Some Migratory Davises and Their Connections

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]

Richard E. Davis, Some Migratory Davises and Their Connections (Cleveland, MS: author, 1936), 39 pages.

Scanned from original booklet in the personal files of Louis Ogden [Ogden-4074]. Electronic version at American Ancestors (https://digital.americanancestors.org/digital/collection/p15869coll27/id/23869)), but access may be limited to members only.

Excerpts of key pages to my research:

(Page 3) Section Title: Virginia Soldier W. BAXTER DAVIS, SR., was a Revolutionary soldier from Mecklenburg County, Virginia, about whom my information is quite fragmentary, coming by letter from North Carolina and Virginia, and from the book by Hon. Walter L. Hopkins, of Richmond, entitled "Hopkins of Virginia and Related Families," published by J. W. Fergusson & Sons, Richmond.

On page 11 of this book we find in the family of Dr. Arthur Hopkins and his wife, Elizabeth Pettus, the following entries pertaining to their 10th, 11th, and 12th children:

"(10) Jane Hopkins, d. prior to 1802, m. William Davis of Mecklenburg Co., Va., prior to 1765. On June 15, 1780 (D. B. 5, p. 66, Meek. Co.), Wm. Davis and Jane Davis, his wife, Edward Davis and Elizabeth Davis, his wife, conveyed to Hardaway Davis 250 acres of land. Deed is signed by Wm., Edward and Elizabeth Davis, and is witnessed by Amasa Palmer, Joshua and Charles Davis.

"(11) Frances Hopkins, d. prior to 1802, m. John Davis of Mecklenburg Co., prior to 1762.

"(12) Amelia Hopkins, m. W. Baxter Davis of Mecklenburg Co., Va., prior to 1765. They had at least one son, James Hopkins Davis, who is mentioned in her brother, Dr. James Hopkins' will. (See deed dated Aug. 1, 1790, D. B. 7, p. 643, where Baxter Davis and Amelia, his wife, of Granville Co., N. C, exchanged land with Anderson Smith of Mecklenburg Co.)"

(Page 4) On pages 60, 62, and 352 of the same book we find that the will of Dr. James Hopkins also bequeathed legacies to "Sister Frances Davis' (deceased) children; . . . . ; and to nephew, John Davis, son of Sister Jane, deceased." The legacies were to be "paid into the hands of his brother-in-law, W. Baxter Davis, of Mecklenburg Co., or if he be not living, then to his widow."

This provision indicates to me that William, John, and W. Baxter Davis were brothers, or at least very near relatives. Probably a case of three brothers marrying three sisters. If this is true, then the father of W. Baxter Davis must have been William Davis, whose full name may have been William Baxter Davis, for we find on page 60 of the Hopkins book the following:

"William Davis left a will in Mecklenburg Co., dated Oct. 25, 1799, pro. June 18, 1801, W. B. 4, p. 295, in which he devised property to grand sons, John Davis and Arthur Davis, 'sons of my son John Davis,' and John Davis, son of William Davis, left will dated Mar. 14, 1803, pro. Oct. 10, 1803, W. B. 5, p. 36," etc.

(Page 7) Section Title: Kentucky Pioneer BAXTER DAVIS, JR., b. Nov. 3, 1773 (This is the date given by Dr. Robert Dickins Webb in his book, "The Webb Family," 1894, and also the date given in a letter from Rev. A. G. Davis to J. W. Ramsey, 1893, although an old family Bible in my possession gives the year of birth as 1772.) He was the son of W. Baxter Davis and Amelia Hopkins, who are mentioned as living in Mecklenburgh County, Va., by deed dated 1789, and as living in Granville County, N. C, by deed dated 1790. Prior to that, by deed dated 1757, Baxter Davis is mentioned as living in Lunenburgh County, Va. The family Bible mentioned above states that Baxter Davis, (Jr.) was born in North Carolina, but above-mentioned deeds indicate that he must have been born in Mecklenburgh County, Va. There was some confusion in early days as to the line between Virginia and North Carolina, and many people who thought they lived in Virginia found that they resided in North Carolina after the line was surveyed. That fact may account for the seeming confusion in the record.

Miss Jeannette E. Biggs, Historian of Granville County, N. C, residing at Oxford, states that Baxter Davis, Jr., married Mary Webb Sept. 28, 1801, but this must have been the date of the issuance of the marriage license, as all other records place the date of the marriage as Oct. 1, 1801, and Rev. A. G. Davis adds that the ceremony was performed by Maj. James W. Smith. Mary Edmondson

(Page 8) Webb was the daughter of William Webb and Frances Young. She was born Jan. 18, 1782, in North Carolina, according to the record, and her family is dealt with in detail by Dr. Webb's book, above referred to. There is also confusion in the records as to the year of her birth, as some records say 1783, instead of 1782. She died in Daviess County, Ky„ Oct. 22, 1837, at the age of 54 years.

Dr. Webb states that "they moved to Kentucky between 1804 and 1809, having at that time two children." He must have meant two or more children, as two children were born between the dates mentioned. Rev. A. G. Davis gives the same two dates, the former being the birth year of Wm. H. Davis, born in North Carolina, and the latter being the birth year of Thos. W. Davis, who was born in Kentucky. My Bible states specifically that James W. Davis, the fourth child, was born in Carolina in 1806 and the fifth child, John Davis, was born in Kentucky in 1808. In addition to the above, a deed is recorded, 1807, D. B. T, p. 75, Granville County, N. C, in which Baxter Davis, Sen., of Granville County, sold to John Speed of Mecklenburgh County, Virginia, 600 acres, "it being same tract of land whereon the said Baxter Davis now lives including that part on which Baxter Davis, Jr., lives, and balance of the tract which said Baxter Davis purchased of Anderson Smith", etc., etc. Removal to Kentucky, therefore, must have been in 1807 or early in 1808.

Whether the son's full name was W. Baxter Davis is not known, as neither father nor son used the initial W. in deeds or other records now extant.

(Page 9) The only record that I have found which uses the initial regarding the father is the will of Dr. James Hopkins, youngest son of Dr. Arthur Hopkins, who specified that certain legacies for his nieces and nephews should be paid into the hands of his brother-in-law, W. Baxter Davis.