Person:William Davis (149)

1) BIRTH-DEATH: "Davis families of Early Roxbury and Boston" by Samuel Forbes Rockwell, 1932 . Death verified in Roxbury VR (1/2003)

2) "The Davis Family of Oxford, MA & Woodstock, CT" extracted from Historic Homes & Institutions and Personal Memoirs of Worcester County, Massachusetts. Prepared under the Editorial Supervision of Ellery Bickell Crane, and Published by the Lewis Publishing Company, 1907. Vol #3, pp 69-70.

'A tradition held extensively in the family (from the above book) is that he came from Wales about 1635......he had three children by his first wife, four by the second and three by the third. Six other children are believed to have been the children of Jane.' [other sources lead to the belief that Jane had nine children with William Davis]

Will of William Davis

"The last Will and Testament of William Daves of Roxbury in the County of Suffolk in New England the 6th of December in the year of Our Lord One thousand six hundred Eighty three, now having my perfect memory & understanding by the blessing of my mercifull Father, into whose hands I commit my Soule: Unto my daughter Elizabeth I consigne over a bill of twelve pounds and a trunck that was her mothers together with all the things in it. And unto my son Mathew and Jonathan when they come to age they shall have the two Orchards lying neer my son Joseph's, and if they are not worth Forty pounds then the Overseers of the Estate shall sell some Land for to make it up, their portion twenty pounds apiece. And then for my beloved wife I do make her sole Executrix of all ye rest of my Estate of Lands and movables and give her full power for to dispose of it for her wants as shee see cause, with that full power and Authority over it as I my selfe might have if I had continued For my three eldest son's John and Samuel and Joseph, they have received their portions already, notwith standing I give unto my son John, the eldest of my Children five shilling, and to Samuel and Joseph five and sixpence to buy them some good bookes to remember me with: And Further my desire is that there should bee two Over Seers chose who my wife see good; This is my last will and Testament. In Witness whereof I have set to my hand the day and yeare above written. WILLIAM DAVIS a mark. In presence of us, Jabez Tolman, John Searle At an adjournment of ye County Court in Boston 17th Decembr 1685 pursuant to ye direction of ye Will, Jane Davis Execrx made choice of Edward Morris and Jabez Tolman to be overseers for ye end proposed in ye will, wch. persons ye Court approved of Attest Isa Addington Clke"

INVENTORY OF THE ESTATE OF WILLIAM DAVIS deceased the 9th of December 1683 being Apprized by us, Samuel Gore, Jabez Tolman Nathaniell N. his mark X Johnson œ s. d. fivefty five acres of woodland lying in Boston bounds 50 00 00 Tenn acres of pasture within the same bounds 40 00 00 Two orchards likewise in Boston bounds one 12th the other 11th 26 00 00 nine acres of land by Thomas Bakers in Roxbury bounds 36 00 00 Fourteen acres in the pond plain 70 00 00 Five acres of medow lying in bear Marsh 30 00 00 The housing and land about the house 50 00 00 Two horses a Colt, cart and Wheeles 14 10 00 Five Cows, one 2 year old heifer 2 yearlings and sheep 17 00 00 One Sow and piggs 2: 13s. two bee hives 20 s. 03 13 00 Indian corne, Barley, Rye, beanes, Oates and Meale 12 17 00 Plough, Irons, Cart tire and hoopes 1 00 00 Whipple tree chaine and Fetters 0 08 00 In the chamber. Tools and other combustible stuffe 1 17. 00 A Dung Forke, pitch-Forke and Shovel 3/6 Saddle & pillion 22s 1 05 06 A Sythe, beetle and wedges 9/6 Beds bedding & table linnen 20s. 1 09 06 Chests, tubbs & meate œ 4. 9 A Table Chest cupboard & Formes 6 10 09 00 Tubbs, barrlls hogshds apples, turneps Cider, Chaires & other things 4. 05 00 Wearing Apparrell œ 10. pike, musket & sword 35s. 11 15 00 Pots, cob irons & other irons œ 3. & Pewter œ. 6. 10. 09 10 00 Books and other small things 40s. Four old sacks & Flax 4s 02 04 00 A Trunk and what was in it and a bill of 12 œ 16 00 00 œ429. 03. 00

3) BIRTH-MARRIAGES-DEATH-CHILDREN: Colonial American Genealogy Library who obtained information from: The Bowens of Woodstock 193, Family Rep: AustinWilder Child, Submitter: Eva Nebekar, 217 No. Johnson, Pocatello, Idaho.
4) MARRIAGE (3): American Marriage Records before 1699 edited and compiled byW.M.Clemens, published 1984, page 73.5)

BIOGRAPHY-WILL: Genealogy of Samuel Davis of Oxford, MA and Joseph Davis of Dudley, MA and their descendants, published 1884 by George L. Davis, pp. 1-4.

Sources 3-5 found on GenCircles, "Our Clay and Hardin Co., IL Families," by Norvan L. Johnson, 2/2003.

6) History of the Town of Oxford, Massachusetts by George F. Daniels, 1892. US/CAN 974.43/01 H2d, FHL reviewed 1/2003:

J.C.J. Brown, member of the Heraldry Committee of the New England Historic-Genealogical Society, who has investigated the subject, says, that in the past several designs have been promulgated as the coat of arms of the Davis family which are clearly spurious. The will of Ichabod of Roxbury, son of William, the emigrant, is sealed with a finely cut signet, made undoubtedly in Europe and believed to have been brought over by the emigrant. The design is Gules, a Griffin Segreat Or, and so far as known has been used by no other family. This coat of arms was in use in the Davis family of Caermarthen, South Wales, before the emigration as the records testify, and a William of this family resided in 1623 at that place. The fact that in 1642 a William appears at Roxbury, reputed to have come from Wales, whose son used the said seal on his will, is strong incidental evidence of the identity of the Caermarthen and Roxbury families.

7) SOURCES: [1] Ancestors of Members of the National Society Colonial Dames XVIICentury, 1915-1975", page 69, and [2] Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England showing three generations of those who came before May 1692, on the basis of Farmer'sRegister, published 1860 by Little, Brown and Company of Boston, Volume II, by James Savage, page 23.

8) Posted by: Martha Perry Morrissette, Rhode Island </cgi-genforum/email.cgi?757919572> Date: June 19, 2000 at 02:51:32

My Perry family history, written by Charles M. Perry in 1937, includes the following about the Davis family: "There were several early settlers of Boston named William Davis. How any of them got to Boston is not definitely known. Our William Davis is the only William who settled in Roxbury. His ancestors lived in Caermarthen Wales and in Tickenham and Blackwell, Somerset (near Bristol) England. William was in Roxbury as early as 1643 as his oldest child is recorded as being born there Oct 1, 1643. He was made freeman in July 1649, was granted a 3 A. house lot Feb 23, 1652, was on town committee Jan 27, 1661, constable 1670-71, elected tithingman Mar 5, 1683. He died Dec 9, 1683 aged 66 years.Inventory of his estate was 429 pounds. He had accumulated 96 acres of land. His 3 A. grant was on the Jamaica Plain, a little south of where the Soldier's Monument now stands, on the westerly side of what is now South Street. William had three wives:He had by his first wife, Elizabeth, 3 children, the first born Oct 1, 1643. By his second wife, Alice Thorp, 4 children. By his third wife, Jane, 9 children, the last born Apr 18, 1683 Total - 16 children in 40 years. There might have been others had he not died in 1683. Alice Thorp is thought to have been the widow of John Thorp of Plymouth Mass. It may be of interest to some to note that William1 Davis was an ancestor of President Coolidge - in this way: Rachel2 Davis, brothern [sister] of Ichabod2, married Josiah Goddard of Watertown. Their daughter Rachel married Obadiah Coolidge, who was 4th greatgrandfather of the President. All the above data from "Davis Families of Roxbury and Boston" by Samuel Forbes Rockwell 1932. "Hannah Davis married Ebenezer White, their son Joseph White m. Lucy Leverett, their daughter, Hannah White m. Edward8 Perry, my 3rd greatgrandfather.

Also, I have the following letter: Great Western Hotel Taunton, Somersetshire, England August 29, 1922 'Dear Mr. White: Possibly you or Mrs. White may recall my speaking a few months ago, about the will of Ichabod Davis of Roxbury, whose grandaughter, Hannah Davis married Ebenezer5 White of Brookline, the son of Dea. Joseph4 White, from whom your line comes. The will was sealed with wax after the usual words "witness my hand and seal" and the seal carried the imprint of a shield of a coat of arms, something rather out of the common in those days (1749). As I had read that the same arms were used by a Davis family of Somersetshire, but could not get in touch with anyone who could say he had seen it over here, I decided to try for myself, which I did last week and had better success than I expected! One Rees or Rice, Davis, who died in 1638 was owner, through his wife's inheritance, of a certain Manor-House - a very old one at Tickenham, a small Somerset village ten miles west of Bristol, and three miles east of Clevedon. on the main road between them. I spent one day there in fruitless and almost numberless enquiries over all the realm. Had I known enough to ask for the Manor-House, I should speedily have found it. But I used the name Rees Davis, whom no on had ever heard of. But next day brought better luck, as a fortunate enquiry at the Hall of one Col. Geo. Gibbs of Lyntesfield, an estate of nineteen miles boundary length, put me in touch with the secretary of the Somerset Archealogical Soc. and he at once set me right. He sold me a copy of the history of Tickenham Parish, containing quite a detailed account of the history of the Manor-House, dating back to about 1400, and of its successive owners, including Rice Davis, who was of a far-traced Welsh ancestry and a London lawyer before he came into the Manor Estate. I was also directed to another Parish Church - one at Blackwell, about seven miles outside Bristol, and there I found, in a little side-chapel called Rodney Chapel, the tomb of Rice Davis, his epitaph on a slate slab, above which was a memorial brass plate, set in the chapel wall, which bore the full coat of arms, and portrait etchings of Rice Davis and his wife kneeling before an altar or table on which was an open bible, while behind father and mother were the kneeling figures of their three sons and three daughters. Here was what I sought. I copied the epitaph and took rubbings of the lettering, the portraits, and the coat of arms which I am bringing home with me. I then visited the now ruinous Manor-House at Tickenham and studied them, finding them a very interesting example of a medieval country house once quite extensive. Two buildings are still sound of roof, though really disused save as a farmer store-rooms. The History contained a very good photo engraving of the building and of the adjacent Parish Church, outside and in. I further procured some good post-card views of the Blackwell Church which will show you that it is in a lovely setting and, as I can testify, in a beautiful valley well up on one side-hill. From all this you can fancy that I have had some good times hunting for antiques. Hoping this finds you and Mrs. White well,I am,Yours Sincerely,Charles F. White'