Sarah (Van Meter) Davis (1706 - 1769)

Born 30 Oct 1706 in Raritan, Somerset, New Jersey [uncertain]

Ancestors

Wife of James Davis — married 1723 in Cecil, Maryland

Wife of James De Mitt Davis — married after 1730 in Prince George's, Maryland

Descendants

Died 23 May 1769 at age 62 in Frederick County, Virginia

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Biography

Church records

• 1706 Oct 30 Sara - Jan Joosten and wife. Witnesses: Joost Jansen, Katleyn Bodyn. ^[1]

Sarah was born in 1706. She is the daughter of John Van Meter and Sarah Bodine.

In June of 1730, a record of the Quaker wedding of Thomas Mills and Elizabeth Harrold of Monoquisy [Monocacy], Maryland occurred at the house of Josiah Ballengars in Monoquisy. One of the witnesses was "Sarah Vanmetere."^[2]

Sarah probably married James Davis within a year or so of witnessing the above marriage.

Sarah was named "Sarah Davis, wife of James Davis" when her father John wrote his will in 1745. On 9 July 1754, James Davis of Frederick County, Virginia sold land to Jacob Vanmeter of the same county (by lease-and-release), the land being part of a tract devised to James Davis in the will of John Vanmeter dated 13 August 1745.^[3]

• - Named as executor for her husband's Will which was probated 7 December 1756, Frederick County, Virginia.

On 1 July 1760, Sarah Davis, widow and relict of James Davis decd., released her interest in a tract of land that James Davis had sold to Robert Davis and since had been conveyed to George Myles.^[4]

Research Notes

Who witnessed the Quaker marriage of Thomas Mills and Elizabeth Harrold?" We should be careful to identify the Sarah Vanmetere who witnessed the 1730 marriage in Monocacy, Maryland. If this was her maiden name, then she would almost certainly have been a descendant of Joost Jans Vanmetere through one of his three sons: John, Isaac, or Henry (they are not known to have had a sister named Sarah). John had removed to Monocacy, Maryland around 1725, while Isaac and Henry have no known association with the place.

Isaac's earliest known children were born starting around 1720 or a little before. His eldest children Henry and Sarah were listed with him at the signing of the covenant at the establishment of the Pilesgrove Presbyterian Church. They were also the first son and daughter listed in Isaac's will. It is unlikely that the Sarah witnessing in 1730 was his daughter, as his daughter Sarah was baptized in 1722.

Henry is even less likely a father for Sarah. He was born in 1795, so probably wouldn't have had a child until after 1715. His first known child was born probably around 1720 or a little after. It is very unlikely he could have had a daughter Sarah early enough for her to witness a wedding in 1730. Furthermore, all of his known descendants stayed in New Jersey until the late 1700s.

We can easily rule out the idea that the Sarah Vanmetere witnessing the 1730 marriage had married into this family. Henry's wife in 1730 was named Sarah, but she is unlikely to be the witness in 1730, since she and Henry had no known Quaker associations and since she was most likely living in New Jersey at the time. John and Isaac were married to women named Margaret and named Anna in 1730. And none of these men had male descendants old enough to have fathered the woman who witnessed the 1730 marriage.

The only reasonable conclusion is that Sarah Vanmetere witnessing the marriage in Monocacy, Maryland in 1730 was Sarah, eldest daughter of John Vanmeter, baptized in 1706. This fits with John's known migration to Monocacy by around 1725. No members of the Van Meter family are known to be quakers. Abraham "Vanmature" and Rebecca "Vanmature" were each witnesses in 1761 to the marriage of Abel Walker and Mary Beason in Frederick County, Virginia.

Monocacy was settled by Quakers, so it is possibly that Sarah had converted by proximity to others. But more likely is that she was just a guest at the wedding, and so signed on as a witness. (Non-quakers were allowed to attend Quaker weddings.)^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ Somerset Quarterly: Vol. 2, Page 44
2. ↑ New Garden Monthly Meeting, Marriage Records, 1704-1765, page 73 1/2; image on Ancestry.com
3. ↑ Frederick Co., Virginia deeds vol. 3 pages 332–3
4. ↑ Frederick Co., Virginia deeds vol. 6 pages 14–5
5. ↑ FamilySearch Wiki, England Quaker marriage records

• Somerset County Historical Quarterly (New Jersey)

See also:

• Mullins genealogy

Acknowledgments

• This profile was created on 06 August 2010 through the import of Lynch-Tree.ged.

• profile VanMeter-48 created through the import of davisfamilytree-1.ged on Sep 1, 2012 by Rich Davis.

• profile Van Meter-240 created through the import of Ledbetter01.ged on Jun 8, 2013 by Scott Ledbetter.