Caleb A. Davis (1829 - 1908)

Born 19 Feb 1829 in USA

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 17 Nov 1908 at age 79 in Llano County Texas, USA

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Biography

On April 29, 2017 Caleb A Davis was honored by The Former Texas Rangers Foundation for his service in defense of Llano County by the placement of a Texas Rangers cross at his grave site. The following biography was made available to those in attendance.

Caleb A. Davis was born on February 19, 1829, and died on November 17, 1908. He was born in Giles County, Tennessee. His parents were William K. “Billy” Davis and Elzira Reese Davis.

Billy and Elzira Davis were shown on the 1850 US Census to be living in Yell County, Arkansas. By 1853, the family, which included Billy, Elzira, married sons Thomas Henry and Edward W. “Ned” , unmarried sons Caleb A., Benjamin T., and Marcus D. LaFayette (also called Fayette), Margaret Melcenie, and Lucy Parthena were all in Williamson County, Texas. There they met David Cowan, and soon were shown to have migrated to the western banks of the Colorado River, on the northeast corner of what would become Llano County. They settled in a horseshoe bend of the river, and this would soon be known as Bluffton, Texas. Shortly after moving west to the Colorado, the father, W. K., or Billy, and his son Ned returned to their Bluffton, Arkansas home to finalize their affairs there. While there, the father Billy fell ill and died. When Ned started to return to Texas, he persuaded his 17 year old brother-in-law, Isaac Byler “Ike” Maxwell to return with him. They arrived back at the Colorado River on September 8, 1854.

Caleb, unmarried when he arrived at the future Bluffton, met, and married Sarah Ann Tow. They were married on October 25, 1858.Arkansas. On the Family Record Page of the old Caleb Davis bible, they are shown to have had eleven children.

The Billy Davis home was the first house built in the Bluffton area and on the 1859 map of Llano County, the homestead “was” the community of Bluffton. Only Tow, then known as “Saltworks”, and “County Seat”, future town of Llano, were shown in Llano County at that time.

In 1870, Caleb inherited the Billy Davis homestead. He was to live there until his death in 1908. After his death the house and property was leased out until 1931, when it was demolished due to the building of the dam down river, that would form Lake Buchanan.

Caleb was mustered into the Llano County Local Defense Company, commanded by Captain James S. Bourland, and Captain F. Breazeale. He was shown to have served from December of 1863, for about six months. He was 34 years old at the time, was a private, and was shown to have provided himself with a rifle and a pistol.

However, this does not tell the complete story of Caleb’s service to his community and state. C. L. Yarbrough, in his book, “Canyon of the Eagles”, page 22; Caleb was shown to have joined a party of ten men to chase Indians who were seen in the Tow Valley-Bluffton settlement area, on a raid. They caught up with the Indians in northern Llano County at Babyhead Mountain.

The Davis boys were involved in the defense of the settlers all along the east side of Llano County.

Caleb Davis was active in his community. He was shown as a “Pioneer of Llano County” when he was included in the composite portrait of the Pioneers of Llano County which now is displayed in the Llano County Museum. Two of his brothers, Thomas Henry, and Edward W., signed the petition to create Llano County.

Caleb Davis started working, by working at the Cowan Saltworks. He was also a farmer and a businessman. He was shown on page 31 of “The Canyon of the Eagles”, to be the owner of the most popular saloon in Bluffton. It is not known for sure if his saloon was burned down during the fire of 1883, which burned out the town of Bluffton. But, C. L. Yarbrough said that all four saloons went up in flames. Sarah Ann, wife of Caleb, passed away on July 15, 1881. Caleb then remarried another Sarah, Sarah (Sallie) Davenport O’Bannon. Her first husband (James) was a Llano County Deputy Sheriff who was killed in the line of duty, by a prisoner in his custody. She had one daughter, Stella, by her previous marriage. Caleb and Sallie had one son, Carl, who died at age 4. They lived in his old home place until his death in 1908. The picture above shows him, circa 1905-1908, with his wife Sallie, and step-daughter Stella.

Ranger Caleb A. Davis lived in a frontier world for his entire life. He was born in early Tennessee, lived in currently being settled Yell County, Arkansas, and moved to central Texas, where he and his family became some of the founders of the County of Llano, Texas. He helped establish the area, and as a frontier Ranger, helped to protect his neighbors and fellow settlers of the area. The Bluffton Cemetery is proud to have him here at rest, among his friends, family, and descendants, who have succeeded him. Added by: Tom Davis 5/01/2017 [1]

Sources

• *Find A Grave [2]
• Caleb Davis mentioned in the record of John Franklin Davis[3]