Person:William Davis (392)

Grandmother Tamar was a legend long before she died. She was born in Ohio before it was a state. When she was about ten years old her father took his family overland to join a colony organized by Aaron Burr in Mississippi. It was a terrible place and Burr was arrested for some kind of conspiracy. The Davises then headed back to Ohio with some other families. While camped along the trail my grandmother wandered out too far from camp and she was seized and carried away by Indians. The wagon train feared an Indian attack and they had to move out without finding Tamar. It was some renegade Shawnees who took her and probably intended to hold her for ransom, but a trader named Weatherford came along and bought her from the Shawnees. He was part Creek, and was known as Red Eagle, and Tamar lived with his family someplace way down south in Alabama until the War of 1812 when Andrew Jackson burned a Creek village in which Tamar was living. She and some refugees from that village (it was a fortification called Horseshoe Bend on the Tallapoosa in Alabama) were found by Elias A. Walker. He was one-quarter Cherokee, but he was in the army. (38tb Regt. East Tenn. Mtd. Volunteers, and I have his service record.)

Elias Walker sent Tamar back to East Tenn. in an empty supply wagon driven by his uncle William Davis, and after finishing his war service he went home and he and Tamar were married by Rev. Daniel Davis, son of the supply contractor. In 1829 Rev. Daniel Davis was in Shelby Co., Ill. and organized the Methodist log meeting house called Upper Sand Creek.

About 1836 my grandparents, Elias and Tamar Walker, joined his cousin Daniel Davis in Shelby, and their daughter Rutha Barbara married Nathan Forrest Tull my parents. My uncle William Forrest Tull married Hannah Davis, daughter of Rev. Daniel, and my aunt Sarah Catherine Tull married William Davis, Jr.

My grandfather, Elias Andes Walker, was part Cherokee through his grandfather John Walker, a trader who married a Cherokee, so through the Walkers we are part Cherokee. Elias A. Walker married Tamar Davis from Ohio. His parents were Elias Walker and Barbara Davis of East Tenn. who were not related to Tamar. Barbara Davises parents were William Davis and his second or third wife who was an Andes. You should talk to my cousin Lucretia Walker Schmidt. She knows more about the Walkers and Davises than I do. (I did - and it is a fantastic story.)

The way I heard it, old Willian Davis of East Tenn. (Washington and Carter Co.) had fifteen children by three wives, and in some way he was related to Jefferson Davis. The Tulls were mixed up with the Davises back in Stokes Co., N.C., but I don't know the connection. All I know is that it was said that the Tulls once bought land in Stokes from a man named Davis, then because of politics, they finally had to rent what they had bought, and later the One-eyed Jack went to Tenn. and bought some land as a promotional deal with Davis of Stokes, and it was near William Davis, but the deal went sour and One- eyed Jack sold out. It seems that the Tulls always had trouble holding onto their land until they came to Shelby Co. I don't know what was wrong, but I suspect that on the frontier most people had trouble getting a title to what they bought, at least that is what I have read in history, and it is what my grandfather spoke of, but he couldn't explain what happened.

Grandmother Tamar was a legend long before she died. She was born in Ohio before it was a state. When she was about ten years old her father took his family overland to join a colony organized by Aaron Burr in Mississippi. It was a terrible place and Burr was arrested for some kind of conspiracy. The Davises then headed back to Ohio with some other families. While camped along the trail my grandmother wandered out too far from camp and she was seized and carried away by Indians. The wagon train feared an Indian attack and they had to move out without finding Tamar. It was some renegade Shawnees who took her and probably intended to hold her for ransom, but a trader named Weatherford came along and bought her from the Shawnees. He was part Creek, and was known as Red Eagle, and Tamar lived with his family someplace way down south in Alabama until the War of 1812 when Andrew Jackson burned a Creek village in which Tamar was living. She and some refugees from that village (it was a fortification called Horseshoe Bend on the Tallapoosa in Alabama) were found by Elias A. Walker. He was one-quarter Cherokee, but he was in the army. (38tb Regt. East Tenn. Mtd. Volunteers, and I have his service record.)

Elias Walker sent Tamar back to East Tenn. in an empty supply wagon driven by his uncle William Davis, and after finishing his war service he went home and he and Tamar were married by Rev. Daniel Davis, son of the supply contractor. In 1829 Rev. Daniel Davis was in Shelby Co., Ill. and organized the Methodist log meeting house called Upper Sand Creek.

About 1836 my grandparents, Elias and Tamar Walker, joined his cousin Daniel Davis in Shelby, and their daughter Rutha Barbara married Nathan Forrest Tull my parents. My uncle William Forrest Tull married Hannah Davis, daughter of Rev. Daniel, and my aunt Sarah Catherine Tull married William Davis, Jr.

My grandfather, Elias Andes Walker, was part Cherokee through his grandfather John Walker, a trader who married a Cherokee, so through the Walkers we are part Cherokee. Elias A. Walker married Tamar Davis from Ohio. His parents were Elias Walker and Barbara Davis of East Tenn. who were not related to Tamar. Barbara Davises parents were William Davis and his second or third wife who was an Andes. You should talk to my cousin Lucretia Walker Schmidt. She knows more about the Walkers and Davises than I do. (I did - and it is a fantastic story.)

The way I heard it, old Willian Davis of East Tenn. (Washington and Carter Co.) had fifteen children by three wives, and in some way he was related to Jefferson Davis. The Tulls were mixed up with the Davises back in Stokes Co., N.C., but I don't know the connection. All I know is that it was said that the Tulls once bought land in Stokes from a man named Davis, then because of politics, they finally had to rent what they had bought, and later the One-eyed Jack went to Tenn. and bought some land as a promotional deal with Davis of Stokes, and it was near William Davis, but the deal went sour and One- eyed Jack sold out. It seems that the Tulls always had trouble holding onto their land until they came to Shelby Co. I don't know what was wrong, but I suspect that on the frontier most people had trouble getting a title to what they bought, at least that is what I have read in history, and it is what my grandfather spoke of, but he couldn't explain what happened.