Thursday, January 15, 2015

A Needle in a Haystack: In Search of Mary Davis

You would think that the more recent to the present the generation, the easier it would be to discover and find records of. But not necessarily.




Job Davis has understandably been hard to trace prior to his arrival in this area around 1794 or 1795, . He was born in 1773 in Virginia, in a county that lost its 1790 census. His children for the most part, have not been hard to trace either, with Henry, my line, being the most difficult. But his grandchildren, some surviving into the era of documented marriages and deaths, have proven much more difficult to trace than their forebears. Such is the case of Mary Davis.

One of the daughters of Henry Davis, Job's oldest son and his wife Sarah's fifth child, Mary was born about 1842 and shows up clearly in two census records. She was the daughter of Henry and his second wife Martha Palmer.

The 1850 census:


NAME:Mary Davis
AGE:8
BIRTH YEAR:abt 1842
BIRTHPLACE:North Carolina
HOME IN 1850:Albemarle, Stanly, North Carolina
GENDER:Female
FAMILY NUMBER:947
HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:
NAMEAGE
Henry Davis42
Martha Davis33
Sarah Davis13
Nancy Davis12
Hampton Davis10
Mary Davis8
Martha Davis5
Aughton Davis4
Job Davis2


And the 1860 census:

NAME:Mary Davis
AGE IN 1860:18
BIRTH YEAR:abt 1842
HOME IN 1860:Stanly, North Carolina
GENDER:Female
POST OFFICE:Albemarle
VALUE OF REAL ESTATE:View image
HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:
NAMEAGE
Henry Davis54
Martha Davis44
Mary Davis18
Martha J Davis16
Laua Davis10
Victoria Davis7

These are the two census records that we know for sure Mary is our Mary. We know that Henry was married to Sarah Kendall, daughter of  Reuben Kendall, prior to his marriage to Martha Palmer, daugther of James Palmer. 

Henry's oldest son, Benjamin Franklin Davis, was born in 1829 and his other known son by Sarah Kendall Davis, was John Edward Davis, born in 1831. There was a third son, in all likelihood, with Sarah Kendall, and he may have died as a child. Possibly of an ailment that also took his mother. We will never know. 

In Henry's first appearance in the census records in 1830, his wife was still just a teenager, between 15 and 19, and Henry would have been about 24, and Benjamin Franklin Davis would have been the one child, and an infant at the time.
NAME:Henry Davis
[Henry Paus] 
HOME IN 1830 (CITY, COUNTY, STATE):West Side Pee Dee River, Montgomery, North Carolina
FREE WHITE PERSONS - MALES - UNDER 5:1
FREE WHITE PERSONS - MALES - 20 THRU 29:1
FREE WHITE PERSONS - FEMALES - 15 THRU 19:1
SLAVES - MALES - 10 THRU 23:1
SLAVES - MALES - 24 THRU 35:1
SLAVES - FEMALES - UNDER 10:1
SLAVES - FEMALES - 10 THRU 23:1
FREE WHITE PERSONS - UNDER 20:2
FREE WHITE PERSONS - 20 THRU 49:1
TOTAL FREE WHITE PERSONS:3
TOTAL SLAVES:4
TOTAL - ALL PERSONS (FREE WHITE, SLAVES, FREE COLORED):7

In the second census, the wife must have been Martha. Other researchers indicate a marriage year of 1834 for them, but I've not found any record of this. The male between 15 and 19 could have been Benjamin F. Davis,  He was 11 at the time. The two males between 5 and 9 would have been John Edward, and perhaps an unknown son who died as a child.  It was not one of Henry's younger brothers, because James M. Davis was already set up in his own household and married with children in both the 1830 and 1840 census and Edward W. and Marriott F. Davis were shown living in the home of their parents, Job and Sarah Davis. 

Or, the two males between 5 and 9 could have been B. F and John Edward, and the one male under 5 would have been Henry Hampton Davis, oldest son with Martha Palmer Davis, if the teenager were a hired hand.  There was no mention of an 11 year old male in the household, so B. F. would have been counted as younger (5 to 9) or older (15 to 19), than he actually was.


So, now, let's look at where the older boys were in 1850, and who was missing between 1850 and 1860. 

I can't be certain of Benjamin Franklin Davis's location in 1850. He may have been off at college, as the Davis familly, prior to the War, were well educated, as indicated by their written documents and achievements. He was not married yet and his future wife, Julia Ann Sibley, was still very young and living with her mother.
NAME:Julia Sibley
AGE:11
BIRTH YEAR:abt 1839
BIRTHPLACE:North Carolina
HOME IN 1850:Cedar Hill, Anson, North Carolina
GENDER:Female
FAMILY NUMBER:670
HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:
NAMEAGE
Eliza K Sibley42
Alexr Sibley19
Harlark Sibley16
George D Sibley15
Jeremiah Sibley12
Julia Sibley11
Eliza Sibley8
Henry C Sibley9
John F Sibley6
Sarah Sibley3
The couple were married about 1855,  and their oldest son, Henry Edward "Hollum" was born in    , and by 1860, they are found as a family in the 1860 census. 

He may be the Benjamin Franklin Davis found as a student in Columbia, South Carolina, born in 1829, or he may be the Benjamin F. Davis living with a Randle family, as there were several Randles in the South Stanly area, some who migrated out. 

John Edward Davis was living with his grandfather, Reuben Kendall, in 1850 and working for him.

AME:John Davis
AGE:20
BIRTH YEAR:abt 1830
BIRTHPLACE:North Carolina
HOME IN 1850:Ross, Stanly, North Carolina
GENDER:Male
FAMILY NUMBER:785
HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:
NAMEAGE
Reuben Kendall66
Lucy Kendall42
Clement Kendall20
John Davis20

By 1860, both of the older sons were married, and so were older daughters, Sarah "Sallie" Davis and Nancy Baldwin Davis. 


NAME:B F Davis
AGE IN 1860:30
BIRTH YEAR:abt 1830
BIRTHPLACE:North Carolina
HOME IN 1860:Stanly, North Carolina
GENDER:Male
POST OFFICE:Albemarle
VALUE OF REAL ESTATE:View image
HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:
NAMEAGE
B F Davis30
Julia Davis20
Holum Davis3
Mathew Davis1


NAME:J E Davis
AGE IN 1860:39
BIRTH YEAR:abt 1821
BIRTHPLACE:North Carolina
HOME IN 1860:Burnsville, Anson, North Carolina
GENDER:Male
POST OFFICE:Ansonville
VALUE OF REAL ESTATE:View image
HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:
NAMEAGE
J E Davis39
Emeline Davis24
Wm P Davis7
Alexander Davis4
Ada Davis2
Infant Davis1/12

Nancy Baldwin Davis had married the widower, James Wall and was young enough to be his daughter.

NAME:N B Wall
AGE IN 1860:22
BIRTH YEAR:abt 1838
BIRTHPLACE:North Carolina
HOME IN 1860:Police District 3, Carroll, Mississippi
GENDER:Female
POST OFFICE:Black Hawk
VALUE OF REAL ESTATE:View image
HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:
NAMEAGE
James Wall41
N B Wall22
Mary E Wall20
A S Wall14
E J Wall11
S H Wall8
Caroline Wall6
James O Wall3
C D Wall8/12
Sarah Davis had married Woodsonn Crump and remained not too far from her family, just across the river in Anson County.

NAME:Sarah Crump
AGE IN 1860:23
BIRTH YEAR:abt 1837
BIRTHPLACE:North Carolina
HOME IN 1860:Cedar Hill, Anson, North Carolina
GENDER:Female
POST OFFICE:Ansonville
VALUE OF REAL ESTATE:View image
HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:
NAMEAGE
Woodson Crump38
Sarah Crump23
William Crump13
John Crump12
Benjamin Crump12
Joseph Crump9
Jere Crump5
Woodson Crump8/12

Henry Hampton Davis was living with his uncle, Edward Winfield Davis
NAME:Hampton H Davis
AGE IN 1860:20
BIRTH YEAR:abt 1840
HOME IN 1860:Stanly, North Carolina
GENDER:Male
POST OFFICE:Albemarle
VALUE OF REAL ESTATE:View image
HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:
NAMEAGE
E W Davis48
Hampton H Davis20
Allen Carpenter18

But where were Hawk (shown as "Aughton", as mispronunciation of "Horton", in 1850) and Job?

They were not deceased. Horton H. Davis, my second great-grandfather, lived to marry and died in 1906 and Job ended up in Carroll County, Mississippi, with his sister Nancy B. Davis Wall.

NAME:Jobe Davis
AGE:30
BIRTH YEAR:abt 1850
BIRTHPLACE:North Carolina
HOME IN 1880:Bright Corner, Carroll, Mississippi
RACE:White
GENDER:Male
MARITAL STATUS:Single
FATHER'S BIRTHPLACE:North Carolina
MOTHER'S BIRTHPLACE:North Carolina
NEIGHBORS:View others on page
OCCUPATION:Day Hand
CANNOT READ/WRITE:

BLIND:

DEAF AND DUMB:

OTHERWISE DISABLED:

IDIOTIC OR INSANE:
HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:
NAMEAGE
Jobe Davis30

Horton H. "Haut or Hawk", shows back up in Stanly County, living with his uncle, Edward W. Davis.
I know this is Hawk, instead of Hampton, as both held the "H. H." intials because of the year of birth, as Hampton was born in 1840, and also because of land records and estate records. Hawk was very closely involved with his uncle in those days and even became guardian of E. W.'s minor children in his passing. 


NAME:H H Davis
AGE IN 1870:22
BIRTH YEAR:abt 1848
BIRTHPLACE:North Carolina
HOME IN 1870:Tyson, Stanly, North Carolina
RACE:White
GENDER:Male
POST OFFICE:Albemarle
VALUE OF REAL ESTATE:View image
HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:
NAMEAGE
E W Davis58
Rebecca Davis20
Sarah Davis1
H H Davis22
Mary Hartrick30
Priscilla Legrand45
George Cump16
It is the other people in this census that are interesting to this post. Rebecca is Uncle Neddy's wife, Rebecca Hathcock Davis and Sarah is Sarah Hortense, their only daughter. Priscilla LeGrand and George Crump are African-American and employed by the family. 

And then there is Mary Hartrick. She is the correct age to be Mary Davis.


The only accounting I have found in records of Mary Davis, daughter of Henry stated that she may have married a Smith,and then later married the husband of her deceased sister, Martha J Davis Ingram, who lived in Kenedy, Karnes County, Texas.


While Joseph A Ingram did return to North Carolina to marry, he married a girl from Charlotte, NC, Mary Katherine McCormick, known as Katie, whose father is plainly named on their marriage license and who was much younger than Mary Davis, and who was young enough to be J. A. Ingrams's granddaughter. She outlived him by many decades and long enough to have made it to the age of death certificates, which again, plainly gives her parents and maiden name. She was not Mary Davis
NAME:Mrs Mary Katherine Ingram
[Mrs Mary Katherine McCormick] 
BIRTH DATE:1864
BIRTH PLACE:Rockingham, North Carolina
GENDER:Female
RACE:White
RESIDENCE:Kenedy, Karnes, Texas
FATHER:John McCormick
AGE AT DEATH:92
DEATH DATE:11 Nov 1956
DEATH PLACE:Kenedy, Karnes, Texas, USA




I thought Hartwick may have been a translation error of Hathcock, and while Rebecca did have a sister named Mary, she is accounted for in 1870, She married William M. Hinson on January 23, 1859. In 1870, she was living with her husband and children.
Mary M. Hinson
NAME:Mary Hinson
AGE IN 1870:30
BIRTH YEAR:abt 1840
BIRTHPLACE:North Carolina
HOME IN 1870:Big Lick, Stanly, North Carolina
RACE:White
GENDER:Female
POST OFFICE:Albemarle
VALUE OF REAL ESTATE:View image
HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:
NAMEAGE
William Hinson40
Mary Hinson30
Caroline Hinson10
Irving Hinson8
Ellen Hinson7
Malinda Hinson6
Rufus Hinson4
Doctor Hinson1
So, could Mary Hartwick be Mary Davis? I will have to look into the Hartwick family.



1 comment:

  1. Hi, Love your blog. We are obviously cousins!! Job Davis was my 4th G-grandfather. Don't know if it will help but I have Mary Hathcock, daughter of James, as married to William Hinson. Her sister was Retta (Rebecca?) Hathcock.

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