Jenny and Delilah

While researching the family of  my Second Great-Grandfather, I discovered that his oldest child, daughter Jeanette "Jenny" C. Lambert had an untold tale to tell. None of her descendants had figured it out. Loving a mystery, I decided to give it a toss. This is what I discovered.

Jenny was born on a late summer day in the rolling hills of Western Stanly, in the Endy Community ,to a 27 year old farmer, Rufus Alexander Lambert, whose nickname was Mack, and his first wife, 23 year old Sarah Ann Burris.

A  Mr. Freeman was taking a petition to Raleigh from the citizens of Stanly County to stop the felling of trees in Bear Creek. The petition may have held the signature of Rufus Lambert as he lived right on Little Bear Creek in Almond Township, not far from the old Canton Church, where he and many of his progeny lie waiting on the Rapture.

Mr. Pemberton was campaigning for Solicitor from Stanly County.
The Rev. Mr. Strobel was holding a missionary service in the County.
A "Confidence Man" had found his way through nearby Big Lick and swindled the poor county citizens out of money for an orphanage at Oxford, when found out to be nothing more that a "horse-stealer" and " house-breaker".

And Mack and Sallie were welcoming their first child, a baby girl. It was August 23, 1874. Many more children would follow. Five by the time Jenny was ten, but she had lost her little brother Albert when he was but two. And at 10 years old, Jenny would lose her mother, Sallie, herself only 35.

There were 3 little brothers, Eli 9, Frank 7 and Billy 3. Baby sister, Talitha Elizabeth, named for her grandmothers, Telitha Herrin Lambert and Elizabeth Morton Burris, was only 18 months old.

They buried her in the old Wiggins Cemetery in the Endy Community. Her tombstone lovingly engraved:

           "In Memory of Sarah A Burris  Wife of R. A. Lambert 
             January 7 1850     December 9 1885
             Age 35 years 1 m & 2 d by J. R Burris"

Sarah's parents were buried here. She was laid to rest with her people.





The next event creates a black hole of speculation. The facts are this, Sarah's tombstone gives her date of death as December 9, 1885.

The marriage license of Rufus Alexander Lambert and his second wife, Martha Morton, gives their marriage date as December 10, 1885.

All we know about Sarah Burris Lamberts death is from her tombstone. Death Certificates would not start being filed until 30 years later. She did not die in a census year and end up in the mortality schedules. The newspapers did not print an obituary for her that I can find.

Mack Lambert marrying again a day after his wife's death is mind-boggling by todays sensibilities.
However, I don't believe anything nefarious transpired and here is why.

I. W. Snuggs is the clerk who filed the marriage license and D. A. G. Hatley, Justice of the Peace, performed the ceremony at Snotherly's Store.

When Rufus A. Lambert married Sarah Ann Burris, the ceremony was performed by I. W. Snuggs.



Isaiah Wilson Snuggs served as Sheriff of Stanly County from 1889 to 1894. All in all, his career was that of a Civil Servant. If there was anything untowards involved in this hasty marriage immediately following a spouses premature death, I'm sure this well-respected man of the law would have a had a serious problem filing this marriage certificate. The same goes for the esteemed Daniel Alexander Graham Hatley who performed the ceremony.


The Enterprise
(Albemarle, North Carolina)10 Nov 1904, Thu  • Page 3


As for the Snotherly's Store mentioned as the place where the ceremony took place, it was locted in Plyler, a community which lies basically along where the Austin Road, which is one of Stanly Countys' oldest surving roads, crosses the Concord Road, formerly the Morganton Road, currently known as Highway 73.


The 1880 census only showed one Snotherly family in Stanly County, that of William Snotherly, in Harris Township, which is up about New London, Stanly County. It is no doubt this Snotherly, along with his sons, who had established this store in Plyler by 1885.

While there may be some family stories out there somewhere that better explains the reason Rufus married Martha before Sarah's body was cold in the ground, but I have not yet heard it. If any Lambert, Burris or Morton descendants have heard it, please leave a comment. This is a mystery just waiting in the stands to be solved.

My own speculation leads back to the Old Wiggins Cemetery where Sarah was buried "among her people". Those people, meaning the Morton family.

There is only one known Wiggins buried in that cemetery, and that is Hardy Wiggins who passed in the far off year of 1837. There are likey many more, their bodies interred, but the stones marking their graves lost to history. Wiggins seems to me like the Ozzier family. They occupied this land for decades, and while a few married in to what became the base Stanly County stock of that area, Burris, Almond, Harwood, Hatley, Burleson, Lambert, Whitley, Herrin, Efird, Morton and so forth, the rest migrated west and away.

Tombstone of Elizabeth Morton Burris

To me, this seems more like a Morton Cemetery. A lot of Mortons buried here and people who married into the Mortons and their Morton descended children, like Sarah and her parents, Solomon Burris and Elizabeth Morton Burris.

Yes, Sarah Burris Lamberts parents are buried here, but so are her grandparents, Joseph Calvin Morton and Margaret "Peggy" Hatley Morton. Rufus Lamberts second wife was Martha M. Morton. While she was born in Tennesee and her mother, Morning Ellen Saunders, brought in fresh blood, being born in Alabama and raised in Tennessee, her father, Jesse Alexander Morton, was from Stanly County. Jesse was the son of .....Joseph Calvin Morton and Margaret "Peggy" Hatley Morton. Jesse was Elizabeth Morton Burris's younger brother, thus making Rufus Lamberts' two wives first cousins.

Elizabeth Morton Burris passed away in 1895. Her father, Joseph Calvin Morton passed away in October of 1889. Her mother, Peggy Hatley Morton passed away in May of 1889. That means, that when Sarah Burris Lambert died in 1885, her Morton mother and her Morton Grandparents were all still alive.

Old Slate Tombstone of Joseph Calvin Morton

1885 was 20 years after the Civil War. Martha Morton was 20 years old. There was not the dearth of marriageable men like there was immediately following the war, when this county, indeed the entire South, found itself a land of widows and orphans, with a few scattered old men and young boys and crippled leftovers of soldiers remaining. No, an entire generation of young men had grown up, with Martha, in those two decades. Still, the South was bleeding out and the blood was flowing Westward.
I believe it was the Morton family, possibly Elizabeth herself, who proposed that her newly widowed Son-in-law marry one of her nieces to help take care of those 5 young motherless children. It was a much different era, a vastly different pool of thought and sensibilities, than we experience in 2018.

For whatever the circumstances, married they were and Jenny was spared from growing up overnight at 10 and becoming the woman of the house. She had a cousin only 10 years her elder for that. Despite this fact, Jenny seems have become the Jana Duggar of her family.

Jana, of  "19 Kids and Counting"  and "Counting On" fame, is the oldest daughter of the reknowned Duggar family, a large Christian family of the 'quiverful' movement who do not practice birth control, but instead, welcome with open arms every child God will give them, and he has given them plenty, 19 living. A twentieth passed away. Being the oldest daughter, with an older and twin brother, Jana, a very beautiful young woman, has shouldered her share of childcare for not only her younger siblings, but now, also her nieces and nephews. While all of her younger sisters, and now a few brothers, over the age of 18, are marrying and becoming parents, Jana, at 28, remains single and the public sympathizes, calling her "Cinderella Duggar".  Jenny was the Cinderella Lambert.

Name:	Genetta Lambeth [Genetta Lambert]
Age:	26
Birth Date:	Aug 1873
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1900:	Almond, Stanly, North Carolina
Sheet Number:	4
Number of Dwelling in Order of Visitation:	66
Family Number:	67
Race:	White
Gender:	Female
Relation to Head of House:	Daughter
Marital Status:	Single
Father's name:	Rufus A Lambeth
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's name:	Morina Lambeth
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Occupation:	Farm Laborer
Months not employed:	4
Can Read:	Yes
Can Write:	Yes
Can Speak English:	Yes
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age Rufus A Lambeth 50 Morina Lambeth 35 Genetta Lambeth 26 James F Lambeth 22 Fetzer J Lambeth 12 Ephriam L Lambeth 9 Wiley J Lambeth 7 Morning Lambeth 4 Hettie C Lambeth 1

In the 1900 census, Jenny, seen here as "Genetta", is 26, single and still living at home. All the rest of her mothers children, with the exception of brother James Franklin, but including her baby sister, Talitha, are already married and on their own.

Name:	Jennie Lambert
Age in 1910:	36
Birth Year:	abt 1874
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1910:	Almond, Stanly, North Carolina
Race:	White
Gender:	Female
Relation to Head of House:	Daughter
Marital Status:	Single
Father's name:	Rufus A Lambert
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's name:	Martha Lambert
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Native Tongue:	English
Able to Read:	Yes
Able to Write:	Yes
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age Rufus A Lambert 62 Martha Lambert 43 Jennie Lambert 36 Fetzer Lambert 22 Lillie Lambert 22 Levi Lambert 19 Wiley Lambert 16 Maurning Lambert 15 Hettie Lambert 11 Theodore Lambert 8 Mary Jane Lambert 5 Martin Lambert 2 Johnie Lambert 0 Tibitha Burleyson 0 Maurning Morton 66

Ten years later, Jeanette is now 36, an old maid by Victorian standards, languishing in her fathers' household, while even the oldest of her father's second family, Fetzer, yet livng at home, has married and his bride Lillie lives with them. Also, two grandchildren, Johnie and Talitha and Martha's mother Morning. I know Talitha Burleson was the daughter of Talitha Lambert, who died young. I still haven't solved the mystery of who little Johnie Lambert was. I have speculated that he was possibly the firstborn of Fetzer and Lillie, and passed away before 1920, but I have not found a tombstone for him, and many other of the Lambert infants who were lost during this time are well-marked at Canton Church, or other nearby cemeteries. Another idea was that possibly he was Jenny's child, and later went by a different surname, that of his father. This needs much further research before any conclusions can be made.




The next decade became Jennys' turn. The next year, on March 24, 1911, Jenny married William J Davis at Allen Motley's home in Albemarle Township. The service was performed by Rev. M. A. Dry and witnessed by R. A. Holt, W. D. Lowder and A. L. McDaniel.

But Jenny's happiness was short-lived. On October 24, 1913, William J. Davis passed away, after only 2 and a half years of marriage, leaving Jenny a greiving widow. But that is not all, probably unbeknowst to her at the time, the 39 year old Jenny was expecting.

Eight months later, a son arrived, on June 9, 1914. The widowed Jenny named him William Alexander Davis. William for his father and Alexander for his Grandfather, Rufus Alexander Lambert. His arrival was bittersweet. She was at last a mother, but her son would never know his father.

The exact date of William J. Davis's death was apparently heretofore unknown to Jenny's descendants. And I will get to that in a minute. All they know is that he had passed away before Jenny married again, this time to a distant Burris cousin, Martin Luther Burris, a widower, who was 59 to her 44. Martin was the son of Gideon Greene Burris and wife Obedience Hathcock Burris. His first wife was a Sarah Elizabeth Burgess by whom he had 11 children. He was a brother to David T. Burris whose daughter Rowena would become the bride of Jenny's oldest brother Elias.

The couple married on August 21, 1917 at the home of  Rev. J. E. Williams in Almond Township. The bride was listed as Jennie Davis, daughter of R. A. Lambert, living and S. A. Lambert, deceased.
Witnesses were W. M. Harkey, Ada Williams and Margaret Morton.

THE WIDOW by Anders Zorn

Jenny's second marriage was shorter than her first. Martin L. Lambert died on October 9, 1918 of pneumonia. They had been married for 1 years and 2 months.

The 1920 census would find Jenny, now a Burris, living back with her father, this time with her 5 year old son in tow.

Name:	Jenie Burris [Jenie Lambert]
Age:	45
Birth Year:	abt 1875
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1920:	Endy, Stanly, North Carolina
Street:	Charlotte Road
Residence Date:	1920
Race:	White
Gender:	Female
Relation to Head of House:	Daughter
Marital Status:	Widowed
Father's name:	R A Lambert
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's name:	Martha Lambert
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Able to Speak English:	Yes
Occupation:	Laborer
Industry:	Cotton Mill
Able to Read:	Yes
Able to Write:	Yes
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age R A Lambert 72 Martha Lambert 56 Theadore Lambert 17 Mary Jane Lambert 15 Martin Lambert 13 Elvie Lambert 18 Lula Lambert 13 Jenie Burris 45 Wm Davis 5

Jenny would lose her father the very next year, in 1921. The census had already told us she was working in the Cotton Mills, so she had a means of support. By 1930, Jenny was boarding with a friend about her own age, Lou Burleson.

Name:	Jennie Burris [Jennie Bunis]
Birth Year:	abt 1878
Gender:	Female
Race:	White
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Relation to Head of House:	Boarder
Home in 1930:	Endy, Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Map of Home:	View Map
Dwelling Number:	135
Family Number:	135
Attended School:	No
Able to Read and Write:	Yes
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Household Members:	Name Age Lou Burleson 50 Jennie Burris 52

Her son William, now 15, was also working and not living with his mother, but working as Farm Labor with a young couple just starting out, Sylvester and Effie Poplin Huneycutt.

Name:	William Davis
Birth Year:	abt 1915
Gender:	Male
Race:	White
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Marital Status:	Single
Relation to Head of House:	Boarder
Home in 1930:	Endy, Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Map of Home:	View Map
Dwelling Number:	70
Family Number:	70
Attended School:	Yes
Able to Read and Write:	Yes
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Able to Speak English:	Yes
Occupation:	Laborer
Industry:	General Farm
Class of Worker:	Unpaid worker, member of the family
Household Members:	Name Age Sylvester Huneycutt 26 Effie Huneycutt 25 William Davis 15

William, himself, would marry before the next census, to Ruth Inez Helms. The 1940 census would find Jenny living with her son and Ruth, and their two little boys Kenneth Laverne  and Jimmy Rowland Davis.

Name:	Jennie Burris
Age:	66
Estimated birth year:	abt 1874
Gender:	Female
Race:	White
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Marital Status:	Widowed
Relation to Head of House:	Mother
Home in 1940:	Almond, Stanly, North Carolina
Map of Home in 1940:	View Map
Street:	The Conton Road To 27
Inferred Residence in 1935:	Rural, Stanly, North Carolina
Residence in 1935:	Rural, Stanly, North Carolina
Resident on farm in 1935:	Yes
Sheet Number:	1A
Attended School or College:	No
Highest Grade Completed:	Elementary school, 7th grade
Weeks Worked in 1939:	0
Income:	0
Income Other Sources:	No
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age William Davis 25 Ruth Davis 23 Lonene Davis 2 Jimmie Davis 2/12 Jennie Burris 66

They were living on Canton Road, in Almond Township, where Jennie had spent her whole life, living next to her sister Morning, and brother Theodore and very close to her sister Hettie.




Jennie would remain in the household of her son until her death on February 19, 1958. She was 83 years old. Her Death Certificate gives her name as "Jennie Lambert Burris" and her husband as Martin Burris, as he was her most recent. Her tombstone, no doubt erected by her only son, William, gives her name as Jennie L. Davis, no doubt to match his own. She was a Davis but a few short years, and a Lambert most of her life.



But this post entitled "Jenny and Delilah", not just Jenny, and Jenny was no mystery. The mystery, it seems, to the descendants of Jenette C. Lambert Davis Burris, was in her first husband, William J. Davis. Really, all they had to go on was the marriage certificate. I found a handful of family trees with his name listed in them, with his wife and son and no mother, but a mysterious father. Some guy they labeled "Hack". But they had gotten no further. This is the mystery I decided to take on. So I started with that single document, that mysterious marriage license, to decode, who was William J. Davis and from whence did he come?

It didn't take me long.

R. A. Holt applied for the license, perhaps a friend of the couple who was more educated and experienced at filling out forms than William. Luckily, I've been reading old documents and old handwriting so long, I'm a fairly apt transcriptionist. The descendants of William and Jenny had his father as "Hack Davis" and no mother.

But if you look at the whole document and forgive Mr. Holt, and perhaps a very nervous William, for losing themselves in the blocks, the document was not so hard to decipher. William J Davis was 51 years old and was said to live in Albemarle. His father was -this awkward scribble in a very different handwriting - that everyone had decided was "Hack" Davis and where his mother's name was supposed to be it said " Bara plaph CV".  But it wasn't Hack, I believe instead it was "Jake" and I will explain why shortly. And where the mother's name was supposed to go, they instead had written "Randolph County" or"Randolph Cy", which is where William Davis was from.

Now, on Jenny's part, underneath where it gives her father as Rufus Lambert and her mother as Mary Ann Lambert (which is wrong, her mother was Sarah Ann), is the spot where it says, the father -and handwritten is the word "living" and the  mother  - handwritten word "dead" resident of -handwritten "Almond Township". Under Williams part, it appears the shaky handwriting that wrote "Hack" for father's name has written "living" and beside the word mother, it does NOT say deceased, it says "Delilah" and where the residence is supposed to be is a check, which I take as a carry down of the word "Randolph".

So first, the document claims William was living in Albemarle. 1910 was the closest census record to their 1913 wedding. Was William living in Albemarle? He most definately was, and he was not alone.

Name:	Will J Davis
Age in 1910:	50
Birth Year:	abt 1860
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1910:	Albemarle, Stanly, North Carolina
Street:	Wiscassett Hill
Race:	White
Gender:	Male
Relation to Head of House:	Head
Marital Status:	Widowed
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Native Tongue:	English
Occupation:	Sweeping
Industry:	Cotton Mill
Employer, Employee or Other:	Wage Earner
Home Owned or Rented:	Rent
Farm or House:	House
Able to Read:	No
Able to Write:	No
Out of Work:	Y
Number of weeks out of work:	4
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age Will J Davis 50 Debbie Davis 18 Wiley Davis 15 Liza Davis 12 Paul Davis 10

Will J Davis, Widowed, aged about 50, was living on the Wiscassett Mill Hill and working as a Sweeper at the Cotton Mill. He wasn't able to read or write (not very well in any case) and was out of work 4 weeks that year. He was living with his 4 children, Debbie 18, Wiley 15, Liza 12, and Paul 10. Knowing Jenny had worked in the Cotton Mills, at least for part of her life, it made sense that this was were she met him, and the work was most likely what brought him from Randolph County to Albemarle.

A postcard showing the old Wiscassett (foreground) and Efird Mills. Courtesy of the Stanly County Museum.

The next step was to find his parents, and I did, well, at least one of them for sure, and his grandparents and his great-grandparents, and his great-great grandparents.

The Randolph County, NC Davis family that William J Davis hailed from were Quakers. I have a bit of info on these Randolph County Davis's because they had a couple of Job Davis's in their midst, a particular one born in 1825, and an entirely different Job Davis is my brickwall ancestor that I named this blog for.

William's Great Great Grandfather Joseph Davis was related to this 1825 Job. The Randolph Quaker Davis's had drifted into Randolph from Guilford and I'm only going to touch base on them. Suffice to say they kept good records and tried to avoid conflict. Joseph had a son named Joseph and Joseph Jr. had a son named James and James had a daughter named Delilah.

Delilah was not a good Quaker.

Clip from Gunsmoke "The Quaker Girl" 1966

I first found Delilah in the 1850 census, of course, as this is the first one that names more than the head of household.

Name:	Delila Davis
Age:	11
Birth Year:	abt 1839
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1850:	Northern Division, Randolph, North Carolina, USA
Gender:	Female
Family Number:	592
Household Members:	Name Age Wm Giles 33 Mary Giles 30 Eleanor Giles 12 John Giles 10 Hudson Giles 7 Lovey Giles 6 Roxanna Giles 3 Delila Winkler 20 Delila Davis 11 Hudson Foreman 45

Oddly, little Delilah, only 11, is counted in the household of her next door neighbors, the Giles family. In the listing, right up above the Giles is the household of James and Rebecca Davis. They were Delilah's parents.

Name:	James Davis
Age:	31
Birth Year:	abt 1819
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1850:	Northern Division, Randolph, North Carolina, USA
Gender:	Male
Family Number:	591
Household Members:	Name Age James Davis 31 Rebecca Davis 36 Henry Davis 5 Cassandra Davis 4

It seems the Giles family, along with James Davis, and a free black woman named Sally Cousins with her 7 children, all labeled as Mulatto, were laborers on the farm of a man named Absolom Myers. It could be that the day the census taker came through, Delilah was just over at the neighbors playing with their children, perhaps with their 12 year old daughter Eleanor. You see, the odd thing about this census reading of the Giles family, is that William Giles is also recorded as black and free, 25 years before the Civil War. His wife Mary and daugther Eleanor are listed as Mulatto, while the younger 4 children and boarders Delila Winkler, 20 and Hudson Foreman 45, are recorded as black. Delilah Davis is the only white person in the household. But that is not the only thing different about Delilah.

Name:	Delilia Davis
Age:	20
Birth Year:	abt 1840
Gender:	Female
Birth Place:	North Carolina
Home in 1860:	Western Division, Randolph, North Carolina
Post Office:	Asheboro
Dwelling Number:	592
Family Number:	579
Household Members:	Name Age James Davis 48 Rebecca Davis 40 Delilia Davis 20 Henry Davis 16 Casanda Davis 12 Jacob Davis 1

By 1860, Delilah is counted back in the household with her parents. They are living next to Joseph ,63, and Polly Davis. Those are her grandparents. The Giles and Cousin families are gone. Below the James Davis family is listed a Martha Davis, 25, with a two month old male named "Goldlan". I'm not sure of her connection. Other neighbors are a young Daniel Boone with a wife named Melinda. No, not that Daniel Boone, but possibly a grand-nephew. There's also a James and Eliza Floyd and a Harrison Hicks, who was also a neighbor in 1850, but living with his father at that time, Bishop Hicks. Harrison is listed as mine labor and is 22, with a 21 year old wife, Sarah, and a 1 year old daughter, Susan.

James Davis, Delilah's father, is a shoemaker now. Besides Delilah, he and Rebecca have two other children, a son Henry and a daughter Cassandra. And there is a one year old, Jacob. That's our mysterious William Jacob Davis, who married Jenny Lambert. He was born on April 9, 1859, and Delilah was his mother.

Now, the history of Randolph County in the Civil War is a complicated one. They are said to have been the predominant religious group in the county at that time and to have participated in the Underground Railroad. By 1870, Delilah's father James and brother Henry have disappeared. They did not fight in the war.

Name:	Delilah Davis
Age in 1870:	31
Birth Year:	abt 1839
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Dwelling Number:	56
Home in 1870:	Tabemacle, Randolph, North Carolina
Race:	White
Gender:	Female
Occupation:	Keeping House
Cannot Read:	Y
Cannot Write:	Y
Inferred Children:	Jacob Davis  James Davis  Henry Davis
Household Members:	Name Age Delilah Davis 31 Jacob Davis 12 James Davis 8 Henry Davis 5

Delilah is alone now. She did not only have one son, but now she has 3. William Jacob is 12, James Madison is 8, and Henry Harrison is 5.

But she is in good company. All around her are single young women with their children. There's a 28 year old Rachel Kindley with her 3 children. There's 38 year old Malinda Boone with her 3 children. Remember Daniel Boone from 1860? He is no more. Neither is James Floyd, but his wife, 35 year old Elizabeth remains in the area with her 5 children. She's next to 35 year old Margaret Smith and her 5 children. Then there is Delilah Kindley, 36, and her 3 children. Delilah was a really popular name in this area.

Widows and orphans everywhere, but one guy that was still alive and still in Tabernacle was Henry Harrison Hicks, who was up to 5 children now, and his father Bishop still living next to him.




The area of Randolph County where they all lived was called "Tabernacle". It's a township west of Asheboro and borders Davidson County. The Uwharrie River runs through it and its very hilly. There's not a town in it. It's a simply beautiful and sparsely populated area.

Name:	Delila Davis
Age:	42
Birth Date:	Abt 1838
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1880:	Tabernacle, Randolph, North Carolina, USA
Dwelling Number:	230
Race:	White
Gender:	Female
Relation to Head of House:	Self (Head)
Marital Status:	Single
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Occupation:	Keeping House
Cannot Read:	Yes
Cannot Write:	Yes
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age Delila Davis 42 William I. Davis 18 James W. Davis 15 Henry H. Davis 12

1880 finds Delilah still in Tabernacle. Her boys are now teens and all working as farm labor. I am assuming on their own farm. The only member of her family, besides her boys, who now seem to be alive is her grandmother, Mary "Polly" Davis. She's nearby, living with a granddaughter, Susan.

This is Delilah's last census. She doesn't make it to 62, or the 1900 census, which is the next available one. In 1880, Delilah was still single. She never married. The Davis name that was passed down to her sons was her own surname.

While Delilah didn't make the 1900 census, her sons did. I have not yet discovered where, or exactly when, Delilah was buried. The most likely places are at the Tabernacle Church cemetery, where he youngest son, Henry Harrison Davis, and his wife are buried, as it is near where she lived. Other options may be a Quaker cemetery somewhere near Sophia. Being a single woman, and no doubt a pauper, she may have been interred without a permanent marker, unless one of her sons bought her on
Her middle son, James Monroe Davis, and his wife, Martha Jane Leonard, were married on May 11, 1898 in Davidson County, and began housekeeping  in the Silver Hill district of Davidson County, just west of the area he grew up in, and then moved to the town of Franklinville, where he farmed, for the remainder of his days. Franklinville is a small town that lies just north of Ramseur in Randolph County. It was established in the mid 1800's along Deep River and began as a mill village of the Franklinville Manufacturing Company, that was established in 1838.

There, James raised a family of 10 children: Fannie Alice, Ada L., Robert Jefferson, James Roy, Mamie L., Fred, Viola, Jenny, G. H. (George Henry), and Lee (whose whole name, oddly, was Henry Lee or Lee Henry).

James Monroe Davis passed away on February 9, 1942. He and Martha Jane, who preceded him in death by 7 years,  are buried at Gray's Chapel, near Franklinville. His death certificate gives his birthplace as Davidson County, NC and his mother's name as Delila Davis. Under father is written "Not Known." He was 82 years, 9 months and 3 days old. He was the longest-lived of Delila's sons.

Youngest son, Henry Harrison Davis followed his brother James to Franklinville and they were living side by side in the 1920 census.

Henry married Elizabeth "Bettie" Richardson on January 18, 1891 in Randolph County. His brother J. M. Davis was one of the witnesses. Henry Harrison Davis and his wife Bettie started out housekeeping in Tabernacle Township, where he grew up and where he is buried. The 1900 census states that he owned the property. I wonder if he inherited this land from his mother, and previously, from his grandfather, James. By 1910, however, he had purchased land in Franklinville and he owned that property too. He farmed there until his death at the age of 54, of Bright's disease, on April 5, 1921.

His death certificate also lists Delila Davis as his mother and his father as "Unknown."  His brother James was the informant.

Henry and Bettie raised a family of 7 children: Addie Bessie, Jane C., Robert Albert, Hattie E., James Lone, Julia Corrina, and Lewis Henry.

On neither sons documents, anywhere, does it list a father, or even hint at it. Only the marriage license of William and Jenny lists the nervously scribbled "Hack". Going back to the document, I noticed that there are "X's" beside where William's father and mother's names, their life status, and residence was supposed to go. The handwriting above that, his name and residence, etc., are in a beautiful, legiblie script. The handwriting beside the X's is shaky and barely, if at all, legible.

I believe the shaky handwriting to be Williams', possibly. It would be easy to assume he had been too embarrassed to tell his new bride he had no father. It was a shame in those days. Kind of like admitting to being a conservative, or a child molester in 2018. Perhaps he could have been told as a boy that he was named for his father. He went by his middle name, Jacob, as a child. Perhaps the shaky "Hack" was actually "Jake", as it appears to me. Maybe his father was named Jacob, but he was not a Davis.

The meaning of the name, Delilah, is "Delight, languishing, amourous, temptress". Think of Sampson's wife, Delilah, from where most people got it. It is of Hebrew origin, from the word that means "to flirt".  Why the devout Quakers would chose to name their daughters after the "bad girls of the Bible", I do not know, but there were several Delilah's, Jezebel's and Bathsheba's aka "Bashie"'s in those days. As I had previously seen, Delilah had its trendy season in old Randolph.

Many women who had children out of wedlock still named them for their fathers or their father's family, albeit with a different suraname. One Great Grandfather of mine was born when his mother, a Civil War orphan, was 15 years old. His name was James Robert Hudson. His mother later married and had a legitimate family. While his own descendants were never privy to who his father was, I discovered that his mothers legitimate descendants knew, and did not have a problem owning up to it. Turns out his father's name was James Robert Thompson. He carried the name of his father all along.

So, was there any possible "Jacob's" around young Delilah who could have fathered William Jacob?

Well, actually, there was one. Below James Davis, Delilah's father, was Martha,(maybe another daughter or daughter-in-law?), then Henry Harrison Hicks, whom I've mentioned, and then there is the household of Jacob W. Hunt, age 70, with Eliza, 40 and Robert 4. Could this elderly Jacob, who was also a Quaker and who had a much younger wife already, and had fathered a son, Robert, in the not too distant past, could HE be the mysterious "Jake"? Well, it was certainly possible. I've seen more unusual relationships in the 19th century. He didn't actually marry Eliza until 1866, but he didn't make it to 1870. His son Robert remained in Tabernacle and eventually even married a Davis.

Second son James, was likely named for his grandfather, James Davis. Then there was youngest son, Henry Harrison Davis. Could it be more than coincidence that Delilah's neighbor of a comparable age for her entire life was Henry Harrison Hicks? This is all just speculation. It could have been that H. H Davis was indeed named for H. H. Hicks, but that Mr. Hicks was just a kindly neighbor that helped poor single Delilah with her crops and things to help her and her boys survive, and was such a good friend she named her youngest in his honor. Could be.

The facts in all of this is that I've not found any documentation of a father for any of Delilah's three sons. It all states that she was single and their father, or fathers, were unknown.





But, back to William Jacob Davis. He did exist and was the father of William Alexander Davis. And he had had a whole life before he met Jenny.

We last saw him at age 18, as William J Davis, in his mother's house in Tabernacle, with his mother and his younger brothers.

On May 15, 1887, at the age of 28, he married Bettie Young Shaw. Bettie was the daughter of Feilden Kendall Shaw (may have supposed to have been "Fielding" and was hillbillized to Feilden) and Lucinda Sanders Shaw. Bettie grew up in the New Hope area of Randolph County.

William and Bettie had 4 children:

Deborah A. "Debbie" Davis (1892-1911)
Wiley Clayton Davis ( 1894-1933)
Eliza D. Davis (1897-1893)
Henry Paul Davis (1900-1966)

Name:	Will J Davis [Will Davis]
Age:	41
Birth Date:	Apr 1859
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1900:	New Hope, Randolph, North Carolina
Sheet Number:	2
Number of Dwelling in Order of Visitation:	30
Family Number:	31
Race:	White
Gender:	Male
Relation to Head of House:	Head
Marital Status:	Married
Spouse's Name:	Bettie Y Davis
Marriage Year:	1886
Years Married:	14
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Occupation:	Farmer
Months not employed:	0
Can Read:	Yes
Can Write:	No
Can Speak English:	Yes
House Owned or Rented:	R
Farm or House:	F
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age Will J Davis 41 Bettie Y Davis 39 Debbie Davis 9 Wiley C Davis 5 Louisa D Davis 2

In 1900, the young family is living in New Hope, near the Shaws, renting and farming. Very shortly after this census was taken, on April 7, 1910, tragedy strikes and William's wife Bettie passes away.



She is buried at Eleazer United Methodist Church near Asheboro. By 1910, as I have previously shown, William J. took his 4 children and moved to Albemarle to work in the Wiscassett Cotton Mill.

His oldest daughter Debbie, died tragically at age 18 on January 21, 1911. She died in Albemarle, but is also buried with her mother at Eleazer.




Two months after his daughter's death, William marries Jenny Lambert. He still has 3 young children. They are married 2 and a half years when William dies on October 24, 1913.




He is buried at Eleazer with his first wife and daughter. He probably never knew that Jenny was expecting. His tombstone reads "God's finger touched him and he slept". William was 54.

We've already seen that Jenny and her little boy were living with her father in 1920. But what about William's older children? Did little William ever know that he had siblings?

Wiley Clayton Davis, his oldest son, returns to Randolph County at some point, marries Lilly Johnson in 1923 and becomes the father of a daughter, Leona in 1925. He served in WWI and dies in 1933, at the age of 38, of Addison's disease. He is also buried at Eleazer.


Eliza Delilah "Lila" Davis, third child and second daughter, decided to stay in Albemarle and work at Wiscassett Mills.

Name:	Eliza Davis
Age:	21
Birth Year:	abt 1899
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1920:	Albemarle, Stanly, North Carolina
Street:	First St
Residence Date:	1920
Race:	White
Gender:	Female
Relation to Head of House:	Boarder
Marital Status:	Single
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Able to Speak English:	Yes
Occupation:	Spooler
Industry:	Cotton Mill
Employment Field:	Wage or Salary
Able to Read:	Yes
Able to Write:	Yes
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age Noah F Thompson 57 Lizie Thompson 47 Mawdie Thompson 25 Ada Thompson 23 Cora Thompson 18 Jesse Thompson 16 Edgar Thompson 11 Myrtle Thompson 9 Eliza Davis 21

She boarded with a Thompson family, co-workers, likely a friend of their daughters Ada and Cora.

While at the mill, Lila met a boy from Montgomery County, Gurley William Hardister, son of Lindsey Hardister and Betty Talbert of Ophir. They went to Randolph County, among her mother's people, to marry. The wedding took place on September 21, 1921. In the next few years, 2 children would arrive, a boy and a girl. Herbert was first in 1924 and his sister Opal, just a little while later in 1926.

Name:	Lila Handister [Lila Hardister]
Birth Year:	abt 1900
Gender:	Female
Race:	White
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Marital Status:	Married
Relation to Head of House:	Daughter-in-law
Home in 1930:	Ophir, Montgomery, North Carolina, USA
Map of Home:	View Map
Dwelling Number:	72
Family Number:	69
Age at First Marriage:	23
Attended School:	No
Able to Read and Write:	Yes
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Able to Speak English:	Yes
Household Members:	Name Age Lindsay A Handister 60 Nettie E Handister 54 Genevie Handister 28 Lila Handister 30 Herbert Handister 6 Opal Handister 4 Rhee Hamilton 15

Gurney and Lila made their home with his family in Ophir. They would be found there in both the 1930 and 1940 census.

Name:	Gurn W Hordister
Age:	38
Estimated birth year:	abt 1902
Gender:	Male
Race:	White
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Marital Status:	Married
Relation to Head of House:	Son
Home in 1940:	Ophir, Montgomery, North Carolina
Map of Home in 1940:	View Map
Inferred Residence in 1935:	Ophir, Montgomery, North Carolina
Residence in 1935:	Same House
Resident on farm in 1935:	Yes
Sheet Number:	1A
Occupation:	Former Son
Attended School or College:	No
Highest Grade Completed:	Elementary school, 7th grade
Hours Worked Week Prior to Census:	40
Class of Worker:	Unpaid family worker
Weeks Worked in 1939:	40
Income Other Sources:	No
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age Lindsay A Hordister 70 Betty E Hordister 63 Gurn W Hordister 38 Liza D Hordister 40 Herbert P Hordister 16 Opal M Hordister 14

By 1942 the couple had moved to Troy, in Montgomery County, where they would remain. Gurney's 1942 draft card gives the information. Gurney died on April 30, 1948, of a brain tumor. He was 46.
Lila buried him at Eleazar, with her family. She outlived her husband by 35 years. She probably lived in Troy with her son Herbert Paul Hardister and his wife Beatrice Bruton Hardister. She died on February 28, 1983 and is also buried at Eleazer. Her two children were:

Herbert Paul Hardister b 12 Jun 1923 Ophir, Montgomery County d 17 March 1997 Pinehurst, Moore County. Married Beatrice Bruton. Buried at Eleazer in Randolph County with the rest of the family.

Opal May Hardister b 30 May 1925 Ophir, Montgomery County d 14 Jun 2014 Cornelius, Mecklenburg County. Married Willard W. Norbert. Buried Bethel Presbyterian Church, Mecklenburg.

William Jacob Davis's youngest son by his first wife was Henry Paul, born on June 24, 1900. After his father's death, Henry returned to Randolph County and married Nancy Louella Johnson on August 19, 1922. She was the daughter of Harmon Lee Johnson and wife, Nancy Louella Martin of the Little River Community in Montgomery County.

Henry Paul and his wife settled in Thomasville in Davidson County, North Carolina and raised their family there. They had 3 children, Josephine Young Davis, Edna and William Stanton Davis.



Paul died on March 10, 1966 and is buried at Holly Hill Memorial Park in Thomasville.

I can't say if the older half-siblings of William Alexander Davis knew of his existence or not. I believe that they did. If, and how often they kept up with him, I'm not sure. But from what I can see, the modern descendants of both families are unaware of the connection. William does not show up in their descendants trees as a sibling, nor do they show up in his.

One hopeful, but inaccurate Davis has Delilah as a McLain and married to a "Smith Davis" who took off to Missouri. If she was a Davis by marriage and not by birth, the marriage occured before she was 11 years old and many, many years before any of her sons were born.

The simple truth, and the cause of the brickwall, on both sides, is that Delila Davis was a single woman who never married. She had 3 sons. As of yet, their father or fathers have not been identified and possibly never will. The reason no one ever got beyond the mysterious Hack Davis is because there never was a Hack Davis.

Many a brickwall occurs because of such relationships. Descendants trying to find a husband for a widow who never married. Oddly, some people can't contrive that their ancestors were, well human. They were just like us. They were not saints. They were human beings. They lived, they breathed, they worked, they prayed, they bled, they died, they loved, they made mistakes, they made sacrifices. They were people.

I hope I have left enough information in here that the different lines of William Jacob Davis's, and his brothers descendants as well, can find each other and at least find their Quaker Davis roots.