Winneford ("Winny"/"Winnie") Orelia Williams Davis was one of the four daughters of Robert Williams and Rebecca (Williams) Williams of Grenada, Mississippi. Her mother was the daughter of Robert Williams, a Revolutionary War soldier, and Mary Turley, the daughter of another Revolutionary War soldier, Peter Turley of Kershaw Co., S.C. Winnie's parents Robert and Rebecca Williams married in Grenada and were probably cousins. They were very wealthy planters, large land owners and slave owners. An example of her connections is that Winnie's brother-in-law James Bushrod Lake had lived in Baltimore with his wife's parents and Napoleon's sister-in-law, Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte, former wife of Jerome Bonaparte, King of Westphalia.
Robert Williams died in Grenada, Mississippi, in 1878, leaving a great deal of property in Mississippi and Tennessee with specifications that it be held together in trust with income from the farms to go to this living children and orphaned grandchildren.
Litigation to set aside the will and/or particular provisions thereof and sell the properties began soon after and dragged on until 1914, going to the Supreme Court of Mississippi at least once and to the Supreme Court of Tennessee four times, and likely spending most of the assets.
See: Lee versus Villines, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of Tennessee, Volume 129 (129 TN 626);
Davis v. Williams, 85 Tenn (1 Pick.) 646; 4 S.W. 8, and Porter v. Lee, 88 Tenn. (4 Pick.) 783, 14 S.W. 218; 167 Southwestern Reporter 1117; 1880 Mississippi 843;
Cases Argued and Decided in the Supreme Court of Miss., vol. 57 (1880),p.843, Winnie O. Davis et al. v. E.P. Williams et al.; Tenn. 1887.
THE NAME ORELIA
Rebecca Williams' first cousin Emmeline Lowry Battle had a daughter Alice Orelia Battle born in 1858. The name is more popularly spelled Aurelia, as in the mother of Julius Caesar. Winny and her daughter Lizzie spelled their middle name Orelia.
Winnie Williams Davis's death certificate (transcription) says "Mrs. Willie Davis" while her daughter's death certificate lists her father as Robert Davis, apparently due to her daughter (Winnie's granddaughter) confusing the name of her mother's father (Jesse William Davis, who died while she was a child) with her mother's brother Robert who also died young. Whether "Willie Davis" was a misreading of Winnie Davis or whether alluding to her husband Jesse William ("Willie") Davis is unknown; the records of this family contain numerous conflicting statements to reconcile while obviously referencing the same people.
1850 census Yalobusha Co., MS: Winneford Williams, age 5 (c1845)
1860 census Yalobusha Co., MS: Winneford Williams, age 12 (c1848)
1870 census Grenada Co., MS.: not found
1878: Will of Robert Williams dated 8 Apr 1878 calls her "my daughter Winny Davis." (Grenada County Will Book A) Also 167 Southwestern Reporter 1117, p. 1118 (Lee et al v. Villines et al)
1880 census Weakley Co., TN: Winnie Davis, age 27 (c1843), with three children, Robert, Lizzie and Bonnie L.
During the 1878 yellow fever epidemic at Grenada, a third of the townspeople died while the survivors scattered far and wide. The Williams family owned property in Memphis and apparently lived there part-time. They probably vacationed in the Tennessee hills near Nashville which was a popular tourist destination in hot months.
In 1880, Winnie Davis was a widow living with her children and widowed sister Rebecca Villines at the Gleason Masonic Male & Female Institute in Weakley County, Tennessee. Another sister, Mary Williams McAfee Lee, moved to Weakley County also. The four widowed sisters and their brother Col. Edward Packenham Williams were involved in lengthy lawsuits over their father's estate, still being heard by the Tennessee Supreme Court as late as 1914 (Lee v. Villines et al.). Money may have been an issue at times, with some of them relying upon the Masonic Order and teaching at the institute for a while, though later newspaper stories indicate they were doing charity work (see Villines articles). The name of the black servant girl who accompanied Winnie Davis from Grenada to Gleason, Tennessee indicates that the girl's parents or grandparents had likely been slaves of Winnie's aunt Mary T. Williams Mayhew of Grenada.
1880 census: Weakley Co, TN (at Gleason's Station)
Joseph Huey wm 29 school teacher TN TN TN
Julia T. wf 25 wife music teacher TN TN TN
Sarah Walters wf 42 mother-in-law keeping house TN TN TN
Winnie O. Davis 27 wf MS GA SC boarder
Robert W. Davis age 6 TN TN MS border
Lizzie E. Davis wf 3 TN TN MS boarder (phonetic for Erelia?)
Bonnie L. Davis wf 1 TN TN TN border
Mary Mahew (Mayhew) bf 13 domestic servant MS MS MS
Rebecca Villines wf 32 MS GA SC (her sister nee Williams) border
James Villines wm 10 border
Maggie Villines wf 8 "
Mary Villines wf 6 "
William Villines wm 4 "
Jones (?) Mr wm 29 TN TN TN no occupation or status listed
1900: She was listed as Nanny (Winny?) Davis, age 60, living in the family home at Grenada, MS, with Winny's nephew Robert W. McAfee and wife Alice. Winny was supposedly 55 years old in 1900, born Feb 16, 1845 (not March 1840 as the census shows), although every census for her has a different age. Interestingly, she is shown as the head of the household and her nephew is shown as the boarder. While previous censuses showed his mother as owning the home, this census would indicate all the sisters shared ownership.
1900
Nanny Davis 60 wf(March 1840) widowed SC SC SC
Robert W. McAfee 41 wm boarder (Jan 1859) (married 13 yrs) MS MS MS
Alice R. McAfee 36 MS wf boarder (Sept 1870) MS MS MS
1910: Henderson, Chester Co., TN: Winnie O. Davis 60 MS (1850)
Name: Winnie O Davis
Age in 1910: 60
Birth Year: abt 1850
Birthplace: Mississippi
Home in 1910: Henderson, Chester, Tennessee
Street: Cason Street
Race: White
Gender: Female
Relation to Head of House: Mother-in-law
Marital Status: Widowed
Father's Birthplace: North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace: Mississippi
Native Tongue: English
Able to Read: Yes
Able to Write: Yes
Number of Children Born: 6
Number of Children Living: 2
Household Members: Name Age
Jasper G Hardeman 43
Lizzie O Hardeman 33
Robert D Hardeman 15
Bonnie N Hardeman 12
Winnie O Davis 60
1920 census: Henderson, Chester Co., TN.
Name: Winnie Davis
Age: 78
Birth Year: abt 1842
Birthplace: Mississippi
Home in 1920: Henderson, Chester, Tennessee
Street: Cason Street
Race: White
Gender: Female
Relation to Head of House: Mother-in-law
Marital Status: Widowed
Father's Birthplace: North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace: North Carolina (sic: S.C.)
Able to Speak English: Yes
Able to Read: Yes
Able to Write: Yes
Household Members: Name Age
Jap G Hardeman 48 (Jasper Gaines Hardeman)
Elizabeth Hardeman 38 (nee Eliz. Orelia Davis)
Jasper Hardeman 5
Winnie Davis 78
Tennessee Death Records, 1908-1958:
(from Tennessee Death Certificates)
Name: Mrs Willie Davis (sic?)
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 16 Feb 1841 (sic)
Birth Place: Mississippi
Age: 79
Death Date: 9 Jul 1920
Death Place: Jackson, Madison, Tennessee
Father's name: Robert Williams
Father's Birth Place: Mississippi (GA.)
Mother's name: Winnie Williams (sic)
Mother's Birth Place: Mississippi (S.C.)
Certificate Number: 473
Informant: Mrs. J.G. Hardeman
Mrs. Willie Davis in Tennessee, Deaths and Burials Index, 1874-1955
Name: Davis [Williams]
Birth Date: 16 Feb 1841 (sic)
Birth Place: Mississippi
Age: 79
Death Date: 9 Jul 1920
Death Place: Jackson, Madison, Tennessee
Burial Date: 10 Jul 1920
Burial Place: Gleason, Tennessee
Gender: Female
Race: White
Marital Status: Widowed
Father's name: Robert Williams
Father's Birth Place: Mississippi
Mother's name: Winnie Williams (sic)
Mother's Birth Place: Mississippi
FHL Film Number: 1299720
Note that while she lived in Henderson, Chester Co., TN. in June 1920, she died at Jackson, Madison Co., TN., but was buried at Gleason, Weakley Co., TN, 14 miles from Greenfield, TN where sister Mary Williams Lee is said to have died, although Mary was buried in Grenada, Miss. She was buried at Gleason in the plot with her husband and children, Robert and Bonnie.
Place of burial at Hopewell Cemetery located by Patricia Kennedy Max, citing Weakley County Cemeteries Volume II, page 146 where she is listed as Winnie O Davis (October 18, 1841-July 9, 1920), grouped with other Davis names, Robert, Jesse, and Lula.
It took several researchers to straighten out the parents of Elizabeth Davis Hardeman due to the mistaken information listed on her death certificate. Her daughter Jasper Hardeman Rainey (1914-1983) (Mrs. Joe Rainey), was the informant, and the doctor or his assistant listed the parents of Elizabeth Davis Hardeman (1878-1958) incorrectly as Robert Davis and Winnie Robertson, either Mrs. Rainey's mistake or a mistake in transcription. Robert was the name of Elizabeth's older brother who died at age 16, and "Robertson" obviously incorrect since she very clearly was shown to be Winnie Williams in the censuses and estate litigation.
Winnie was widowed by 1880 with one young son Robert (who died 1892) and two daughters. Jasper was 6 years old when her grandmother Winnie died.
Only one marker stands in the plot where Winnie, her son Robert and daughter Lula Bonnie are all buried, the large obelisk inscribed to Jesse W. Davis who died 1879. Inscriptions to Winnie, Robert and Lula B. are on the other three sides. The cemetery book shows that Jesse, Winnie and children Robert and Lula B. are buried in this plot.
Tennessee Death Records
Name Elizabeth Orelia Davis Hardeman
Gender Female
Birth Date 27 Jul 1878
Birth Place Tennessee
Age 79
Death Date 27 May 1958
Death Place Henderson, Chester, Tennessee
Father's Name Robert Davis
Mother's Name Winnie Robertson (sic)
Certificate Number 58-11851
Informant: Mrs. Joe Rainey, Henderson, TN.
Robert Williams died in Grenada, Mississippi, in 1878, leaving a great deal of property in Mississippi and Tennessee with specifications that it be held together in trust with income from the farms to go to this living children and orphaned grandchildren.
Litigation to set aside the will and/or particular provisions thereof and sell the properties began soon after and dragged on until 1914, going to the Supreme Court of Mississippi at least once and to the Supreme Court of Tennessee four times, and likely spending most of the assets.
See: Lee versus Villines, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of Tennessee, Volume 129 (129 TN 626);
Davis v. Williams, 85 Tenn (1 Pick.) 646; 4 S.W. 8, and Porter v. Lee, 88 Tenn. (4 Pick.) 783, 14 S.W. 218; 167 Southwestern Reporter 1117; 1880 Mississippi 843;
Cases Argued and Decided in the Supreme Court of Miss., vol. 57 (1880),p.843, Winnie O. Davis et al. v. E.P. Williams et al.; Tenn. 1887.
THE NAME ORELIA
Rebecca Williams' first cousin Emmeline Lowry Battle had a daughter Alice Orelia Battle born in 1858. The name is more popularly spelled Aurelia, as in the mother of Julius Caesar. Winny and her daughter Lizzie spelled their middle name Orelia.
Winnie Williams Davis's death certificate (transcription) says "Mrs. Willie Davis" while her daughter's death certificate lists her father as Robert Davis, apparently due to her daughter (Winnie's granddaughter) confusing the name of her mother's father (Jesse William Davis, who died while she was a child) with her mother's brother Robert who also died young. Whether "Willie Davis" was a misreading of Winnie Davis or whether alluding to her husband Jesse William ("Willie") Davis is unknown; the records of this family contain numerous conflicting statements to reconcile while obviously referencing the same people.
1850 census Yalobusha Co., MS: Winneford Williams, age 5 (c1845)
1860 census Yalobusha Co., MS: Winneford Williams, age 12 (c1848)
1870 census Grenada Co., MS.: not found
1878: Will of Robert Williams dated 8 Apr 1878 calls her "my daughter Winny Davis." (Grenada County Will Book A) Also 167 Southwestern Reporter 1117, p. 1118 (Lee et al v. Villines et al)
1880 census Weakley Co., TN: Winnie Davis, age 27 (c1843), with three children, Robert, Lizzie and Bonnie L.
During the 1878 yellow fever epidemic at Grenada, a third of the townspeople died while the survivors scattered far and wide. The Williams family owned property in Memphis and apparently lived there part-time. They probably vacationed in the Tennessee hills near Nashville which was a popular tourist destination in hot months.
In 1880, Winnie Davis was a widow living with her children and widowed sister Rebecca Villines at the Gleason Masonic Male & Female Institute in Weakley County, Tennessee. Another sister, Mary Williams McAfee Lee, moved to Weakley County also. The four widowed sisters and their brother Col. Edward Packenham Williams were involved in lengthy lawsuits over their father's estate, still being heard by the Tennessee Supreme Court as late as 1914 (Lee v. Villines et al.). Money may have been an issue at times, with some of them relying upon the Masonic Order and teaching at the institute for a while, though later newspaper stories indicate they were doing charity work (see Villines articles). The name of the black servant girl who accompanied Winnie Davis from Grenada to Gleason, Tennessee indicates that the girl's parents or grandparents had likely been slaves of Winnie's aunt Mary T. Williams Mayhew of Grenada.
1880 census: Weakley Co, TN (at Gleason's Station)
Joseph Huey wm 29 school teacher TN TN TN
Julia T. wf 25 wife music teacher TN TN TN
Sarah Walters wf 42 mother-in-law keeping house TN TN TN
Winnie O. Davis 27 wf MS GA SC boarder
Robert W. Davis age 6 TN TN MS border
Lizzie E. Davis wf 3 TN TN MS boarder (phonetic for Erelia?)
Bonnie L. Davis wf 1 TN TN TN border
Mary Mahew (Mayhew) bf 13 domestic servant MS MS MS
Rebecca Villines wf 32 MS GA SC (her sister nee Williams) border
James Villines wm 10 border
Maggie Villines wf 8 "
Mary Villines wf 6 "
William Villines wm 4 "
Jones (?) Mr wm 29 TN TN TN no occupation or status listed
1900: She was listed as Nanny (Winny?) Davis, age 60, living in the family home at Grenada, MS, with Winny's nephew Robert W. McAfee and wife Alice. Winny was supposedly 55 years old in 1900, born Feb 16, 1845 (not March 1840 as the census shows), although every census for her has a different age. Interestingly, she is shown as the head of the household and her nephew is shown as the boarder. While previous censuses showed his mother as owning the home, this census would indicate all the sisters shared ownership.
1900
Nanny Davis 60 wf(March 1840) widowed SC SC SC
Robert W. McAfee 41 wm boarder (Jan 1859) (married 13 yrs) MS MS MS
Alice R. McAfee 36 MS wf boarder (Sept 1870) MS MS MS
1910: Henderson, Chester Co., TN: Winnie O. Davis 60 MS (1850)
Name: Winnie O Davis
Age in 1910: 60
Birth Year: abt 1850
Birthplace: Mississippi
Home in 1910: Henderson, Chester, Tennessee
Street: Cason Street
Race: White
Gender: Female
Relation to Head of House: Mother-in-law
Marital Status: Widowed
Father's Birthplace: North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace: Mississippi
Native Tongue: English
Able to Read: Yes
Able to Write: Yes
Number of Children Born: 6
Number of Children Living: 2
Household Members: Name Age
Jasper G Hardeman 43
Lizzie O Hardeman 33
Robert D Hardeman 15
Bonnie N Hardeman 12
Winnie O Davis 60
1920 census: Henderson, Chester Co., TN.
Name: Winnie Davis
Age: 78
Birth Year: abt 1842
Birthplace: Mississippi
Home in 1920: Henderson, Chester, Tennessee
Street: Cason Street
Race: White
Gender: Female
Relation to Head of House: Mother-in-law
Marital Status: Widowed
Father's Birthplace: North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace: North Carolina (sic: S.C.)
Able to Speak English: Yes
Able to Read: Yes
Able to Write: Yes
Household Members: Name Age
Jap G Hardeman 48 (Jasper Gaines Hardeman)
Elizabeth Hardeman 38 (nee Eliz. Orelia Davis)
Jasper Hardeman 5
Winnie Davis 78
Tennessee Death Records, 1908-1958:
(from Tennessee Death Certificates)
Name: Mrs Willie Davis (sic?)
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 16 Feb 1841 (sic)
Birth Place: Mississippi
Age: 79
Death Date: 9 Jul 1920
Death Place: Jackson, Madison, Tennessee
Father's name: Robert Williams
Father's Birth Place: Mississippi (GA.)
Mother's name: Winnie Williams (sic)
Mother's Birth Place: Mississippi (S.C.)
Certificate Number: 473
Informant: Mrs. J.G. Hardeman
Mrs. Willie Davis in Tennessee, Deaths and Burials Index, 1874-1955
Name: Davis [Williams]
Birth Date: 16 Feb 1841 (sic)
Birth Place: Mississippi
Age: 79
Death Date: 9 Jul 1920
Death Place: Jackson, Madison, Tennessee
Burial Date: 10 Jul 1920
Burial Place: Gleason, Tennessee
Gender: Female
Race: White
Marital Status: Widowed
Father's name: Robert Williams
Father's Birth Place: Mississippi
Mother's name: Winnie Williams (sic)
Mother's Birth Place: Mississippi
FHL Film Number: 1299720
Note that while she lived in Henderson, Chester Co., TN. in June 1920, she died at Jackson, Madison Co., TN., but was buried at Gleason, Weakley Co., TN, 14 miles from Greenfield, TN where sister Mary Williams Lee is said to have died, although Mary was buried in Grenada, Miss. She was buried at Gleason in the plot with her husband and children, Robert and Bonnie.
Place of burial at Hopewell Cemetery located by Patricia Kennedy Max, citing Weakley County Cemeteries Volume II, page 146 where she is listed as Winnie O Davis (October 18, 1841-July 9, 1920), grouped with other Davis names, Robert, Jesse, and Lula.
It took several researchers to straighten out the parents of Elizabeth Davis Hardeman due to the mistaken information listed on her death certificate. Her daughter Jasper Hardeman Rainey (1914-1983) (Mrs. Joe Rainey), was the informant, and the doctor or his assistant listed the parents of Elizabeth Davis Hardeman (1878-1958) incorrectly as Robert Davis and Winnie Robertson, either Mrs. Rainey's mistake or a mistake in transcription. Robert was the name of Elizabeth's older brother who died at age 16, and "Robertson" obviously incorrect since she very clearly was shown to be Winnie Williams in the censuses and estate litigation.
Winnie was widowed by 1880 with one young son Robert (who died 1892) and two daughters. Jasper was 6 years old when her grandmother Winnie died.
Only one marker stands in the plot where Winnie, her son Robert and daughter Lula Bonnie are all buried, the large obelisk inscribed to Jesse W. Davis who died 1879. Inscriptions to Winnie, Robert and Lula B. are on the other three sides. The cemetery book shows that Jesse, Winnie and children Robert and Lula B. are buried in this plot.
Tennessee Death Records
Name Elizabeth Orelia Davis Hardeman
Gender Female
Birth Date 27 Jul 1878
Birth Place Tennessee
Age 79
Death Date 27 May 1958
Death Place Henderson, Chester, Tennessee
Father's Name Robert Davis
Mother's Name Winnie Robertson (sic)
Certificate Number 58-11851
Informant: Mrs. Joe Rainey, Henderson, TN.
Winneford ("Winny"/"Winnie") Orelia Williams Davis was one of the four daughters of Robert Williams and Rebecca (Williams) Williams of Grenada, Mississippi. Her mother was the daughter of Robert Williams, a Revolutionary War soldier, and Mary Turley, the daughter of another Revolutionary War soldier, Peter Turley of Kershaw Co., S.C. Winnie's parents Robert and Rebecca Williams married in Grenada and were probably cousins. They were very wealthy planters, large land owners and slave owners. An example of her connections is that Winnie's brother-in-law James Bushrod Lake had lived in Baltimore with his wife's parents and Napoleon's sister-in-law, Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte, former wife of Jerome Bonaparte, King of Westphalia.
Robert Williams died in Grenada, Mississippi, in 1878, leaving a great deal of property in Mississippi and Tennessee with specifications that it be held together in trust with income from the farms to go to this living children and orphaned grandchildren.
Litigation to set aside the will and/or particular provisions thereof and sell the properties began soon after and dragged on until 1914, going to the Supreme Court of Mississippi at least once and to the Supreme Court of Tennessee four times, and likely spending most of the assets.
See: Lee versus Villines, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of Tennessee, Volume 129 (129 TN 626);
Davis v. Williams, 85 Tenn (1 Pick.) 646; 4 S.W. 8, and Porter v. Lee, 88 Tenn. (4 Pick.) 783, 14 S.W. 218; 167 Southwestern Reporter 1117; 1880 Mississippi 843;
Cases Argued and Decided in the Supreme Court of Miss., vol. 57 (1880),p.843, Winnie O. Davis et al. v. E.P. Williams et al.; Tenn. 1887.
THE NAME ORELIA
Rebecca Williams' first cousin Emmeline Lowry Battle had a daughter Alice Orelia Battle born in 1858. The name is more popularly spelled Aurelia, as in the mother of Julius Caesar. Winny and her daughter Lizzie spelled their middle name Orelia.
Winnie Williams Davis's death certificate (transcription) says "Mrs. Willie Davis" while her daughter's death certificate lists her father as Robert Davis, apparently due to her daughter (Winnie's granddaughter) confusing the name of her mother's father (Jesse William Davis, who died while she was a child) with her mother's brother Robert who also died young. Whether "Willie Davis" was a misreading of Winnie Davis or whether alluding to her husband Jesse William ("Willie") Davis is unknown; the records of this family contain numerous conflicting statements to reconcile while obviously referencing the same people.
1850 census Yalobusha Co., MS: Winneford Williams, age 5 (c1845)
1860 census Yalobusha Co., MS: Winneford Williams, age 12 (c1848)
1870 census Grenada Co., MS.: not found
1878: Will of Robert Williams dated 8 Apr 1878 calls her "my daughter Winny Davis." (Grenada County Will Book A) Also 167 Southwestern Reporter 1117, p. 1118 (Lee et al v. Villines et al)
1880 census Weakley Co., TN: Winnie Davis, age 27 (c1843), with three children, Robert, Lizzie and Bonnie L.
During the 1878 yellow fever epidemic at Grenada, a third of the townspeople died while the survivors scattered far and wide. The Williams family owned property in Memphis and apparently lived there part-time. They probably vacationed in the Tennessee hills near Nashville which was a popular tourist destination in hot months.
In 1880, Winnie Davis was a widow living with her children and widowed sister Rebecca Villines at the Gleason Masonic Male & Female Institute in Weakley County, Tennessee. Another sister, Mary Williams McAfee Lee, moved to Weakley County also. The four widowed sisters and their brother Col. Edward Packenham Williams were involved in lengthy lawsuits over their father's estate, still being heard by the Tennessee Supreme Court as late as 1914 (Lee v. Villines et al.). Money may have been an issue at times, with some of them relying upon the Masonic Order and teaching at the institute for a while, though later newspaper stories indicate they were doing charity work (see Villines articles). The name of the black servant girl who accompanied Winnie Davis from Grenada to Gleason, Tennessee indicates that the girl's parents or grandparents had likely been slaves of Winnie's aunt Mary T. Williams Mayhew of Grenada.
1880 census: Weakley Co, TN (at Gleason's Station)
Joseph Huey wm 29 school teacher TN TN TN
Julia T. wf 25 wife music teacher TN TN TN
Sarah Walters wf 42 mother-in-law keeping house TN TN TN
Winnie O. Davis 27 wf MS GA SC boarder
Robert W. Davis age 6 TN TN MS border
Lizzie E. Davis wf 3 TN TN MS boarder (phonetic for Erelia?)
Bonnie L. Davis wf 1 TN TN TN border
Mary Mahew (Mayhew) bf 13 domestic servant MS MS MS
Rebecca Villines wf 32 MS GA SC (her sister nee Williams) border
James Villines wm 10 border
Maggie Villines wf 8 "
Mary Villines wf 6 "
William Villines wm 4 "
Jones (?) Mr wm 29 TN TN TN no occupation or status listed
1900: She was listed as Nanny (Winny?) Davis, age 60, living in the family home at Grenada, MS, with Winny's nephew Robert W. McAfee and wife Alice. Winny was supposedly 55 years old in 1900, born Feb 16, 1845 (not March 1840 as the census shows), although every census for her has a different age. Interestingly, she is shown as the head of the household and her nephew is shown as the boarder. While previous censuses showed his mother as owning the home, this census would indicate all the sisters shared ownership.
1900
Nanny Davis 60 wf(March 1840) widowed SC SC SC
Robert W. McAfee 41 wm boarder (Jan 1859) (married 13 yrs) MS MS MS
Alice R. McAfee 36 MS wf boarder (Sept 1870) MS MS MS
1910: Henderson, Chester Co., TN: Winnie O. Davis 60 MS (1850)
Name: Winnie O Davis
Age in 1910: 60
Birth Year: abt 1850
Birthplace: Mississippi
Home in 1910: Henderson, Chester, Tennessee
Street: Cason Street
Race: White
Gender: Female
Relation to Head of House: Mother-in-law
Marital Status: Widowed
Father's Birthplace: North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace: Mississippi
Native Tongue: English
Able to Read: Yes
Able to Write: Yes
Number of Children Born: 6
Number of Children Living: 2
Household Members: Name Age
Jasper G Hardeman 43
Lizzie O Hardeman 33
Robert D Hardeman 15
Bonnie N Hardeman 12
Winnie O Davis 60
1920 census: Henderson, Chester Co., TN.
Name: Winnie Davis
Age: 78
Birth Year: abt 1842
Birthplace: Mississippi
Home in 1920: Henderson, Chester, Tennessee
Street: Cason Street
Race: White
Gender: Female
Relation to Head of House: Mother-in-law
Marital Status: Widowed
Father's Birthplace: North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace: North Carolina (sic: S.C.)
Able to Speak English: Yes
Able to Read: Yes
Able to Write: Yes
Household Members: Name Age
Jap G Hardeman 48 (Jasper Gaines Hardeman)
Elizabeth Hardeman 38 (nee Eliz. Orelia Davis)
Jasper Hardeman 5
Winnie Davis 78
Tennessee Death Records, 1908-1958:
(from Tennessee Death Certificates)
Name: Mrs Willie Davis (sic?)
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 16 Feb 1841 (sic)
Birth Place: Mississippi
Age: 79
Death Date: 9 Jul 1920
Death Place: Jackson, Madison, Tennessee
Father's name: Robert Williams
Father's Birth Place: Mississippi (GA.)
Mother's name: Winnie Williams (sic)
Mother's Birth Place: Mississippi (S.C.)
Certificate Number: 473
Informant: Mrs. J.G. Hardeman
Mrs. Willie Davis in Tennessee, Deaths and Burials Index, 1874-1955
Name: Davis [Williams]
Birth Date: 16 Feb 1841 (sic)
Birth Place: Mississippi
Age: 79
Death Date: 9 Jul 1920
Death Place: Jackson, Madison, Tennessee
Burial Date: 10 Jul 1920
Burial Place: Gleason, Tennessee
Gender: Female
Race: White
Marital Status: Widowed
Father's name: Robert Williams
Father's Birth Place: Mississippi
Mother's name: Winnie Williams (sic)
Mother's Birth Place: Mississippi
FHL Film Number: 1299720
Note that while she lived in Henderson, Chester Co., TN. in June 1920, she died at Jackson, Madison Co., TN., but was buried at Gleason, Weakley Co., TN, 14 miles from Greenfield, TN where sister Mary Williams Lee is said to have died, although Mary was buried in Grenada, Miss. She was buried at Gleason in the plot with her husband and children, Robert and Bonnie.
Place of burial at Hopewell Cemetery located by Patricia Kennedy Max, citing Weakley County Cemeteries Volume II, page 146 where she is listed as Winnie O Davis (October 18, 1841-July 9, 1920), grouped with other Davis names, Robert, Jesse, and Lula.
It took several researchers to straighten out the parents of Elizabeth Davis Hardeman due to the mistaken information listed on her death certificate. Her daughter Jasper Hardeman Rainey (1914-1983) (Mrs. Joe Rainey), was the informant, and the doctor or his assistant listed the parents of Elizabeth Davis Hardeman (1878-1958) incorrectly as Robert Davis and Winnie Robertson, either Mrs. Rainey's mistake or a mistake in transcription. Robert was the name of Elizabeth's older brother who died at age 16, and "Robertson" obviously incorrect since she very clearly was shown to be Winnie Williams in the censuses and estate litigation.
Winnie was widowed by 1880 with one young son Robert (who died 1892) and two daughters. Jasper was 6 years old when her grandmother Winnie died.
Only one marker stands in the plot where Winnie, her son Robert and daughter Lula Bonnie are all buried, the large obelisk inscribed to Jesse W. Davis who died 1879. Inscriptions to Winnie, Robert and Lula B. are on the other three sides. The cemetery book shows that Jesse, Winnie and children Robert and Lula B. are buried in this plot.
Tennessee Death Records
Name Elizabeth Orelia Davis Hardeman
Gender Female
Birth Date 27 Jul 1878
Birth Place Tennessee
Age 79
Death Date 27 May 1958
Death Place Henderson, Chester, Tennessee
Father's Name Robert Davis
Mother's Name Winnie Robertson (sic)
Certificate Number 58-11851
Informant: Mrs. Joe Rainey, Henderson, TN.
Robert Williams died in Grenada, Mississippi, in 1878, leaving a great deal of property in Mississippi and Tennessee with specifications that it be held together in trust with income from the farms to go to this living children and orphaned grandchildren.
Litigation to set aside the will and/or particular provisions thereof and sell the properties began soon after and dragged on until 1914, going to the Supreme Court of Mississippi at least once and to the Supreme Court of Tennessee four times, and likely spending most of the assets.
See: Lee versus Villines, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of Tennessee, Volume 129 (129 TN 626);
Davis v. Williams, 85 Tenn (1 Pick.) 646; 4 S.W. 8, and Porter v. Lee, 88 Tenn. (4 Pick.) 783, 14 S.W. 218; 167 Southwestern Reporter 1117; 1880 Mississippi 843;
Cases Argued and Decided in the Supreme Court of Miss., vol. 57 (1880),p.843, Winnie O. Davis et al. v. E.P. Williams et al.; Tenn. 1887.
THE NAME ORELIA
Rebecca Williams' first cousin Emmeline Lowry Battle had a daughter Alice Orelia Battle born in 1858. The name is more popularly spelled Aurelia, as in the mother of Julius Caesar. Winny and her daughter Lizzie spelled their middle name Orelia.
Winnie Williams Davis's death certificate (transcription) says "Mrs. Willie Davis" while her daughter's death certificate lists her father as Robert Davis, apparently due to her daughter (Winnie's granddaughter) confusing the name of her mother's father (Jesse William Davis, who died while she was a child) with her mother's brother Robert who also died young. Whether "Willie Davis" was a misreading of Winnie Davis or whether alluding to her husband Jesse William ("Willie") Davis is unknown; the records of this family contain numerous conflicting statements to reconcile while obviously referencing the same people.
1850 census Yalobusha Co., MS: Winneford Williams, age 5 (c1845)
1860 census Yalobusha Co., MS: Winneford Williams, age 12 (c1848)
1870 census Grenada Co., MS.: not found
1878: Will of Robert Williams dated 8 Apr 1878 calls her "my daughter Winny Davis." (Grenada County Will Book A) Also 167 Southwestern Reporter 1117, p. 1118 (Lee et al v. Villines et al)
1880 census Weakley Co., TN: Winnie Davis, age 27 (c1843), with three children, Robert, Lizzie and Bonnie L.
During the 1878 yellow fever epidemic at Grenada, a third of the townspeople died while the survivors scattered far and wide. The Williams family owned property in Memphis and apparently lived there part-time. They probably vacationed in the Tennessee hills near Nashville which was a popular tourist destination in hot months.
In 1880, Winnie Davis was a widow living with her children and widowed sister Rebecca Villines at the Gleason Masonic Male & Female Institute in Weakley County, Tennessee. Another sister, Mary Williams McAfee Lee, moved to Weakley County also. The four widowed sisters and their brother Col. Edward Packenham Williams were involved in lengthy lawsuits over their father's estate, still being heard by the Tennessee Supreme Court as late as 1914 (Lee v. Villines et al.). Money may have been an issue at times, with some of them relying upon the Masonic Order and teaching at the institute for a while, though later newspaper stories indicate they were doing charity work (see Villines articles). The name of the black servant girl who accompanied Winnie Davis from Grenada to Gleason, Tennessee indicates that the girl's parents or grandparents had likely been slaves of Winnie's aunt Mary T. Williams Mayhew of Grenada.
1880 census: Weakley Co, TN (at Gleason's Station)
Joseph Huey wm 29 school teacher TN TN TN
Julia T. wf 25 wife music teacher TN TN TN
Sarah Walters wf 42 mother-in-law keeping house TN TN TN
Winnie O. Davis 27 wf MS GA SC boarder
Robert W. Davis age 6 TN TN MS border
Lizzie E. Davis wf 3 TN TN MS boarder (phonetic for Erelia?)
Bonnie L. Davis wf 1 TN TN TN border
Mary Mahew (Mayhew) bf 13 domestic servant MS MS MS
Rebecca Villines wf 32 MS GA SC (her sister nee Williams) border
James Villines wm 10 border
Maggie Villines wf 8 "
Mary Villines wf 6 "
William Villines wm 4 "
Jones (?) Mr wm 29 TN TN TN no occupation or status listed
1900: She was listed as Nanny (Winny?) Davis, age 60, living in the family home at Grenada, MS, with Winny's nephew Robert W. McAfee and wife Alice. Winny was supposedly 55 years old in 1900, born Feb 16, 1845 (not March 1840 as the census shows), although every census for her has a different age. Interestingly, she is shown as the head of the household and her nephew is shown as the boarder. While previous censuses showed his mother as owning the home, this census would indicate all the sisters shared ownership.
1900
Nanny Davis 60 wf(March 1840) widowed SC SC SC
Robert W. McAfee 41 wm boarder (Jan 1859) (married 13 yrs) MS MS MS
Alice R. McAfee 36 MS wf boarder (Sept 1870) MS MS MS
1910: Henderson, Chester Co., TN: Winnie O. Davis 60 MS (1850)
Name: Winnie O Davis
Age in 1910: 60
Birth Year: abt 1850
Birthplace: Mississippi
Home in 1910: Henderson, Chester, Tennessee
Street: Cason Street
Race: White
Gender: Female
Relation to Head of House: Mother-in-law
Marital Status: Widowed
Father's Birthplace: North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace: Mississippi
Native Tongue: English
Able to Read: Yes
Able to Write: Yes
Number of Children Born: 6
Number of Children Living: 2
Household Members: Name Age
Jasper G Hardeman 43
Lizzie O Hardeman 33
Robert D Hardeman 15
Bonnie N Hardeman 12
Winnie O Davis 60
1920 census: Henderson, Chester Co., TN.
Name: Winnie Davis
Age: 78
Birth Year: abt 1842
Birthplace: Mississippi
Home in 1920: Henderson, Chester, Tennessee
Street: Cason Street
Race: White
Gender: Female
Relation to Head of House: Mother-in-law
Marital Status: Widowed
Father's Birthplace: North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace: North Carolina (sic: S.C.)
Able to Speak English: Yes
Able to Read: Yes
Able to Write: Yes
Household Members: Name Age
Jap G Hardeman 48 (Jasper Gaines Hardeman)
Elizabeth Hardeman 38 (nee Eliz. Orelia Davis)
Jasper Hardeman 5
Winnie Davis 78
Tennessee Death Records, 1908-1958:
(from Tennessee Death Certificates)
Name: Mrs Willie Davis (sic?)
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 16 Feb 1841 (sic)
Birth Place: Mississippi
Age: 79
Death Date: 9 Jul 1920
Death Place: Jackson, Madison, Tennessee
Father's name: Robert Williams
Father's Birth Place: Mississippi (GA.)
Mother's name: Winnie Williams (sic)
Mother's Birth Place: Mississippi (S.C.)
Certificate Number: 473
Informant: Mrs. J.G. Hardeman
Mrs. Willie Davis in Tennessee, Deaths and Burials Index, 1874-1955
Name: Davis [Williams]
Birth Date: 16 Feb 1841 (sic)
Birth Place: Mississippi
Age: 79
Death Date: 9 Jul 1920
Death Place: Jackson, Madison, Tennessee
Burial Date: 10 Jul 1920
Burial Place: Gleason, Tennessee
Gender: Female
Race: White
Marital Status: Widowed
Father's name: Robert Williams
Father's Birth Place: Mississippi
Mother's name: Winnie Williams (sic)
Mother's Birth Place: Mississippi
FHL Film Number: 1299720
Note that while she lived in Henderson, Chester Co., TN. in June 1920, she died at Jackson, Madison Co., TN., but was buried at Gleason, Weakley Co., TN, 14 miles from Greenfield, TN where sister Mary Williams Lee is said to have died, although Mary was buried in Grenada, Miss. She was buried at Gleason in the plot with her husband and children, Robert and Bonnie.
Place of burial at Hopewell Cemetery located by Patricia Kennedy Max, citing Weakley County Cemeteries Volume II, page 146 where she is listed as Winnie O Davis (October 18, 1841-July 9, 1920), grouped with other Davis names, Robert, Jesse, and Lula.
It took several researchers to straighten out the parents of Elizabeth Davis Hardeman due to the mistaken information listed on her death certificate. Her daughter Jasper Hardeman Rainey (1914-1983) (Mrs. Joe Rainey), was the informant, and the doctor or his assistant listed the parents of Elizabeth Davis Hardeman (1878-1958) incorrectly as Robert Davis and Winnie Robertson, either Mrs. Rainey's mistake or a mistake in transcription. Robert was the name of Elizabeth's older brother who died at age 16, and "Robertson" obviously incorrect since she very clearly was shown to be Winnie Williams in the censuses and estate litigation.
Winnie was widowed by 1880 with one young son Robert (who died 1892) and two daughters. Jasper was 6 years old when her grandmother Winnie died.
Only one marker stands in the plot where Winnie, her son Robert and daughter Lula Bonnie are all buried, the large obelisk inscribed to Jesse W. Davis who died 1879. Inscriptions to Winnie, Robert and Lula B. are on the other three sides. The cemetery book shows that Jesse, Winnie and children Robert and Lula B. are buried in this plot.
Tennessee Death Records
Name Elizabeth Orelia Davis Hardeman
Gender Female
Birth Date 27 Jul 1878
Birth Place Tennessee
Age 79
Death Date 27 May 1958
Death Place Henderson, Chester, Tennessee
Father's Name Robert Davis
Mother's Name Winnie Robertson (sic)
Certificate Number 58-11851
Informant: Mrs. Joe Rainey, Henderson, TN.
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