hoping to settle in the West. There are indications a family by the name of Kelly was also on the ship, also moved to KY, and eventually they all went to Missouri in 1854. So, from this info, it appears that David Davis was originally from Wales (however, another letter said that David Davis was from Scotland). I can't find any info on this David Davis until he arrives in Lewis County, KY, other than something that may be completely unrelated. Apparently, a David Davis1799 - lived in Lee County, Virginia in 1799 according to 1799 Personal B Tax List, p.6 for Lee County.  Also, Jonathan Kelly lived in Lee County in 1799 according to same Tax List (John Kelly was a witness to David Davis’ Will in KY.  By 1810, David Davis & John Kelly lived in Lewis Co, KY 1810(1810 Lewis Co., KY Census). John Kelly's son and David Davis' son (George S. Davis) both left Lewis County, KY in 1834 & got to Missouri and established their families by Weston, MO. I am struggling as maybe David Davis' son (George S. Davis) was actually born in Wales as well as David Davis, but just put place of birth as New Jersey on US Census from 1834 until his death in 1878 in Buchanan County, MO. Any help would be appreciated.

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There are two old letters written in the 1940s that say, "David Davis was born in Wales" and "David Davis was born in Scotland".  I have done DNA analysis and have Welsh & Scottish genes (I have always thought Davis was Welsh, not Scottish, so your email seems to confirm this.  David Davis owned a ship that was shipwrecked at Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey (but don't know when that occurred).  His son, George S. Davis, indicates on US Census that he was born in New Jersey, but I can't find any confirming info.  Any help would be appreciated.

-William H. Davis

whd 1953@gmail.com

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Hello William, I have just responded to your email. Happy to help if I can.

Daniel

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Thanks again Daniel!

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I just realized you had responded to my inquiry and I thank you for this.  You suggested a genealogist to research the David Davis entries from Wales that came to America.  Do you have any suggestions for how I could retain someone to do this?  Should it be someone in Wales (or does it not matter)?  Any response would be appreciated.  Thanks again for responding - William Davis

Answer 2

Your Not looking for the same David Davies as this person by chance?

https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1008716/anyone-history-davis-location-1771-father-george-davis-1805

The Sons date of birth seems to match

Comments

If so that goes to a Family Search profile with 1 source, but listing him as "David W Davis" or "David D Davies" on an ancestry cencus, I looked at it and the quality is quite bad... but it sort of looks more like a W to me...

When Searching Wales > USA Immigration David W Davies comes up with 1 fully matching result who settled to Maryland, but I wouldn't be 100% certain its him...

Check the link below, as my US Geography isnt the best to be honest...

https://www.familysearch.org/search/record/results?q.givenName=David%20W&q.surname=Davies&q.birthLikePlace=Wales&q.birthLikePlace.exact=on&q.birthLikeDate.from=1771&q.birthLikeDate.to=1771&c.collectionType=on&f.collectionType=4&c.collectionType=on&f.collectionType=4&count=20&offset=0&m.defaultFacets=on&m.queryRequireDefault=on&m.facetNestCollectionInCategory=on

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This person is me (unfortunately! Ha!).  I am the one who sought the inquiry to try to find out when David Davis immigrated to the USA (probably as a result of the shipwreck referenced previously)