William Davis From The Cowdalls

 Davis families of early Roxbury and Boston, by Samuel Forbes ... Rockwell, Samuel Forbes, 1878-

Lot F42 granted to William Davis the locksmith in 1638 was bought by his son, William the gunsmith, from the Cowdalls, and he in turn sold it 27 (4) 1646 to William Blantaine, as recorded in Book of Possessions, page 35 (95) as follows: CO 27 (4) 1646... .

In the records of the Selectmen, p. 52 (41), 30 d. 1 mo. 1640 there is this note: Also William Davis, gunsmyth, hath granted him a great Lott of 20 Acrs at the Mount, upon the usual Covenant for such Lotts. We have made no attempt to trace this land. It is to be noted that William the locksmith had a house lot granted him in 1638. He died in 1643-4 leaving a son, William the gunsmith. Which of the two was granted the above twenty acres we are unable to say with certainty as locksmith and gunsmith both may have been titles of the elder William. 

With reference to the court proceedings whereby William, the son whom we call the gunsmith, obtained title to his father's property, we may note one or two peculiarities in the court papers. In the deed dated July 1645, but not recorded until 1658, three pieces of land are specified. All three were sold by the Cowdells to William Davis the gunsmith in one deed. (Source)

Trespass Upon Abigail Davis

Rhode Island court records....(14 October 1656)

Rhode Island court records...(13 October 1657)

Helen Davis Not Helen David Married George Beach

The book, Families of Early Milford, Connecticut, stated that George Landa Beach married Helen David.

The woman identified as Helen David was actually Helen Davis and was part of the family featured in the History of the Town of Rockingham, Vermont:...:

Nathaniel Davis (b. 1715) had a son Nathaniel who was the father of James Davis.  A daughter of James Davis and Amanda Grimes was Helen A. Davis, b. Nov. 1, 1843, m. July 1, 1872, George [Landa] Beach and had children Samuel and Charlie.

Helen's sister, Mary Jane Davis, married Arthur Lemuel Rice.  The Rices were the ancestors of my double cousin, Connie Brinley Butterfield.  Connie's Davis lineage extended to Walter Powers/Trial Shepard.

Also see Davis Family From A Cousin's Ancestry blog post

Davis Family From A Cousin's Ancestry

Descendants of Walter Powers & Trial Shepherd included my double cousin (on the Rice and Johnson lines), the late Constance Brinley Butterfield* (the Davis portion of her lineage shown below - links may differ from the original post).  Walter and Trial are NOT my Powers ancestors.

*Constance Beverly Brinly, daughter of 

Lola Dee Rice & Charles T. Brinly, daughter of 

Charles Logan Rice & Mary Josephine Johnson, son of 

Mary Jane Davis & Arthur Lemuel Rice, daughter of

James Davis & Amanda Grimes, son of

 Lydia Harwood & Nathaniel Davis... 

The Davis line taken from the History of the Town of Rockingham, Vermont:... by Lyman Simpson Hayes:

James and Amanda (Grimes) Davis in the 1850 Census:

Rockingham, Windham, Vermont

Household Role Gender Age Birthplace

James Davis M 49

Amanda Davis F 46

Betsey B Parker F 19

Mary J Davis F 17

Fanny F Davis F 14

Melinda C Davis F 10

Helen J Davis F 7

Name: Mrs Amanda G. Davis
Event Type: Burial
Event Date: 1863
Event Place: Calhoun, McMinn, Tennessee
Photograph Included: Yes
Birth Date: 16 Jan 1804
Death Date: 17 Apr 1863
Affiliate Record Identifier: 7661033
Cemetery: Calhoun Community Cemetery

William Davis's Petition

From my Which Davis I Which? blog post:


The key element is the Davis connection to John Cowdall. Most (if not all) researchers acknowledge John Cowdall as Abigail Davis's step-father and it was he and her mother, Joan (Mary) Cowdall, who forced Abigail into a marriage with Richard Ussell, which was later documented by the Rhode Island colony. That marriage was eventually annulled and Abigail then married Edward Richmond as she first intended. 

The excerpt below is a petition by Abigail (Davis) Richmond's brother, William Davis, regarding his father's estate and his mother and step-father's bearing upon it, in the book Davis families of Early Roxbury and Boston:

"John [Condell/Cowdell] mortgaged his dwelling house in Boston which had formerly belonged to 'William Davies, the smith (Liber I, Page 57)... .'

Source [Page 184]

Personal Legal Travails Of Edward Richmond

An interesting analysis regarding Edward Richmond from The Transatlantic Constitution: Colonial Legal Culture and the Empire, by Mary Sarah Bilder (Note: This is one of the few sources I've used that is not a free book.):

"Men without such strong family connections acquired their legal skills through observation and participation."  "The personal legal travails of Edward Richmond provided him entry into the legal world."

• 1650's Edward Richmond planned to marry Abigail Davis
• Abigail Davis's family pressured her into marrying Richard Ussell
• June 1656 Richmond's attorneys were unsuccessful in suing Ussell for trespass
• Edward Richmond initially lost the suit, but gained legal knowledge
• Richmond's attorneys proposed a more successful argument against Ussell and Abigail Davis's step-father, John Cowdall.  Richmond received monetary damages, but Abigail remained married.
• After the General Assembly was petitioned, the Abigail Davis/Richard Ussell marriage was declared unlawful
• A 40 shilling monetary damage was levied against both Edward Richmond and Abigail Davis for living together and conceiving a child
• In June 1658, Edward and Abigail were married

Edward Richmond was serving as a "general solicitor and general attorney" in the 1660's

Probate Of William Davis The Locksmith

Davis families of early Roxbury and Boston, by Samuel Forbes ... :

This blogger also has Edward Richmond and Abigail Davis in  her family tree.

William Davis, Senior, Locksmith

Davis families of early Roxbury and Boston, by Samuel Forbes... :

Abigail (Davis) Richmond was the daughter of the locksmith.

Some Participants of The Jehial Davis Family Reunion Held In Lapeer County, Michigan

From the Flint Journal, 19 August 1916 Edition:

Davis Reunion
Lapeer, Mich., August 19 - A reunion of descendants of Jehial Davis was held at Lake Orion Wednesday. Many of the families of Alonzo Davis, Benjamin Davis and Mrs. Anna Davis Peaslee went from Lapeer. Jehial Davis was instrumental in securing the early settlement of Lapeer County, by procuring at an early day hundreds of acres of land here for his children. Four of the five living children were present at the reunion. Two of them, William P. Davis of Albion and George W. Davis of Chicago spent several days visiting relatives in Lapeer.

Jehiel Davis, who was born 12 July 1787 in Wilbraham, Massachusetts, served a short time in the War of 1812, according to the biography of his son, Philo C. Davis, in the Portrait and Biographical Album of Oakland County [Michigan], by Chapman Brothers and the DAR, p. 1891. The family was living in Sweden, Oneida County, New York, when Philo Davis was born in 1825. The family moved to Oakland County, Michigan, in 1831.

The children of Jehiel & Lydia (Bentley) Davis were (children from both marriages per the Shotwell family history book, Annals of our colonial ancestors and their descendants by Ambrose Milton Shotwell) :

Alonzo Davis
Levinus Davis
Mary Ann Davis [d. Sweden, Oneida, NY, ae 2 months 4 days in 1816]
Ann Davis
Jehiel B. Davis [d. Sweden, Oneida, NY, ae 2 years 9 months in 1822]
Jane Davis
Jehiel Davis, Jr.
Philo C. Davis
Maryette S. Davis
Benjamin Franklin Davis
Patrick Henry Davis
Francis Asbury Davis

The mother, Lydia (Bentley) Davis died in 1842.

The children of Jehiel & Phoebe (Dean) Davis were:

Charles Edward Davis
William Penn Davis (called Wm. B.)
Jehiel Kittridge Davis (m. 2nd Ida Shotwell)
George Washington Davis
Mary Angeline Davis (called Angie)

The father, Jehiel Davis, died in 1875.

Listed below is some of the land that Jehiel Davis "procured" in Lapeer County:

Jehiel Davis, of Oakland County, Michigan, acquired this piece of land in Mayfield Township, Lapeer County, Michigan, on 1 May 1837. The land description of this property is: E½SE 35/ 8-N 10-E No Michigan-Toledo Strip MI Lapeer (See plat map here).

More Mayfield Township land (8N 10E) was purchased by Jehiel Davis 5 September 1838. The Land descriptions as follows:
W½SE 36/ 8-N 10-E No Michigan-Toledo Strip MI Lapeer
W½NW 36/ 8-N 10-E No Michigan-Toledo Strip MI Lapeer
SENW 36/ 8-N 10-E No Michigan-Toledo Strip MI Lapeer

A piece of land in Burlington Township (10 N 11 E) assigned to Jehiel Davis on 1 March 1855 was found here. Land description: SW 32/ 10-N 11-E No Michigan-Toledo Strip MI Lapeer

North Branch Township (9 N 11 E) was also granted to Jehiel Davis on 1 March 1855. Land description: NENW 5/ 9-N 11-E No Michigan-Toledo Strip MI Lapeer

My interest in the Jehiel Davis family began with Ann, daughter of Jehiel & Lydia (Bentley) Davis, whose first husband was Lorenzo Dow Hickey (2nd husband John Wesley Peaslee). Lorenzo Dow Hickey (who was in Lapeer County in 1850 with his then wife, Ann (Davis) Hickey) was the ancestor of Judy in Arkansas, whose relative, Nancy Bridger, married my great-grandfather's brother, Isaac Garrett, in 1880 in Craighead Co., Arkansas.