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Ralph Davis Identified as father of Jefferson Davis Research Notes

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The following is adapted from an email exchange between George Bull and Karen Allman, January, 2023

From George:

...I think I have found the answer to our Davis genealogy mystery!

I have been off and on the past few days trying to do "FAN club" (friends, associates and neighbors) on my Davis family. I am certain of the link back to John Davis who died in 1842 in Lamar Co., TX. I had put his birthdate as 1794 based on a Bible record on a Davis family I thought he linked up with. However, I have certainly had second thoughts about that, the dna matches don't really seem to bear that out.

Anyways, you may recall I thought my John Davis might have had siblings in Lamar County, TX and other counties, including a Ralph Davis born around 1809. So while trying to track Ralph Davis back into Arkansas I came across on ancestry.com this will I've attached written by a Ralph Davis in 1835 and probated in 1836 in Washington Co., AR which is in that northwest corner of AR close to Crawford Co. (where I am certain my John Davis was in 1830 census) and Carroll Co. (where you know your Davis family lived).

[Probate and Will Records of Washington County; WILL BOOK A and B; Ralph Davis, filed April 11, 1836. Signed by mark. Witnesses: Henry B. Brown and George Gossage.]

Note that Ralph names his wife Ginny (that could be a nickname for Jane). His wife had a daughter Polly. Then he names his two sons still living at home, Jefferson and Aaron. Then he names his children who have left the home, presumably in age order: John, James, Lovey, Pattsey, Ralph, Thomas and Polly. I believe the Jefferson and Aaron are the two brothers in your family and the child Polly Davis could be the one who married Daniel Webster Lee (we have dna matches to descendants). Can you tell me again why you think your Jefferson and Aaron's sister Polly married Iredell Boren? Do you have record proof?

I found Love Davis (a female) listed in the 1830 census in Pope Co., AR. I haven't found the others yet. Note that Ralph Davis' two executors were William Reed and Joel Plumlee. I located Joel Plumlee in the 1840 census in Carroll Co, AR enumerated two lines away from your Jane Davis. Here is Joel on the FamilySearch tree: Joel Marion Plumlee Sr (1800–1863) | Person | Family Tree | FamilySearch Here is William Reed: William Reed (1793–Deceased) | Person | Family Tree | FamilySearch He was also in Carroll Co in 1850, not sure about 1840 yet.

The son Thomas Davis fits well with the Thomas Davis born in 1811 died 1862 who lived in Lamar Co., TX and married Elizabeth McGinnis. I have dna matches to descendants, plus two of their daughters married (the grandson of my John Davis), John W. O'Neal 1839-1913. Also my John's son William(b 1818) who received a huge land grant from the Republic of Texas (one league and labor) sold his Lamar County land to Thomas Davis (son of Ralph Sr). So that could have been his uncle he was selling it to if I have things figured right.

I will be looking for a Ralph Davis in states east of AR next. I found one in 1805 in Williamson Co.TN and one in Sumner Co. early also and a Ralph in Moore Co., NC in 1787 and 1799 I think. Fortunately a Ralph should be easier to trace than a John or William! ...

- - -

Will of Ralph Davis


In the name of God, Amen. I Ralph Davis being infirm in body, but firm in mind, do make and publish my last will and testament.

And to my beloved wife Ginny I do give and bequeath my gray horse and side saddle, and all the cattle belonging to me except the yoke and pair of steers and two heifers and all the household and kitchen furniture to hold during her life and then to dispose of them as she may think proper.

Item 2 And all my stock of hogs left in the hands of my wife Ginny for the raising and the schooling of the children likewise my debt to be paid out of the hogs.

Item 3 And to my wife's daughter Polly I do give and bequeath a certain yearling colt by the name of fan.

4th And to my two sons Jefferson and Aaron I do give and bequeath a certain bay mare and colt and for them to divide effects equally likewise the pair of steer above mentioned and the two heifers aforesaid.

Item 5 And the improvement sold and the items divided. One fourth part of the proceeds of the same among the children who have now left me. Their names are as follows John, James, Lovey, Pattsey, Ralph, Thomas, Polly. And to my son Thomas I do give and bequeath my rifle gun now in his own hands. I request my friends William C Reed, and Joel Plumby (Plumlee) of Wahington County, Arkansas Territory, to be my executors of this my last will and testament, and I do hereby nominate and appoint them for this purpose. I wish my body interred in a plain and decent manner.

Washington County, Arkansas Territory, April 17th, 1835 Assigned, Sealed and delivered in the presence of Henry B Brown, George Gossage, day and date above written.

Ralph (his X mark) Davis

- - -

Reply by Karen:

In the 1836 will of Ralph Davis of Washington County, who names minor sons Jefferson and Aaron, we see that it was witnessed by Henry B Brown.

I looked through the Washington County Census document for 1830 which included John Standlee, father in law to Jefferson Davis. Henry B Brown appears on image 15. On image 17 is John Standlee and his Boren in-laws.

I wonder if the Davis names, living near Joel Plumlee in the White County, Tennessee 1830 Census will become relevant. They include James Davis Jr and Sr, Ephriam Davis, and Robert Davis. (Also in the screen prints were Brown, Denny and O'Neal surnames.) - - -


This [ 1837 Madison Co, AR, Tax List] came up when I was using the search criteria "George Gssage" "Washington County" Arkansas. As you may remember, George was a witness to the will. You'll recognize other relevant names in this list.

http://www.combs-families.org/combs/records/ar/madison/37.htm excerpts

This subset may be our Borens: James Boren Joshua Boren Levi Boren John Boen Nicholas Boen William Boen

Thomas Davis

Denton Plumlee

Wm. C. Reed

- - - Reply from George:

...The witnesses on the 1836 Ralph Davis will, ... gives us more evidence of the connection for sure. I wanted to give you a little bit of info on the two Davises who settled in Lamar County (besides my ancestor John Davis): Thomas Davis and Ralph Davis (probably Ralph Jr.). There is a good synopsis of Thomas' family on the Lamar County Cemetery database site: Lamar County Texas Cemetery Records (lamarcountytx.org) I will copy it here: Davis, Thomas 219517 Birth: NOT KNOWN Death: 00/00/1862 Marriage: Cemetery: Tigertown (UNMARKED) Record Source: Update info If you copy this information, please cite this as your source:

Betsy Mills and Ron Brothers. The Death and Cemetery Records of Lamar County, Texas, ReBroMa Press, 2008, http://www.lamarcountytx.org/cemetery. (01/08/2023)

Notes

Information from Mrs. Gaye Phipps Pencin, 1316 Harley Dr., Woodland, CA, 95695, Aug. 1991 (from family histories written for Jack Co., Tx. history book published in 1985): Thomas Davis was born between 1811 and 1815 in Missouri or Kentucky, his parents unknown at this time. About 1832 he married Elizabeth McGinnis, daughter of Abraham McGinnis and his wife, Deborah Clark. I believe Thomas and Elizabeth married in Madison Co., Ark. but early marriage records do not exist. Earliest location of Thomas and Elizabeth, my (Gaye's) second great grandparents, was on the 1840 census, Madison Co., Ark., where they were listed next to her parents, the family of Abraham McGinnis. Thomas & Elizabeth and their young children relocated to the Red River area of Lamar Co., Tx. about 1841. They had seven children, one son and two daughters born in Madison Co., Ark.: 1. Mary Jane, born 1834, married Granville Davis (her uncle?) on May 6, 1855 in Lamar Co., Tx.; 2 children: Virginia A. Davis b 1866, and Thomas P. Davis b 1867; married 2) Samuel J. Pittman on June 17, 1873 (SJP m. 1) Martha Graham, had 6 children; she died 1869/70); one daughter Catherine born ca. 1874, she married G.W. Renfro in Lamar Co.; Mary Jane and Samuel J. Pittman on 1900 census, Lamar Co., dates and location of burial unknown.

2. John W. Davis, born 1838, married Faty Elizabeth Parish on May 6, 1855 in Lamar Co., Tx.; he died during the summer of 1862 in Lamar; one dau., Mary Melvina Davis married Thomas Longley in 1878 in Lamar.

3. Virginia, born 1841, married John P. Braden on Aug. 4, 1858, he died, married 2) John W. O’Neal on 17 July 1877, she died 15 Nov 1911, Lone Star Cemetery, Manchester, Red River Co., Tx. After arriving in Texas, Thomas & Elizabeth had two more sons and two daughters:

4. Doctor Ralph (grandson of Ralph Sr), born 1847, died before 1878, unmarried;

5. Nancy E., born 1850, married John W. O’Neal (her 1st cousin 1R, his mother was daughter of John son of Ralph Sr.) on Nov. 11, 1872 in Lamar Co., she died between Sept. 1874 and July 1877 (when he married her-sister).

6. Martha Ann, born Oct. 2. 1852, married John Russell Maxwell on Jan. 2, 1871 in Hunt Co., died July 6, 1939, Roberts Branch, Jack Co., Tx.; my great grandparents.

7. Abraham, born Oct. 1857; died shortly after 1910 census at Shannon, Clay Co., Tx.

Thomas Davis (son of Ralph Sr) was a trustee for Ammi church, Paris circuit, East Tx. Conference, Aug. 2, 1854 (from BACKWARD GLANCES by Neville, Vol. II, p. 10). Thomas died during the summer of 1862 from a measles epidemic in Lamar Co. According to oral history, Thomas and several other family members died and were buried during the same week. From probate docket minutes, Book E, pg. 189-193, the appraisal in Sept. 1862 of Thomas & Elizabeth’s community property except land totalled $1,619.40; this included livestock, farm equipment, household furnishings, a silver watch valued at $15, 73 bushels of wheat, 90 bushels of corn, 65 pounds of bacon, 80 pounds of sugar, 3 barrels of molasses, and 160 pounds of soap.

According to Cause #2588 filed Oct. 31, 1878 in Lamar District Court, at the time of Thomas’ death, he owned in community property, the following three tracts of land (land division recorded in Lamar Deeds Book 2G, pgs. 171.-176): 1) 640 acres in Fannin Co. patented to Thomas Davis as assignee of William Davis (Lamar Deeds ABC, pg. 230 dated June 6, 1844); 2) 90 acres on the north side of J. J. Morrison’s survey in Lamar Co.; 3) and 110 acres off the north end of Thomas Davis’ 300-acre survey. (William is son of John, the sibling of Thomas)

Elizabeth married Josiah S. Peacock (born 1816, Tenn.; on 1870 Hunt Co. census) on Feb. 22, 1866 in Lamar, but they separated soon afterward. The Lamar Probate Judge ruled that she was entitled to her half of community property from her late husband, Thomas Davis’ estate, and was allowed to live on the homestead until her death. She died between Sept. 1878 and the 1880 census, and her real estate and personal property were appraised at $507.25; included 250 acres in Fannin Co., 107 acres from the Lamar Co. homestead: also livestock, farm equipment and household items.

I believe Thomas & Elizabeth as well as many of their family descendants are buried at a small cemetery just east of Tigertown in northwest Lamar Co., Tx. This cemetery lies on the west boundary of the Thomas Davis homestead

End of cemetery database quote.

Children # 3 and 5, Virginia and Nancy Davis, both married John W. O'Neal who was the son of Marmaduke O'Neal and Nancy Davis (Nancy being daughter of my William Davis and granddaughter of my John Davis). I have several dna matches to their descendants. By the way, the co-author of the cemetery database, Betsy Mills, is former pres. of the Lamar County Genealogical Society. I am a member, have met her on zoom meetings many times. Coincidentally we share a Meador ancestor in VA a few generations back! The person who submitted the info on Thomas Davis for the cemetery database is Mrs. Gaye Pencin. I corresponded with her about 30 years ago and she had done some research on my line of William Davis in Collin Co. as well as Lamar. I tried to contact her via phone (could not find an email address) but it went to voicemail and I didn't get a call back. She is apparently still living at the same address in Woodland, CA and was very active in genealogy years ago but perhaps has gotten elderly and dropped her research by now. I have not seen her on any of the dna databases as a match.

My sister and I are both matches on ancestry to "ladynat4u" who is a descendant of child #3 Virginia Davis but through her first marriage to John P. Braden. She doesn't match you or your uncle Roger on ancestry.


Ralph Davis of Lamar Co., TX received a land grant in Lamar based on his arrival in Texas in Dec. 1835: DaVince Tools Generated PDF File (texas.gov) Here's his page on FamilySearch's tree: Ralph Davis (1820–1879) | Person | Family Tree | FamilySearch His descendants share some similarities in names with my family: Thomas Jefferson Davis and Julia Ann Davis in particular. Some of the sources on his page have been added by "addi5418" who is Colter Addington of Oklahoma, a young man I've been in touch with who is a distant relation on my Addington line. He's related to the Ralph Davis descendants through Ralph's wife Mary A. Taylor. Also Mary A. Taylor's mother was Elizabeth McAnally who is a relation of mine also way back. Aren't we all connected?!!! I don't recall having found any dna matches to Ralph Davis' descendants so far. I need to do more work on this family. I think his age in the 1850 and 1860 census may be off because I don't think he could have arrived at the age of 15 or 16 if Dec. 1835 is his date of arrival. I will have to see if I can find him in any Texas tax rolls.

John Davis, Jr. and Sr., William Davis and Thomas Davis, as well as Ralph all received land grants in Lamar County. I won't copy them all here but here's a webpage which lists them: Lamar County, Texas Land Grants (lamarcountytx.org)

I quickly checked on gedmatch to see if we (you, me, my sister, your mom, your uncle, etc.) have common matches with any of the descendants of Mary "Polly" Davis and Daniel Webster Lee. The answer is "YES" we do. Doing a "People who match both kits" on gedmatch for M214136 (you) and me (PC2214059) I come up with Lezlie Elkins Monteleone and railfan23 (Roy Smith) both of whom are Polly Davis/Daniel Webster Lee descendants. I've tried to contact Roy but have gotten no response. He's on several dna sites too! I think I did contact Lezlie but it wasn't fruitful.

You sure have a lot of kits you manage on gedmatch! I think I am a match or related to you, your mom, your uncle, your two brothers Scott and David. Is Randy Harris your son and Trinity Harris your granddaughter? I think I would match Frank Wingate also, among the kits you manage. I would get so confused managing that many kits!! But good for you for doing that.

That's it for now, I wanted to get this info to you before I start doing more research today.

George


George Gossage

Francis Lea Isaac Lea William Lea Daniel Lee Robert Lee

Additional Notes, Jan 24 2023 thought I would run past my latest "theories/possibilities" with you while it's fresh in my mind. I think I had previously mentioned that I thought the Ralph Davis found in the 1805 tax list in Williamson Co., TN was probably "our" Ralph from 1836 will in Washington Co., AR. In that same 1805 tax list there is a Matthias Davis (listed next to a John Davis) but on another page. I am thinking this could possibly be the Mathis Davis who ended up in Jackson Co., IL who I think is a brother of the Ralph Davis from Revolutionary War in Moore Co., NC. Both Ralph and Mathis are listed in the 1779 will of Arthur Davis in Cumberland Co., NC.

This Mathis Davis from Jackson Co., IL apparently came from Livingston Co, KY but could have been also in TN before that is what I am thinking. I have a strong dna match named ________ Neal who is a descendant of Mathis.

Woking Theory: [Our Ralph(3) died 1836, son of Mathias(2) (with brother Ralph), son of Arthur(1) of Cumberland (as of Jan 2023)





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