The Relyeas Marry the Davises

From the The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, some information on two Relyea siblings who married into the family of Thadeus Davis and Deborah Hall.  Number 55, pages 64-65:

William Davis, the brother of Richard Davis and uncle of our ancestor William Davis, married Jannetje Relyea in 1784:

Simon, or Simeon, Relyea married Deborah Davis on year earlier, in 1783:

These records have the birth and death dates of the Davis siblings, which I did not previously have.  Interestingly, the mother of Jannetje and Simeon was a Annatje Van Patten--Esther Davis and Hannah Davis both married a John Van Patten.  Could there be a relationship here?  

 

The Davis family in Watervliet, New York

The 1790 United States census, which occured before the family of Thadeus Davis moved to Canada, locates several members of the Davis family in the town of Watervliet, Albany, New York.

Unfortunately, as with all early census records, the 1790 census does not record the names of each household member, just the heads of families.  It also doesn't give exact ages--there are three columns, one for females of any age, one for males over 16 and one for males under 16.  The William Davis family has two males under 16, one male over 16 and three females.  The Thadeus Davis family has three males under 16, two males over 16 and four females.    The Richard Davis family has four males under 16, one male over 16 and one female.  Cornelius Vandenburgh, the husband of Lois Davis, is also living in Watervliet, with a total household of three people, two females and one male over 16.   It's possible that other Davis family members were living in other parts of New York;  I see some possibilities, but don't have enough information to confirm anything.

I don't know much about Watervliet, but here's what Wikipedia can tell us:  the town of Watervliet was officially created in 1788 when New York divided all of its lands into towns rather than districts. At the time of the 1790 census, the population of Watervliet was 7,419 people.    The original settlers of the area (who were there well before Watervliet was created) were Dutch, and the original name of the settlement was the Manor of Rensselaerswyck (Watervliet only covered the Western part of this formerly larger area).   I'm guessing that a few of the Davis spouses--the Ostrander brothers, Cornelius Vandenburgh, and Johannes Van Patter--came from a Dutch background.  Since 1790 the town of Watervliet has been separated into smaller towns, but a Watervliet still exists in New York.

Interestingly, Watervliet is known for its Shaker community (the Shakers were a religious group also known as "Shaking Quakers" who believed in abstinence, a simple lifestyle, and gender equality).  I'd be surprised if any of our Davis family joined the Shakers--they're all pretty firm Baptists when they reach Ontario!

Finding the Davis Family in America

I've always found it curious that so many Davis siblings immigrated from New York to Elgin, Ontario at the same time, leaving their parents behind in America.  There must have been a reason, but was it economic or political?  Where did they come from, and why?

Sims History of Elgin County, Volume II talks briefly about William Davis and his beginnings:

"Catfish Corners [an early name for Orwell] was just a stake in the earth when Deacon William Davis and his wife settled there after a lengthy journey from his home on Schohario, New York, in 1809...William Davis was followed by his brothers Andrus, Daniel, Simeon, and Joel, and his sisters Hannah, Polly and the one that became Mrs. Brown in 1811."

That means that altogether nine Davis siblings came to Canada.  Corroborating the data in Sims History, William Davis, on the 1851 census, stated that he was born in the state of New York, and in the 1861 census stated that he was born in the United States. Now, if you google "Schohario, New York" you won't find anything, but you will discover that "Schoharie, New York" is both a county, a town and a village. I wasted a lot of time looking for the Davis roots there.  It turns out that they come from Charleston, Montgomery County, New York. (It's pretty close to Schoharie--the south town line of Charleston is the border of Schoharie County, and the east town line runs along the Schoharie creek.)  There is even a hamlet in Charleston called Davis Corners.  And I have found a marriage record for William Davis and his first wife, Temperance Leek, in a list of marriages performed by Elijah Herrick,  the first Baptist minister in the town of Charleston.

"Davis, William & Temperance Leak--September 14, 1803."

Original site of Charleston Baptist Church: "Baptist Church, Erected 1793, Elijah Herrick 1st Pastor".

Temperance Leek was the mother of William Davis' first five children;  we descend from his second wife, Mary Sibley of Nova Scotia.

I haven't seen the original records yet, but there appears to be consensus among genealogists that William Davis and his siblings were the children of Richard Davis and Mabel Mann, who were born in Connecticut, and that Richard was the son of Thaddeus Davis and Deborah Hall.  I have been able to find gravestones for Richard and Mabel in a small Davis family cemetery in Charleston, "3/4 miles north of Oak Ridge".   Richard's is somewhat damaged, but still readable.

"Richard Da...Died March 8, 1823, aged 61 years, 11 mo, & 19 days".

Mabel Mann, Richard's wife, has a grave marker which is barely legible now.  Mabel died September 23, 1846.

She is located on the right side of the tree, Richard on the left:

The sign in the middle says "Davis Cemetery".  It seems to be a real pioneer-type cemetery, all small and surrounded by woods, but someone is obviously keeping the grass cut.  I wonder if the Ontario Davis clan travelled back to New York to see either of their parents buried?

Here is a view of the whole graveyard:

Two of Richard and Mabel's children are buried in this cemetery as well:  Henry Davis (July 2, 1806-April 3, 1876) and Lyman Davis (September 2, 1798-May 12, 1878).

The History of Montgomery County  by Washington Frothingham, published in 1892 by D. Mason of Syracuse, New York,  has a chapter on the town of Charleston.

"Many of Charleston's early settlers, some who came prior to the revolution, were undoubtedly attracted to the locality by the availability of Schoharie Creek as a source of mill power, and at an early day along the banks of this stream were erected numerous grist and saw-mills....After the revolution the immigration was more rapid and included many thrifty New Englanders...Among these later settlers were...Abram Davis...Thomas Leek...[and] Richard Davis...

These early pioneers found a country covered with a hardy growth of timber, and traversed by few and laborious trails.  Many of the first comers, particularly those who came from adjoining counties, left their families behind for a time, until they could clear sufficient land to build a log dwelling and sow the first crop.  They generally went back to their old home during the intervening winters..." 

Now, when we go back to Richard's parents generation, things get really interesting.  Thaddeus Davis, Richard's father and William's grandfather, was born in Connecticut in 1738 and fought on the side of the British during the Revolutionary War.  He came to Canada in 1798 with his wife and 11 children, including Richard, and settled in Allenburg, in the Niagara area.  Richard was one of the few children who eventually returned to the United States;  most of the family stayed in Canada.  So it turns out that Richard's children moving to Ontario in 1810 was not so strange;  they had plenty of family here already and had probably travelled back and forth at some point in their lives. 

Why I Love Weird Names, or, There Hasn't Been An Amaryllis In The Family For A While

When my husband and I were expecting our first child, my father-in-law told us a story about one of the Rutherford relatives of yore who, when they were in the same position, had been told by a helpful relative that "there hasn't been an Amaryllis in the family for a while", to which they supposedly snapped, "No, and it's a good thing too!".  There certainly isn't an Amaryllis in our generation, but it is true that naming children after beloved relatives is a time-honoured tradition, and one which I personally find very helpful when I'm trying to figure out who is a relative or who someone's parents were.  Sometimes the records that are available to me don't say, but weird names can be an excellent clue to further research.

Take, for example, William Joseph Davis (c. 1782-c.1863) and his wife Mary (c. 1780-c.1872).  They are the parents of Adoniram Davis (another good name!), who, along with his wife Louisa, were the parents of Minnie (Davis) Scott, the wife of   John Galloway Scott.  They were farmers who spent their adult years and raised their family in Malahide Township, Elgin County, Ontario.  As you will notice from their estimated birth dates, I don't have birth or death records for either William or Mary.  I also don't have their marriage record.  Therefore, I have no primary documentation about who their parents were or even what Mary's birth name was. This is what genealogists call a "brick wall";  in other words, we may not be able to extend the line back any further unless secondary records can give us some persuasive evidence either in establishing this information or in showing us where to look.  The records I do have include the 1842 Malahide Township census, the 1851 and 1861 federal censuses, an 1891 census for one of their adult children, a death record for the same child,  a marriage record for another child and a  brief mention in a book of local history (Discovering Your Roots in Elgin, James L. McCallum, 1999).  Watch how names can help build a case for establishing relationships.

The 1842 census for Malahide Township is pretty limited.  It only records the name of the head of  the household, in this case William Davis.  It tells us that he is a farmer and has been in Canada for 31 years (this is good to know), and also that he is originally from the United States.  There are eight people living in this household, but we don't know anything more (names, ages, relationships etc.).

The 1851 federal census is a lot more helpful in filling out the rest of the family.  It tells us that William Davis is a farmer from the state of New York, and that he is 68 years old.  He is a Baptist, as is his whole family.  He is living with Mary Davis, his wife, who was born in Nova Scotia and is 51 years old.  Next there is a list of children:  Joel Davis, a preacher, age 23, Adoniram, (our ancestor) age 21, Ursula, age 18, Euseba, age 15, John, age 15, Edwin, age 8, and Louisa, age 21.  All of them are listed as being born in Canada.  (Nova Scotia was not part of Canada at this time).  There is no place on the census to record relationships, but 21 year old Louisa Davis is probably the Louisa who married Adoniram, so she would be William's daughter-in-law, not his daughter. This means that Adoniram and Louisa were married before 1851. Now we know the approximate ages and birth places of William and Mary, but we still don't know Mary's maiden name.  We do, however, know the names and approximate ages of six of their children.

In the 1861 federal census, William again confirms that he is a Farmer from the United States. His age is illegible.  Polly Davis (Polly was a common nickname for Mary at that time) is now 61 and is still listing Nova Scotia as her birthplace.  The only one still living in their household is Edwin Davis, now age 18, still single,  and employed as a labourer.

William and Mary disappear off the census records at this point.  However, in the 1891 federal census, there is a David F. Davis in Malahide, East Elgin who is 67 years old, which would have made him 27 years old at the time of the 1851 census.  He states that his father was born in the United States and his mother was born in Nova Scotia, while he himself was born in Ontario.  This suggests very strongly that he is another son of  William and Mary Davis, who by 1851 was no longer living with his birth family.  In 1891 he is living with his wife, Mary E. Davis, who is 69 years old;  interestingly, she was born in Ontario, but both of her parents were born in the United States.  They are also living with a child, Agnes Davis, who is 16 years old and single.  I'm not sure she is their child--Mary would have been 53 when Agnes was born, which is quite old;  also, David F. and Mary are both Baptists, but Agnes is listed as a Methodist.  She is part of the family, however, and not a servant.

Tombstone for Adoniram and Louisa Davis,
Orwell Cemetery, Yarmouth Township, Elgin, Ontario.
From the Elgin County Genealogical Society Website. 

Finally, I have a death record for a David Flint Davis of Malahide, who died on March 3, 1912, at age 89.  This puts his birth at about 1823, which is within a year of  the birth date that  David F. Davis gave on the 1891 census, and it records his parent's names as William Davis and Mary Sibley.  These two Davids seem to be the same person.   So now we have a potential birth name for Mary Davis, and also we have the name Flint given to someone who is perhaps the eldest son.  Flint is not a Christian name, nor is it the name of any famous figure from that time.  Where did it come from?  I'm guessing it's a family name.  It's also not that common, which in this case is a good thing.

Finally, what about Discovering Your Roots in Elgin?  It tells us that the brothers William, Andrus, Daniel, Simeon and Joseph Davis were the first settlers to reach Malahide Township,and they settled there in 1810,  when William would have been about 28 years old.  This is roughly consistent with the information William gave in the 1842 census, when he stated that he had been in Canada for 31 years, which would put his arrival in Canada in 1811.  No families are mentioned;  we don't know if any of the brothers brought wives or children along.  It sounds like they were all bachelors.  Interestingly, they settled in just before the War of 1812.

It turns out that there were tons of Sibleys in Nova Scotia around the time of Mary's birth--the Sibleys are an old American family that have spread out a lot, and some of them wandered into Nova Scotia in the 1700s.  There have been a few intermarriages of the Sibley and Flint families over the years, and maybe one of them will lead to Mary's family  There is a very long book called The Sibley Family in America that I found on OpenLibrary, and I'm hoping that will help me track them down more precisely.

But what about Amaryllis?  Well, she helped me solve another problem.  Remember how William and Mary's son Adoniram Davis married a woman named Louisa?  I do have a marriage record for them, but it's more like an index--it just gives their names, where they live, and the names of the witnesses.  The date is impossible to read, but it's an 1850 register. Again, we can't identify Louisa's parents.

"Adoniram Davis.  Malahide.  Louisa Norton.  Yarmouth.  Witnesses:  William Davis, Joel Davis." 

However, on the 1861 census, Adoniram and Louisa have some children.  The census shows that Amarillas (sic), Ursula, and William Davis, ages 8, 6, and 1, are part of the household now.  It also tells us that Louisa was born in the United States.   Just for fun, I decided to search some early American census records to see if I could locate any Louisa Nortons of the right age in the right place (in the 1901 census, she gives her birthdate as July 23, 1826, and she also specifies that her birthplace was New York).  And I did!

The 1850 U.S. federal census shows a William and Amarillus (sic) Norton, farmers,  of Granville, Washington, New York, with a 24-year-old daughter Louisa (along with many other children).  William and the children are all born in New York, while Amarillus was born in Connecticut.  Louisa obviously named her first daughter after her own mother, and because the name is so rare, it allowed me to feel confident linking the two families.  And although we haven't had an Amaryllis in the family for a while, my husband's grandmother went by her middle name of Norton throughout her life--and so that's where her name came from.

All I know is, if my kids ever have children, I'll be able to point out that we haven't had an Adoniram in the family for a while.