The Davis Family

  Fannie Davis (d. ca 1797)                      Reuben Bullard               

 James Davis (1731-1808)          (1)wife Frances Berry and (2)  Catherine  Muse         Shropshire, the widow of William Shropshire  d daughter of Col. George Muse .  they had no children.

  Joshua Davis Jr.(d. bef. 1737)               Francis  Harrison  

 Joshua Davis Sr. (d. 1703)                      Katherine (?)

    James Davis was recognized by the DAR for patriotic service, and is the ancestor with whom I joined the organization.   He was listed as a Lieutenant  from King George County, and the following is his service record documentation;

Virginia State Archives;

Va. Pay Rolls of Rev. War. 3rd and 4th Regiments. 

Folders 59-100 War. Dep't., Washington D.C. Document  74, pg.. 1

King George County, Virginia Deed Book 5, Page 1224

Officers of the Navy and Militia from Council Journal, parts 1776 and 1777, Navy 8, pg. 4. Records of Revolutionary War by Saffell, Co.  No. 5.

    James applied to the King George County Court, held 7 March 1782, for a 500 lbs of beef that had been impressed or taken for public use.  On June 11, 1785 he received 350 lb, for provisions received by John Pollard, and in 1781, he received 250 lbs for provisions impressed. 

    James was born in Stafford County, the son of Joshua Jr.  and Francis Harrison Davis, who grew up on an adjoining plantations.     Little is know of their lives, together, although the Harrisons,  Francis'  family,  were well known in the area. Joshua Jr.  died intestate  but although he left no will, there was note in the Stafford County records that "we met at the house of Frances Davis and appraised ...accounts of Frances Davis, widow and administrix of Joshua Davis, dec'd.".... this was dated 14 June 1737, so we know that he died before this date.   In 1725 there is note of Joshua Jr and his brother Samuel selling land that had been bought originally by their father in 1696.  the deed was acknowledged  by "Catherine Butler, now wife of James Butler, and mother of Joshua and Samuel Davis and widow of Joshua Davis, Sr.

    Joshua Sr. is the first of the Davis line in VA, that I have been able to document, but it is not known if  he was the original emigrant or was born in VA  .In the COMPLETE BOOK OF EMIGRANTS 1661-1699, there appear 2 interesting possibilities; in July of 1672 a John Lewis arrived on the SOCIETY, to be apprenticed to Joshua Davis for 4 years (VA); in Sept of 1681, a Joshua Davies arrived aboard the ELIZABETH.  This indicates the presence of, at least,   2 different Joshua Davis in VA, in the right time frame, so either (or neither) could be our ancestor.

     Joshua Sr.  was a prominent attorney on the Northern Neck area of VA, that section of land that lies between the Potomac and the Rappahannock Rivers.  His name is often in the records of Rappahannock, Stafford, Westmoreland and Richmond Counties, and he  was also an early Justice of  Richmond County...he served in the late 1600s with  Alexander Doniphan  and many years later their  several times grandchildren married.  Joshua Sr. lived in Richmond County where  his will is on record, and he served as church warden for St. Mary's White Chapel, in St. Mary's Parish.  (It is believed that this church was named for the White Chapel in London.)   His will was  most unusual for it's time as it is mainly concerned with providing the means of educating  his children.  His  daughter is included in the plan, with nothing to differentiate her education from that of her  brothers, surely not the norm for 1703!  In the will are also mentioned a "daughter-in-law" Mary Griggs and a daughter, Elizabeth Crawford.  It is unknown who there girls were, although the term daughter in law had a different meaning that the one of today, and  then referred to any girl considered to be legally  a daughter....thus, a step-daughter would be called a daughter--in-law , a ward and an adopted child would be legally a daughter.....therefore, there are various possibilities as to who these girls were including, perhaps, that they were  the daughters of previous marriages of Joshua's wife, Katherine - we just don't know.  We do know that Katherine married again, after Joshua's death , a James Butler of Aquia Creek, in Stafford County, sometime before 1725.

    Joshua and Katherine's children were;

1. Joshua Jr , mentioned earlier, who is my ancestor and married Frances Harrison.
2. Samuel married Ann Butler; and they both died in Westmoreland County - he in 1750 and she in 1763.  Samuel left a will.
3. Hester, or Esther Davis, who married James Jones, of Hanover Parish, King George County.  James left a will.  After the death of 2 husbands, Hester kept an ordinary at King George Courthouse, and was a woman of education, who appears frequently on the court records. (apparently the education her father gave her paid off!)  Hester and James Jones had 3 children.  (1)   Elizabeth Jones, married Spence Monroe, a gentleman of Westmoreland co. and their eldest son was President James Monroe.  His first cousin, Joseph Jones, Jr, son of Elizabeth's brother(2) Joseph, accompanied Pres. Monroe to France, in 1794, and is mentioned frequently in the Monroe correspondence. He served as a member of Congress, a judge of the General Court of Virginia, and a Gentleman of Affairs in Virginia (3) Esther Jones m. Wm Tyler, a gent. of Westmoreland co.

(click on photos to enlarge)

St. Mary's White Chapel, Richmond Co., VA

birthplace of Pres. James Monroe

Memorial garden behind Pres. Monroe's law office, in Fredericksburg, VA

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