Person:Jacob Davenport (1)

See Notes.

THE LINK TO JACOB DAVENPORT, TYRRELL COUNTY, NC

Zechariah Davenport (1774-1856) lived in Whitley County, KY during 1800-1856. The Kentucky census states that he was born in North Carolina, and his Whitley County death record in 1856 lists his parents as Jacob and Elizabeth Davenport. There is only one Jacob and Elizabeth in the region in the necessary time frame, and they are in Tyrrell County, NC. We wish to document and prove this link.

The most substantial piece of evidence is that a Zachariah Davenport married Precilla Sprouill on March 1, 1794 in Tyrrell County, NC, then did not appear in any subsequent census there. He apparently left for the Kentucky frontier. On October 10, 1799, Zechariah married Jane Douglass in Washington County, VA, the nearest jumping-off place for the Kentucky frontier. If these two are the same, then Precilla must have died. Zechariah had six children in Kentucky with Jane: William, Daniel, George, Jacob, Elizabeth, and Sarah, all commonly recurring names in the Tyrrell County Davenports (two being those of Zechariah's parents).

The Mormon FamilySearch International Genealogical Record (IGI) Film Number 903571 claims that Jacob was born "ABT 1737" and his father was Richard. The same record claims that Zachariah was born June 6, 1774, with parents Jacob Davenport and Johannah Garrett. The International Genealogical Record (IGI) Film Number 1239544 page 632 ref 13253 claims that Jacob was born "ABT 1754" and married Elizabeth Duncan. FamilySearch Ancestral File record AFN 11BW-B20 claims that William Davenport was born "ABT 1799" in Whitley Co., KY, with parents Zachariah Davenport [AFN 11BW-B0K] and Precilla Spruill [AFN 11BW-B1R]. However, William was actually born on May 31, 1800 (from his headstone] in Kentucky [from the census], and Zechariah had already married Jane Douglass by that time [from the Washington County, VA marriage records].

In the 1815 tax list for Washington Co., NC, a Zachariah Davinport is assesed for 280 acres valued at $1,200, about twice the average worth for the area. However, Zachariah never appeared in any census of the area. Because Zechariah was a substantial landowner, yet did not appear in the 1820 North Carolina census, it is this author's belief that there is probably a Washington County, NC will of Jacob Davenport sometime between 1800 and 1815. This lead is being investigated; however, the Washington County, NC courthouse burned in the late 1880s, taking all the wills with it.

The Tyrrell County marriage records, together with the 1800-1860 censuses, provide some very likely names for Zechariah's brothers. Consider the following, recalling that Washington County split off from Tyrrell County in 1800:

NAME WIFE MARRIAGE BONDSMAN WITNESS

Miles Dav. Ester Swift 8/22/1799 William Dav.

S. Chesson

Stephen Dav. Sarah Arnold 4/3/1799 Joseph Arnold S. Chesson William Dav. Polly Alexander 22/1798 Andrew Oliver S. Chesson Nathan Dav. Selah Spruill 6/17/1798 Stephen Dav. S. Chesson Benjamin Dav. Ann Alexander 10/4/1794 Jessee Dav. S. Chesson Jesse Dav. Ann Spruill 4/2/1794 Benjamin Dav. Saml Chesson Zachariah Dav. Precilla Spruill 3/1/1794 James Freeman Samuel Chesson John Dav. Zilpa Spruill 8/4/1782 Joseph Wyatt

H. Norman

Jesse Davenport died before 1815, according to the 1815 Washington County tax list.

Samuel Chesson was of a previous generation, because he married in 1778 (died before 1815, according to 1815 tax list). From other records of the time, Samuel Chesson was a county official who probably handled marriage records. Samuel's father John Chesson died in 1767; John was brother-in-law to Joseph and Benjamin Spruill (will, 1766). John Chesson and probably Samuel lived near the Spruills. In Samuel's generation, a previous Stephen Davenport married Elizabeth Alexander on December 28, 1778.

1800 CENSUS

NAME COUNTY PAGE COUNTS

Jacob Dav. Wash 702

   31001-01010-00

Jessee Dav. Wash 702

  10010-11100-00

John Dav. Wash 702

    21010-20010-00

Myles Dav. Wash 702

   00110-11001-00

Nathan Dav. Tyrrell 670

    Not listed

Stephen Dav. Wash 702

 00100-10010-00

William Dav. Wash 702

  00100-11100-00

Code: 0-10, 10-16, 16-26, 26-45, 45-up

From this, we can see that they came of age in a logical sequence, married, acted as each others' bondsmen, and initially lived in the same small neighborhood.

But there is a problem. There are at least two Jacob Davenports in the right time frame:

Court action of 17 Sep 1765: division of John Davenport's estate among children John, Ephrain, Maryann, Jacob, Anna, Joanna, Joshua, and Hezekiah Davenport.

Richard Davenport's will, 22 Nov 1773: Names sons John (eldest) and Jacob. States Jacob has son Benjamin, daughter Sarah. Did not mention Zachariah because he would have been born in 1774.

Jacob Davenport married Joanna Garrett, 1 February 1768, Tyrrell Co., N.C., NC Reg:3:108

Jacob Davenport married Elizabeth Duncan, 17 February 1779, Tyrrell Co., N.C., NC Reg:3:110

Zechariah's death record in Whitley County, KY names Jacob and Elizabeth as his parents. However, Kentucky census records claim that he was born in 1774, before the latter Jacob and Elizabeth Davenport were married.

Zechariah may have had a child by Precilla Spruill whom he named Joanna, after several of his female relatives in Tyrrell County, North Carolina. In the Wolf Creek Cemetery, where all but one of Zechariah's children by Jane Douglass are buried, there is a headstone with indistinct inscriptions that read: Joanna Deavenport, born October 18, 189? (sic?), died August ?? 1843, "49 yrs 299 days." This would have made her born in 1793 when Zechariah was 19. Zechariah was the first Davenport in the Whitley County, KY area, and Joanna's birth date is too early for any of Zechariah's sons to be her father. Again, Joanna (Johanna, Johannah) is a commonly recurring name among the Davenports and several other families in Tyrrell County. Of course, it is possible that she is just a Zechariah relative from elsewhere.

In the 1850 census in North Carolina, the following names occur, living in the same neighborhood:

NAME COUNTY

     TOWNSHIP          PAGE

Nathan Davenport Washington Cool Springs 084 William M. Davenport Washington Cool Springs 086 William M. Davenport Washington Cool Springs 094 Stephen A. Davenport Washington Cool Springs 084 Elizabeth Davenport Washington Cool Springs 090

The "Elizabeth" mentioned might have been Elizabeth Duncan Davenport, Jacob's widow. If so, she would have been around 90 years of age. "Cool Springs" in the 1850s time frame refers to a spot near the crossing of Chapel Swamp Creek by Holly Neck Road, in Washington County, near Skinnersville. Later, "Cool Springs" referred to present-day Creswell, which is near the "head of the Scuppernong River" mentioned in old Davenport wills and other colonial records of the 1700s.

In the 1860 census, the following names occur, living in the same neighborhood: NAME COUNTY

     TOWNSHIP         PAGE

Elizabeth Davenport Washington Mackey's Ferry 603 Elizabeth Davenport Washington Mackey's Ferry 611 Elizabeth Davenport Washington Mackey's Ferry 623 George B. Davenport Washington Mackey's Ferry 615 Nathan Davenport Washington Mackey's Ferry 621 Richard Davenport Washington Plymouth

                   686

Stephen Davenport Washington Mackey's Ferry 621 William C. Davenport Washington Mackey's Ferry 620 John Davenport Tyrrell Columbia 621 Roberson Davenport Washington Mackey's Ferry 621

"Mackey's Ferry" refers to an early ferry service across the Albemarle Sound. West of the present-day bridge across to Edenton, there is a small settlement on the Sound named Mackeys. According to Betty Pledger Spruill of the Washington County Genealogical Society, "Mackey's Ferry" and "Mackeys" refer to the same small settlement. The 1786 census shows Jacob Davenport living in an area "at the head of the Scuppernong." Joseph Phelps, Sr's will, July 21, 1787, states that a Jacob Davenport lived adjacent to the Phelps clan near Phelps Lake. This would be in east central Washington County, near Creswell and the Tyrrell County line, largely surrounded by swampland, and the easiest way by land out of the area would have been toward Mackeys. The modern-day road follows this path. There is an old road that runs from near Colonial Beach on the Sound, in the east, to Mackeys in the west, that is named Davenport Road. The Davenports always had much interaction with the Spruills, such as marriages and land sales, and the earliest Spruill on the South Shore was Dr. Godfrey Spruill in 1695, who set up a plantation near present-day Colonial Beach. A large population of Spruill descendants built up in that local area. It is likely that the earliest Davenports lived just inland, south of the Spruill enclave on the Bay.

In the first edition of this family history, I reported that another individual had found a will for Jacob Davenport in Washington County, NC and it named Zechariah as one of his sons. In a visit to Washington County on November 16-23, 1997, I was unable to verify this claim. The Washington County courthouse had burned in the late 1880s, taking all the wills with it.