Job's Children: 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:

BIRTH YEAR:

abt 1842

BIRTHPLACE:

North Carolina

HOME IN 1850:

Albemarle, Stanly, North Carolina

GENDER:

Female

FAMILY NUMBER:

947

HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:

NAME	AGE
Henry Davis	42
Martha Davis	33
Sarah Davis	13
Nancy Davis	12
Hampton Davis	10
Mary Davis	8
Martha Davis	5
Aughton Davis	4
Job Davis	2

And the 1860 census:

NAME:

Mary Davis

AGE IN 1860:

BIRTH YEAR:

abt 1842

HOME IN 1860:

Stanly, North Carolina

GENDER:

Female

POST OFFICE:

Albemarle

VALUE OF REAL ESTATE:

View image

HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:

NAME	AGE
Henry Davis	54
Martha Davis	44
Mary Davis	18
Martha J Davis	16
Laua Davis	10
Victoria Davis	7

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:

BIRTH YEAR:

abt 1839

BIRTHPLACE:

North Carolina

HOME IN 1850:

Cedar Hill, Anson, North Carolina

GENDER:

Female

FAMILY NUMBER:

670

HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:

NAME	AGE
Eliza K Sibley	42
Alexr Sibley	19
Harlark Sibley	16
George D Sibley	15
Jeremiah Sibley	12
Julia Sibley	11
Eliza Sibley	8
Henry C Sibley	9
John F Sibley	6
Sarah Sibley	3

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:

BIRTH YEAR:

abt 1830

BIRTHPLACE:

North Carolina

HOME IN 1850:

Ross, Stanly, North Carolina

GENDER:

Male

FAMILY NUMBER:

785

HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:

NAME	AGE
Reuben Kendall	66
Lucy Kendall	42
Clement Kendall	20
John Davis	20

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:

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:

NAME	AGE
B F Davis	30
Julia Davis	20
Holum Davis	3
Mathew Davis	1

NAME:

J E Davis

AGE IN 1860:

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:

NAME	AGE
J E Davis	39
Emeline Davis	24
Wm P Davis	7
Alexander Davis	4
Ada Davis	2
Infant Davis	1/12

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

NAME:

N B Wall

AGE IN 1860:

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:

NAME	AGE
James Wall	41
N B Wall	22
Mary E Wall	20
A S Wall	14
E J Wall	11
S H Wall	8
Caroline Wall	6
James O Wall	3
C D Wall	8/12

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:

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:

NAME	AGE
Woodson Crump	38
Sarah Crump	23
William Crump	13
John Crump	12
Benjamin Crump	12
Joseph Crump	9
Jere Crump	5
Woodson Crump	8/12

Henry Hampton Davis was living with his uncle, Edward Winfield Davis

NAME:

Hampton H Davis

AGE IN 1860:

BIRTH YEAR:

abt 1840

HOME IN 1860:

Stanly, North Carolina

GENDER:

Male

POST OFFICE:

Albemarle

VALUE OF REAL ESTATE:

View image

HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:

NAME	AGE
E W Davis	48
Hampton H Davis	20
Allen Carpenter	18

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:

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:

View image

HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:

NAME	AGE
Jobe Davis	30

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:

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:

NAME	AGE
E W Davis	58
Rebecca Davis	20
Sarah Davis	1
H H Davis	22
Mary Hartrick	30
Priscilla Legrand	45
George Cump	16

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