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Davey Family Story

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Surnames/tags: Davey Bumpass Halliburton
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Davey Family History Story

Nevada, Collin Co., Texas 7/22/1902.

"What I have learned of the Davie family by tradition, handed down by my ancestors. One, Gabriel Davy, a miller by trade prior to the year 1747 immigrated from Wales with this sweetheart, Lady Mary Ashburn, a daughter of his employer, and was married in the colonies of America. They settled on the Potomac River where Washington City was subsequently located, and remained there until awhile before the Revolution in the Colonies.

Then fearing the English might find out their locality, they leased their lands to some person for 99 years (the Colonists under the law could not sell their holdings), and moved South to the Colony of the Carolinas, thinking no doubt they would be safer there than on the Potomac from the capture of the irate family Asheburnes. The Davys raised a large family of sons and daughters, among them John, Sam, William, Gabriel Davie and others, whose names I have forgotten. William and Sam Davy, two of the sons remained in Person Co, NC, and some of the others moved to the gold fields of Georgia and were in the Revolution. William, taking sides with the Colonies, was a soldier in NC line and fought under General Green in the battles in the South, Guilford Court House and York Town.

While I was a student at the Univ. of NC, and attending the lectures of Pres. Gov. Swain, on one occasion the Governor seeing I was not paying proper attention to his lecture on the history of NC, asked me the question, "What do you know of the Battle of Guilford Court House?" My answer was, "I understand the NC troops ran at that important battle." He turned the joke on me by declaring that, "Your grandfather, William Davie, and a free Negro were the first to run." This joke was to the delight of the Tar Heels in the class, as the other State boys were accustomed to poking fun at the Tar Heels.

One of the daughters of the original Davy family married a gentleman named Gill, and raised a large family in Person Co. on the opposite side of Hico Farm, which belonged to William Davie. The Gills numbered thirteen children, some of the sons moving to Madison Co, TN in the early part of the 19th Century, where they became very wealthy. William Davy (son of the original Davy) raised a family of twelve children. The boys were named Gabriel, Ambrose, Kindal, Jones and William. This William had married Margaret (Peggy) Jones, daughter of Major Ambrose Jones of NC. The above sons of William Davie and wife, Margaret Jones, in the early part of the last Century moved to Tennessee, bringing with them a land grant of their father, William Davy, for services in the NC forces in the time of the Revolusion in 1776, as the colony of NC owned the Tennessee Territory, and when the colony entered the U.S. they deeded the Tennessee lands to the General Government, reserving the right for their soldiers to locate their lands in Tennessee territory.

Father brought one of the sisters with him, Nannie Merritt, and raised her in Tennessee. They located 5000 acres certificate on the line of Kentucky and Tennessee where the brothers settled. When Aunt Nannie became of age, father and Uncle Ambrose returned to NC to bring her Negroes to Tennessee (as the law of NC forbid the moving of them as she was a minor when they left the state earlier). When Aunt Nannie got back to NC, she married R.D. Bumpass and remained there, as Uncle Bob was Constable and could not think of leaving so important an office

. Father bought her interest in the lands she owned in Tennessee and he and Uncle Ambrose returned to Tennessee, and carried back with them several Negroes. It was in the year 1833 when the Stars fell. The party was camped on the Blue Ridge, and Uncle Ambrose being a very cursing man, concluded the world was about to wind up. He asked father if he could pray and father replied in the negative. Uncle Ambrose then kicked up Aunt Jennie (one of the Negroes) and with an oath ordered her to pray for them, as he thought the occasion was very opportune. Old Jennie when she saw the stars falling did not want a second invitation to commence the devotional service.

The oldest brother, Gabriel Davie, remained in NC for sometime after the others had gone to Tennessee. The four brothers after locating the land returned the certificate to Raleigh, NC. And Uncle Gabe in company with one, Dixon, a lawyer, procured the certificate from the land office in Raleigh and moved to Madison County, West Tennessee. (In company with his four cousins Gills) and located 5000 acres of land there, on which they settled and became very rich by raising Negroes and cotton in the new country. John Davie, a son of William, also settled in Tennessee and raised a family. One of his sons, Gabriel, settled in Clarksville, Tennessee in the early days and had only one son, David Ashburn Davie, who was educated at the Univ of NC in the class of 1860 and died soon after he graduated.

There was one other Gabriel Davie besides the one spoke of above who moved to West Tennessee (this one was called Apple Tan Gabe to distinguish him from my uncle, the man I was named for). I don't know who his father was. My uncle Gabe, son of William Davie, settled in West Tennessee and raised several boys, one Frank D, who became a prominent lawyer of Hickman, Kentucky (now dead). His other boys are now dead, I understand. Ambrose Davie settled in Christian Co., KY and raised one girl, Valeria, by his first wife. She joined the Catholic Convent and was sent off to Nazareth School of Bardstown, KY. Taking some other name, she was Mother Superior of St. Joseph's Infirmary in Louisville, KY, and waited on me in 1865 when I was a wounded confederate in that institution and cared for me as kindly as a mother could.

He also raised two sons, William Jones Davie and M.D. Davie. The older one was educated at Yale and was a Representative from Christian Co., KY. M.D. Davie was educated at Princeton, NJ and represented Montgomery Co., TN in the Tennessee Legislature for sometime (both are now dead). William J. Davie raised two sons by his first wife, Kendal and G.M. One of them now lives in the old home in Kentucky. George M. was a prominent lawyer in Louisville, KY. Both brothers were educated at Princeton, NJ. George died a year or two ago. By a second wife, he raised a boy named Southern, who lives in Louisville, KY. Dr. Kendal Davie never married and died in 1834. Jones Davie raised three boys and two girls. They are all dead. I understand they moved to West Kentucky.

William Davie of NC died 09/11/1813. Margaret Jones, his wife, died in NC 01/01/1815. Their daughter, Peggy Philpot, died 06/03/1820. Mary A. Haliburton died 06/07/1827. Dr. Kendal Davie died in TN 09/09/1834. William Davie died January, 1866. His wife, Mary B. (Pool) Davie died 07/01/1857. (William Davie and Mary B were the mother and father of the writer, Gabriel Jones Davie). The sisters all married and died in NC. William Davie (my fahter) raised five sons. They were Kendal Davie educated at Barrett College, East Tenn., Gabriel Jones Davie and Ambrose Davie educated at the Univ of NC.

Ambrose Davie married Miss Valerie Jordan of SC in 1861. They were lost on the Steam Boat City of Memphis in 1861 while on a wedding trip. Their bodies were never recovered. : From an old newspaper clipping, I have learned the steamboat caught fire and sunk somewhere along the Mississippi River in Louisiana. If there were any survivers, our family members were not among them.

Thomas G. Davie and Marion Davie live in Tennessee and New Mexico. Thomas G. is an old bachelor. Kendal B. Davie lived on the old home place. He raised a large family of Children. On son, Charles Davie, is married and lives in Tenn. A single daughter (a well educated old maid) lives with him. Her name is Mary B. Davie. All the balance of his children are dead. Gabriel Jones Davie (here he refers to himself) has one son, James Mack Davie by his first wife, Miss Reves of Virginia. Mack is married and has one son and lives in Royse City, Texas. Gabriel Jones fathered one son, Thomas Marion Davie, by his second wife, Dora Goodlow, who has educated at the Univ of KY.

Thomas is single and lives in Pickins, MS. By his last wife, Flora Bell Sheppard, he has a son, Roland Gooch Davie, married with one son and living in Nevada, Texas. He fathered three daughters by his last wife, Mary B., Edna B., and Hallie M. He had one son, Gabriel Jones Davie, Jr., who is now 12 years old. My brother, James M. Davie, has one son who lives in Arkansas and is remarried. It would take too long to trace the younger bunch of the family of all the Davies

William Richardson Davy, a nephew or cousin of Gabriel Davy of Wales, came to the Colonies directly to NC from Wales sometime after Gabriel Davy and Lady Mary Asburn came to the Colonies. William Richardson was quite young when he came to the Colonies. I see from the History of Education in NC that William Richardson Davie and Nathaniel Alexander were educated at Princeton, NJ in the class of 1776. William Richardson was a prominent soldier in the Revolution and a member of the Constitutional Convention that formed the Constitution of the U.S., though his absence at the time it was signed prevented his name being affixed to it. In 1799, he was elected Governor of NC and soon after that was appointed by the President an Ambassador to France (at this date he changed the spelling of his name to Davie, making it French). Also, William Davie did the same.

They hated the English and tried to conform to the French spelling, which was very unfortunate for their descendants. In 1850, my father, Uncle Ambrose and Jones bought a large flour mill on the West Fork of the Red River and employed a Mr. Underwood, a miller from Wales. He had managed a large flour mill in Wales for the Ashburn family and knew the Davys. Millers in Wales of that day recommended him to the Davie family. Gabriel Davy of Wales and Lady Mary Ashburn owned land on the Potomac and had leased the same to some person for 99 years before they moved south to NC.

In 1846 when James K. Polk was President and Hon. Cave Johnson was P.M.G. in his cabinet (who lived in Clarksville, TN) and was well acquainted with all the Davie brothers in Tenn, had the Davy survey run out by a competent surveyor, beginning at Davy's Spring and locating the land with little difficulty and found that a great many of the public buildings were on the Davy land, but the lease showed the name to be spelled Davy instead of Davie, as at that time our speople spelled their name, and they could not prove their name from the original Davy by living witnesses, so they concluded to drop the matter, as they were all at that time very wealthy and cared little for the matter. Respectfully your cousin, G.J. Davie Nevada, Texa





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