Abigail Harger Tibbals Davis
Born 1672 Mar 2 Stratford, Ct
Died Derby, CT
Father Jabez Harger
Mother Margaret Tomlinson Harger Tibbals
Marriage
John Davis Sr. 1648-1712
Children 5
1. Mary Davis
Born 1693 Aug 2
Died
Married
Timothy Taylor
2. Nathaniel Davis
Born 1698 Feb 26
Died
Married
Eunice
3. Jabez Davis named for his mother's father (grandfather) Jabez Harger
Born 1703 Jul 24 Derby
Died
Married
Elizabeth Taylor
4. Elizabeth Davis
Born 1707 Jul 21
5. Abigail Davis named for her mother Abigail Harger
Born 1709 Apr 28
NOTE Abigail's sister Anna Harger b 1668 married John Chatfield.
NOTE John Tibbal was their step-father
"John Davis" was the name of two other men in the county of New Haven. One John Davis was the cooper's son who graduated from Harvard, taught at grammar school, and was lost at sea. Another John Davis was a carpenter on Main Street, who married and moved to Southold, Long Island. A fourth "John Davis Esq." has a gravestone in the "Colonial Cemetery" at 352 Derby Ave.
To delineate John Davis of this genealogy from the other two John Davises from England, "the Welshman" was added to his name in the records (Campbell, 430).
John Davis had four children with Abigail: Sarah, John Jr, Samuel, and George. Sarah and John Jr. were probably born before the Davises had come to Derby. Abigail got very sick and died after 10 years in Derby.
John married Mary Smith, the widow of the town recorder, Abel Gunn. The marriage was transcribed from the town book as "Davis, John m. Mrs. Mary Gunn, May 12, 1691." ( Town Records , 291; Vital Records V.2 25). She died soon after. John Davis's great-granddaughter Abigail Davis, later married an Abel Gunn of Waterbury in a ceremony conducted by Rev. Richard Mansfield of the Episcopal church on Dec.2,1756 ( Vital Records V.LR6, p.8). The second, A.Gunn, may have been a son, or grandson of the first.
John then married a third time. His third wife, Abigail Harger, was the step-daughter of John Tibbals. Abigail's father, Jabez Harger had moved to Derby from Stratford, and had died in Derby. Abigail's mother, Margaret (Tomlinson)—-now Widow Harger-—married John Tibbals.
John Davis Sr. and his third wife, Abigail, had five children: Mary in 1693, Nathaniel in 1698, Jabez in 1703, Elizabeth in 1707 and Abigail in 1709. Most of these children were named after known previous relatives: Mary for her mother's mother, Mary Tomlinson; Jabez for his mother's father, Jabez Harger; and Abigail, for her mother Abigail Harger.
Barbour Collection, Derby Vital Records.
Phillips, Town Records of Derby.
Will of John Davis Sr.
LIVELIHOOD
The livelihood of John Sr. and his neighbours was obtained through agriculture. Grown in the fields were hops for bitter flavour in malt liquor, hemp for making rope, and Indian corn which was ground at the mill for meal. Flax was grown on the meadow land, cut, dried, cured in Beaver Brook, combed with his "hackil", and spun on his "littell wheall" into linen thread. Two types of wheels were used for twisting fibers into thread. Wool, sheared from sheep purchased from neighbours, was washed, combed into fibers, and spun on his "two great wheals" into yarn, and sold for weaving.
The "great" wheel was also known as the wool wheel or "the walking wheel" (Leadbeater). The wheel was turned by hand, in one direction, causing the wool to twist as one operator walked backwards, drawing out the carded wool. The wheel was then stopped, and turned in the reverse direction, to roll up the length of the twisted yarn onto the spindle.
John Sr. had eight swine when he died; swine were kept for pork, ham, bacon and lard: Poultry were kept for eggs, oxen for plowing, and horses for getting around.
As well, everyone had a cow for milk and cheese, "stear" for beef. Tallow was used to make candles. Cattle were raised on the common pasture with ears notched to indicate their owners. Derby township had a lot of different families sharing common pastures, so families cut pieces out of the ears of cattle for identification, according to a pattern which was recorded. John Sr. marked his cattle ear with one "half tennant" under the right and a "half tennant" on the upper side of the left ear (*Town Records*, 252).
It is unknown whether John Sr. owned any slaves or servants. The 1650 Code of Connecticut adapted the code of Massachusetts:
"There shall never be any bond slavery, villanage or captivity among us, unless it be lawful captives taken in just ward, and such strangers as willingly sell themselves or are sold to us" (Orcutt).
Indians were enslaved when captured in battle, and sold for profit during the French and Indian War.
Indians were also servants to the early settlers. For instance, in 1722, Ebenezer Johnson, the head of the settlement, purchased an Indian slave girl named "Dinah" in Stratford for sixty pounds. She was about 26 years old, and had been taken at age seven with other captives around Saybrook in retaliation for an attack by the Indian leader King Philip. Johnson died six years later, and his wife gave Dinah to her son Timothy.
In 1714 George I from Luneburg, Germany (near Hamburg) was crowned the King of Great Britain. The next year a new law was passed prohibiting the importation to Britain of Indian slaves.
The community's first meetinghouse, 1681 (Derby Historical Society; in Hogan, The Lower Naugatuck Valley).
Leadbeater, "Spinning and Spinning Wheels".
Hogan, The Lower Naugatuck Valley.
Orcutt and Beardsley, History of the Old Town of Derby.
Will of John Davis Sr.
Lowrey, "Report on Forebears of Ithiel Davis"
CIVIC INVOLVEMENT
In 1683 London asked Massachusetts to submit its charter to the king for revision. When they refused, the king dissolved the colonial charter. Massachussets became a Royal Colony in 1684; all other colonial charters in New England were dissolved as well.
Restrictions against New England's independence were applied. The king installed his own government under Sir Edmund Andros. Andros brought an Anglican minister that took over a Congregational church building. Some towns refused to pay their taxes, protesting "no taxes without representation". Towns were restricted to one town meeting per year, and heavy jail sentences were applied for disobedience.
John Davis Sr. first appears in the town records in Derby when, along with Abel Gunn, he witnessed a deed to Samuel Bowers on December 2, 1690 ( Town Records , 93). The seller may have been the son of the deceased parson. The next year John was elected a "townsman".
It would have been expected that John dress up for the township meetings. He would have worn his linen shirt with "neck cloth" and "pear of stocking", his "lether briches" and "shews", his black broad cloath vest, and "broad cloath coat". On his head he would have worn a "perywig" covered by a hat (Will).
After saddling the horse, he rode to the meeting. He passed Indians that came to town to trade furs for pots, axes, cloth, etc. He stopped at a neighbours and ordered some oak barrels for making cider. At the town meeting-house he hung up his coat and hat, and put on his "close stoll" which is a ceremonial neck scarf of office.
The meeting house was at Squabble Hole in 1682. Meetings were held twice on Sundays, while on Saturdays, the militia trained on the town green. At meetings, men and women sat on opposite sides of the room, both facing the pulpit (Lichfield).
On December 2, 1690, John Davis and his future wife, Mary Gunn, were witnesses to a deed where Samuel Bowers sold two acres of swamp known as "David's meadow", located South East of Ansonia within Derby township, to George Bayman ( Town Records, 93). The Bowers and Davis families were friends and neighbours 200 years later at Brier Island (see chapter 6 ).
The Town chose Mr. Davis and two others to be "listers": "August 28, 1696 at a lawful town meeting at derby the town have chosen ensign riggs mr davis John pringle listers for the year ensuing" ( Town Records, 179). Listers kept records of inhabitants, and may have collected money. This demonstrates that John Davis could read and write.
John Davis Sr. is also listed among 42 men at a town meeting in 1696 who agreed to give a home lot to a physician (Orcutt).
The town selected John Davis to collect the salary for the Parson from its inhabitants in 1697, Dec.29. This would have been Reverend John James. Later, in 1702, Dec.14, John Davis Sr. was appointed to rate the Parson's salary: "Mr. John Davies senior & Saml Bowrs to make up ye Ministers rate & deliver it to ye Collectors" ( Town Records, 219). As a "Townsman", John Davis Sr. may also have been involved in the construction of the first parsonage.
On December 29, 1697, John Davis Sr.'s son Samuel and two others were elected as "fence viewers" ( Town Records, 188). Fence viewers settled property line disputes.
In 1707 the town meeting had difficulty deciding where its members would sit. Each year they would rearrange the seating plan. The head of each estate got a seat in a place of status, proportional to the worth of his estate in the tax list. Mr. John Davis sat in the audience, in the third row from the front, facing the pulpit; while his step father-in-law (John Tibbals) sat in front, beside the pulpit, facing the body of the meeting. On a single seat in front of Tibbals' bench, next to the pulpit, sat Major Ebenezer Johnson, who had purchased land from the Indians, and performed marriages.
Orcutt and Beardsley, History of the Old Town of Derby
Lichfield and Hoyt, History of the Town of Oxford,
Phillips, Town Records of Derby
Will of John Davis Sr.
LAND ACQUISITION
In 1703 John Davis owned 37 acres of land located on the West side of the Nagatuck river. (An acre of land is about 70×70 yards, or about the size of a short wide football field.) It extended between two highways, one running along the west side of the Naugatuck, and measured thirty rods along the highway. To the north was a 31 acre lot owned by George Beamons and to the south was a 70 acre lot owned by Isaac Nichols. ( Town Records, 285, 187).
His first land appears to have been acquired through his marriage to the widow Gunn. It was listed on October 12, 1696 in the Derby Town Record book that
"at a lawful town meeting at derby the town hav granted to john and joseph hulls the verbage of the side hil against trangam with in the town fenc
further at the sam tim the town have granted to mr davis twelve acres of land upon the upper end of Sentinul hill prety ny that was granted to weddow gun…
further they have agreed that the fenc shal bee kept up about the medow and that the field shall be cleared and craturs be kep out a the last of november next" ( Town Records, 182).
John Sr. may have become owner of the land of Widow Gunn, his wife and neighbour, as his inventory had 27 acres on Sentinel Hill.
On "Janewary 16 1699" John Sr. requested further land to build a barn. The record on page 42 reads:
"to the inhabitance of Derby the Request of John Davis Senior to you is that you would be Pleased to give him halfe a rood of land neare his hous being on the Est side of the high ways that gos along the hill
Map of Sentinel Hill. "the town have granted to mr davis twelve acres of land upon the upper end of Sentinel hill"
"... one towards mistris bowerses & the other to the meeting house the Reason of my request is becaus I have no convenant place to set my barne on the hill is soe rissing every wher in my hom lot.
"...if you please soe to doe you wil much oblige your Friend John Davis Senior. I desir to leave a sufisent high way this I hope be noe damag to the town"
The above was recorded again on February 25, 1703 with different spelling:
"To ye Inhabitants off Derb ye Request off Jno: Davies Senior To you is That yu would be Pleased to give him halfe a rood off land neare his hous being on ye East side off ye highway yt goes along ye hill on toward Mr. Bowrs & ye other towards ye meetinghouse. The Reason off my re-quest is because I have no convenient place to set my Barne on. ye hill is so rising everywhere in my home lot … ... I desire to leave sufficient highwayes … this land is att ye end off Jno Tybals his orchard." ( Town Record, 102).
On February 25, 1703, the land requested four years earlier was officially granted, after John Sr. had already built a barn on the land. On Page 102 it states that
"The Record off ye Town grant off a piece of land to mr Jno: Davies senior wron his Barn stands:
"The land granted to Jno: Davies Senior by ye Town in gen all is bounded
South East on Jno: Tibbals his land,
North East on ye Towns land,
south west on ye highway &
North west on ye high way "This land is measured
5 Rod next to Jno: Tibals his land south East
5 Rod North West on ye highway &
North East on ye Towns land 4 Rod &
south west on ye high way 4 Rod
"Layd out by us Ebenezer Johnson Jno: Tybbals
Entered ffebr 25 1702/3 pr me Jno: James Town Clerke"
( Town Records, 179).
Old bridge, Division Street, between Ansonia and West Derby. ( Ely, p.74. )
John Sr. earned a share in lands purchased from the Indians. Both John Davis Sr. and his son John Jr. are listed with fifty-two men on March 12, 1702 as participants in drawing lots for land.
After pieces of land had been purchased from the Naugatuck Indians, it was divided into lots and distributed to the inhabitants of the township. The town meeting decided the sequence for locating the lots. Lot #1 was measured starting in the north corner of the parcel of land. Lot #2 was measured to the west of lot #1, and continue west until Great Mountain. The participants drew a number from a container, which was the sequence for their piece of land.
John Davis Sr. drew number 4, meaning his land would be the fourth lot measured. The pieces of land were measured in numerical sequence, but were not equal in size. The size depended on the status or present worth of the resident. Thus John Jr.'s lot no.4 may have been larger than lots #3 & 5 on each side. Also, the surveyors were instructed to be fair in respect to the quality of the land: "where it wanted in quality it was to be made up in quantity."
Phillips, Town Records of Derby
ILLNESS
In June of 1700 John Davis Sr. became "very sick and weak in body" and made a will. He named his wife Abigail, his sons John and Samuel, his daughter Sarah, his under-age son George, and his youngest children Mary and Nathaniel. The will was witnessed by Jobamah Gunn and John Riske (Riggs?).
Child Named Pounds
1. Sarah 20 and biggest bed, two trunks marked "s. s."
2. John 5 already had received some (money?)
3. Samuel 5
4. George 20 when he becomes of age (after June 1700?)
5. Mary 5
6. Nathaniel 5
In his will, John made provisions for the continuance of debt payment from his first wife's brother,
"Uncle Cook", to his two oldest sons: "Unto my son John Daviss and to my son Samel Daviss I give five pounds to Each of them there being a bill for fifty pounds wch I Secured for them in ye hands of their Uncle Cook part of which John hath already Received and at my decease ye bill shall by my Executrix be delivered unto them my said sons John and Samel Daviss and the ten pounds wch I have made use of, of that money Shall by my Executrix be made Good unto them. besides the five pounds to each of them wch shall be paid to them out of my Estate in Derby."
When the will was written in 1700 Uncle Cook may possibly have still been paying for the former home of his deceased sister's husband. He was paying an amount each year to John Sr. but also had made some payment to John, Jr. In his will John Sr. asked his wife to obtain the balance due on the "bill" after he died and give it to his children.
John Sr. recovered, however, from being sick to have three more children and lived twelve more years. John may have been serviced by the new doctor, Josiah Baldwin.
Will of John Davis Sr.
DEATH
John Davis, "seinyear" died in the spring of 1712, aged circa 65. His death occurred sometime before September 17, 1712, when his will was probated, and sometime after a recording of his cattle earmarks on April 29, 1712. He was survived by his third wife and their five children, along with four children by his first wife, for a total of nine children. There were three daughters aged 3, 5, 19, and 39; and four sons aged 9, 14, 31, 33, & 37.
At that time "most burials were without any religious service". His body may have been taken to the township burying grounds in a wooden box. Transport was difficult in the early days without roads or wagons. One method described was to use two horses, one behind the other, with a pole on each side of them. Short boards were attached across the long poles to support the coffin.
John Davis Sr. may have been buried in the Congregationalist church graveyard which was just across the street from his home lot, but the location is unknown. His widow may alternatively have had him buried on his home lot at the top of a hill, within sight of his house near Bladen's Brook. If a stone was used to mark his burial place, it was not in a yard with others, or it would have been recorded in a survey of two thousand graveyards in Connecticut in 1930 by Hale.
His estate was inventoried at 268 Pounds: 18 shillings. This total comprised Real Estate valued at 109:02 Pounds and Personal Estate of 159:16 Pounds .
As the deceased had requested in his will of June 18, 1700, Abigail (Tibbals) Davis, widow, was appointed the "Executrix" of her husband's will on September 17, 1712, with "overseers" his step father-in-law John Tibbals and Ensign Samuel Riggs. The inventory made on 1712, Sept. 30 was signed by Appraysors: Joseph J. and John Riggs, and noted "Abigail Daviss, Sworne in Court, Test Jos/h. Whiting, Clerk". The bottom line "Sum" value had been crossed out, probably due to incorrect addition.
The inventory of Sept. 30 was copied over again with proper spelling and addition on October 3, 1712, when it was recorded in Court at Milford. It was preceded by two testimonies that tie it to the will. Saml Eells "one of the assistants of her Majesties Colony of Connecticut" stated that he had heard Jobamah Gunn state that he had seen John Davis declare in writing the instrument on the other side to be his last Will and testament. Josh Whiting, Court Clerk, stated that John H_o_s_k of Milford had sworn in Court that he had seen John Davis of Derby publish his last will and he was of sound mind at the doing and that he saw Jobamah Gunn sign as a witness.
John Davis Sr.'s will, written twelve years earlier, had said that 60 pounds were to go to the children; however, no money was listed in the inventory, although everything had been given a monetary value. It is possible that the 60 Pounds were to come mostly from his first wife's brother "Uncle Cook".
In the spring of 1712, John and his brother Samuel decided that their sister Sarah would stay in the old Davis home with her brother George, and their father's third wife, Abigail (Harger) Davis would raise her five children in Derby.
Barbour Collection, Derby Vital Records
Campbell, S. and B. Seymour, Past and Present
Davis, Genealogy of the Descendants of Col. John Davis of Oxford, Conn.
Hale, Gravestones of Two Thousand Cemeteries in Connecticut
Inventory of John Davis Sr.
Jacobus, "Davis Family of Derby"
Lichfield and Hoyt, History of the Town of Oxford,
Phillips, Town Records of Derby
Rockey, History of New Haven County
300th Anniversary Booklet of Derby
Descendants of John Davis, Sr.
9* John DAVIS, Sr. b. ca. 1648; d. 1712 Derby (New Haven County, Conn.) Farmer, town council, candlemaker, linen and wool spinner, cider maker. Purchased land ca. 1695 in Derby township (now Seymour).
m1: Abigail (Cook ?), d. ca. 1690
1. Sarah DAVIS
2. * John DAVIS Jr.; b. ca. 1675. m. 1706 Sarah CHATFIELD
3. Samuel DAVIS, b. ca. 1679: m. Mercy Bennet, of Derby
4. George DAVIS, b. ca. 1681
m2. May 12, 1691: Mrs. Mary ( Smith ) Gun, widow of Abel Gunn. [Phillips, Derby Records, p.291 (p.25) ].
m3. Abigail Harger, of Derby, b.1672 at Stratfordshire
5. Mary DAVIS, 1693, Aug. 2, m. Timothy Taylor, of Danbury, Conn
6. Nathaniel DAVIS, 1699, Feb. 26; m. Eunice; ch: twins Joseph and Dan b. 1746
7. Jabez DAVIS, b. 1703, Jul.24, m. Elizabeth Taylor.
8. Elizabeth DAVIS, b. 1707, July 21
9. Abigail DAVIS, b. 1709, Apr.28
8* John DAVIS Jr. b. ca. 1675, d. spring of 1767. Lived at Chestnut Tree Hill, Oxford, Conn.
m1. 1706, Jul.15: Sarah CHATFIELD, b. 1686, Dec. 5, d. 1721, Jan.20. ( See Chapter 2 )
8. Samuel Davis, b. ca. 1679, d.1748, spring at Stratford
m1. 1708, Jun. at Stratford: Mercy Bennet, of Derby, Conn. b. ca. 1688
1. Elias DAVIS b. 1708, Jan.17, m. Abigail Tomlinson b. 1723, Jul.18
2. John DAVIS, m. Esther
3. Enoch DAVIS
4. Nathan DAVIS
5. Samuel DAVIS
6. Betty/Elizabeth DAVIS, m. Thomas Leavenworth
7. Hannah DAVIS, m1. John Hawley, m2. Obadiah Richards
8. Sarah DAVIS, m. 1737, Jul.06: Zachariah Hawkins
8. Jabez Davis, 1703, Jul.24, Derby, Settled at Danbury, Conn.
m. Elizabeth Taylor, daughter of Thomas Taylor.
ch= 3 sons & 3 daughters. son = Eliakim Davis, ancestor of Theron Davis, Orville,WA. (2007,Apr.; [email protected])
7. Elias Davis, b. 1708, Jan.17, m. Abigail Tomlinson, 1723, Jul. 18, daughter of John Tomlinson and Elizabeth Wooster
7. Nathan Davis, m. Eunice, daughter of Samuel and Hannah Tomlinson. Resided on Bungay and at the Neck.
1. Rachel DAVIS, b. 1738, Apr. m. Adam Vose
2. Eunice DAVIS, b. 1740, Jun.20, m. Azariah Prichard
3. Benjamin DAVIS, b. 1743, Mar. 1
4. Daniel DAVIS, b. 1746, Mar.20, m.Susanna Wooster
5. Joseph DAVIS. m. Amy Foote
6. Sarah DAVIS, b. 1756, Oct.6
6. Benjamin Davis, b.1743, Mar. 1- d.1817, Nov. Benjamin was at the meeting to start Trinity Church in 1797.
m1. Betty Tomlinson, daughter of Joseph and Sarah Tomlinson. b.1744, Mar.23-1775,Apr. 5
m2. Naomi DAVIS, daughter of Daniel and Ruth Davis. d.1818
1. Benjamin DAVIS
2. Betsy DAVIS, m.Plilo Miles
Jacobus, " Davis Family of Derby "
Lineage of Abigail Harger
10. Jabez HARGER, d. 1678 at Derby.
m1. Margaret Tomlinson, d.1698, Mar.17 at Derby, daughter of Henry and Alice Tomlinson.
1. Anna HARGER, b. 1668 at Stratford, Conn. m. John Chatfield, b.1661
2. Abigail HARGER (1672-1706)
9* Abigail HARGER, b.1672, Mar.02 at Stratford, Conn.;
- m1. John Tibbals of Derby. – m2. 1706 John DAVIS Sr.
( For children see John Davis Sr. )
Chapter 2
Derby and Environs
Derby and Ansonia
JOHN DAVIS JR.
Abigail Harger, John Davis Sr.'s third wife, introduced her new step-son, John Davis Jr., to her sixteen year old niece, Sarah Chatfield, daughter of Abigail's older sister, Anna Chatfield and John Chatfield.
On July 15, 1706, John Davis Jr. was married to Sarah. At the time, John, Jr.'s. youngest step brother Jabez, was only three years old; John Sr.'s first grandchild would be born before his last child.
The wedding ceremony was conducted by Major Ebenezer Johnson, the head of the "plantation" of Derby Township ( Vital Records v.2, p.24). They were not married by the minister.
John Jr. and Sarah Chatfield probably lived north on Chestnut Tree Hill, in Oxford. In 1868 Four families with the last name of "Davis" lived on Chestnut Hill Road. Chestnut Hill Road is located in 1987 in the eastern part of Oxford township.
John Jr. and Sarah's children were Joseph, born June 30, 1708; Dan, born January 17, 1710, and Mindwell, born February 4, 1712. Joseph may have been named for Sgt. Hawkins. Derby was probably getting too many people named "John" for Sarah to name her son after her father and husband. The record of the birth of the second son was: "Daves, Dan: s. John + Sarah, b. Jan.10, 1709/10", ( Vital Records, v.2, 160). Abigail was then born in 1713, Rachael in 1716, and Betty in 1719. Abigail was named for her father's mother. Her birth record was "Davis, Abigail, d. John & Sarah, b. Nov.20, 1713/4" ( Vital Records, v.LR.3, p.2.).
Sarah and her next child both died on January 20, 1721. The children were young when their mother died: Joseph was 13, Dan 11, Mindwell 9, Abigail 8, Rachael 5, and Betty 2. John Jr. aged 46, must have had help looking after these children—possibly from his step-mother, his older sister, or an Indian servant. His step-mother and sister were busy raising his half siblings.
John Davis Jr. married the widow of John Sturdevant, named Elizabeth, who had been living with her husband in Rigefield, Conn. John Davis agreed to raise her children in a probate court paper of 1723.
Jacobus, "Davis Family of Derby"
Barbour Collection, Derby Vital Records
LIVELIHOOD
John Jr.'s business was raising sheep for wool, spinning it into yarn, and woodworking. He was busy with shearing sheep; washing, carding and spinning wool; as well as growing, harvesting, retting and combing flax and then spinning it into thread and weaving linen cloth.
Inventory of John Davis Jr.
Wiggington, "From Raising Sheep to Weaving Cloth"
CIVIC INVOLVEMENT
About 1708 "... a list of the names of the freemen in Derby viz; they that have taken the freeman's oath: ..." includes "John daves" within 32 men (Lichfield, 9; Town Records, 425). This is probably "Junior" being accepted into the town meeting. The Free Man's Charge required roughly the following charges: To not plot against, nor consent to any hurt against the civil government here established. To report any one so doing. To do honour to the magistrates and obey them. To give vote or suffrage in any election which concerns the "common wealth" as one's conscience dictates, for the best good of same.
The Second Meeting House in Derby; erected in 1721
The "Freemen" had been electing their own government, or "General Court", since 1660. Some of their laws were against smoking in public and against being a witch.
In the summer of 1721, John Davis was Constable of Derby. A record describes that he held a black ram with marked ears of unknown owner for a fine of eight shillings ( Town Records v.3, p.7).
Lichfield and Hoyt, History of the Town of Oxford,
Phillips, Town Records of Derby
LAND ACQUISITION
On April 4, 1705, John Davis Sr. bought two "acores of land lying in Derby on both sides beaver brook below the Scraping hole plaine" ( Town Records , 373) from Jabiz Harger, "of Stratford of Fairfield County", recorded May 19, 1705, as witnessed by John Tibbals and Ebenezer Johnson, "Justis". John Davis Jr. bought his first piece of land from his step-mother's relative: John Davis Sr.'s third wife was Abigail Harger, born in Stratford.
The land was measured as "South end 16 rods wide". Beaver Brook flows southwest into the Naugatuck River. It is the east border of the town of Ansonia. In 1720, John Jr. sold 5 acres of this land to the town. His son Dan Davis left a piece of this land for his own son Ethel in his will in 1789.
John Jr. and Sarah probably received some land from their fathers on the occasion of their marriage in 1706.
A month after the birth of his second child, John Jr. addressed the Derby town meeting with a land petition:
"Greeting: Gentelmen by necessity am forst to put forth my petition to your selves requesting this favour of all to whom it dus conserne yt you will be pleas to sett your Hands to this my small request, for four acers and A half of Land lying upon White mayre's hill: I having not land to Improve: hope you will not denie this my request: gentelmen as yourselves know I have lived these severall years in this sd Town and have not had one foot of Land of yr townbut what I have bought hopeing Gentlemen yt upon these Considerations: you will be pleas to sett your hands to this my small petition that is Above mentioned signifieing me the sd John Davis to be true proprietor of ye sd lands above mentioned —pray sor, denie not this request to yor frind & servant
John Davis. Feb.2, 1710.
"Fourty names were signed and the deed was recorded" (Orcutt, 111).
"the town have granted John daves jun that peace of land that he petisioned for & have chose Joseph hull & Ebenezer harger to lay it out" (Town Records , 440).
"The half of ten Acres of land at White Mares hill …" was still in his possession when John Jr. died in 1767 ( Inventory of John Davis Jr. ) and his son Dan owned "one Eight acre Lot on White mares hill – 20 pounds" at Dan's death in 1789. This location is said to be "...evidently the rounded hilltop", which can be found on the 1882 map of Derby. (Jacobus).
In 1711 a committee was formed to lay out the lots on the Quaker's Farm Purchase. "The last deed being given in 1711" by the Paugaset Indians to the Derby township, was either the Quaker's Farm or the North purchase. John Davis Sr. had died before he could receive his share in these lands, so according to the item in his inventory: "the Right of Land in the Last Indian Purchase — 1 pound", John Sr. and his brother Samuel may have received their father's division after it was awarded to their estate.
"The list of estates in Derby in 1718, by authority of the town" includes "John Davis = 54" (Orcutt, 129). This was an evaluation of their rating or Real Estate assesment in pounds for taxes.
On September 20, 1720, John Davis sold land to the town of Derby. It was
"5 & 1/4 acres on the west side of Beaver Brook Meadow. The piece was 40 rods long, and 22 rods wide on the north and south ends" ( Town Records , v.3, 287).
Some more of the land in the Quaker's Farm purchase from the natives, was distributed in the winter of 1727-28. A list of sixty-three property owner's names, shows their assessment, and their lot number (Lichfield, 147). John Davis had lot no.34, and was assessed 70 Pounds/4s. Samuel and George Davis, John's brothers, are not listed, as they probably were not living in Derby township. John Davis Jr.'s son Dan would not be on the list till another three years as he was only age 18.
Atlas of New Haven County
Jacobus, "Davis Family of Derby"
Karlsen, The Devil in the Shape of a Woman
Lichfield and Hoyt, History of the Town of Oxford
Orcutt and Beardsley, History of the Old Town of Derby
Phillips, Town Records of Derby,
DEATH
John Davis Jr. died in 1767. He might have been buried at his former home in another town, or in either the Congregationalist or the Episcopal church graveyards in Derby. Both burial-grounds existed in 1990 in the old town, but his headstone has not found; nor is it listed (Larsen, Hale).
The real estate included the house lot, land at Bryant's Plain, sequestered land north of town, and land at: White Mares Hill, Beaver Brook, Bear Hills, Tobeys Rocks, and Moose Hill.
Distribution of the Estate of John Davis Jr.
Jacobus, "Davis Family of Derby".
Kemp, Connecticut Researcher's Handbook
Larsen, "Search of Christ's Church Cemetery"
Descendants of John Davis Jr.
8. John DAVIS Jr. b. ca. 1675, d. spring of 1767. Lived at Chestnut Tree Hill, Oxford, Conn.
m1. 1706, Jul.15: Sarah CHATFIELD, b. 1686, Dec. 5, d. 1721, Jan. 20.
1. Joseph DAVIS b. 1708 d. 1784
2. * Dan DAVIS, b. 1710, Jan.17. d. 1789, Derby. m. Ruth WOOSTER
3. Mindwell DAVIS, b. 1712, Feb. 4, d. 1713, Jan. 5
4. Abigail DAVIS, b. 1713, Nov. 20
5. Rachael DAVIS, b. 1716, Jul. 5, m. Captain Francis Hawley
6. Betty DAVIS, b. 1719, Oct. 11, m. Ebenezer Keney
m2. Elizabeth, widow of: John Sturdevant, of Norwalk, Conn.
7. Joseph Davis, b.1708, Jun.30, Derby – d.1784, Captain in Colonial Militia, settled in Oxford, Conn.
m1.1734,Apr.25: Mary Wheeler, of Stratford, b. 1744, May 30. d. Jan 18, 1764, 8 children.
1. Sarah DAVIS, 1735, Nov. 26, m. Isaac Nichols
2. Abigail DAVIS, 1738, Apr.12, m. Abel Gunn
3. Mary DAVIS, 1740, b. Oct.15, m. Arnold
4. Joseph DAVIS, b. 1743, Jul.10.
5. Hannah DAVIS, 1744, m. Richard Welton
6. John DAVIS, 1748, Feb.2 (died young)
7. Rachael DAVIS, 1752, Jul. 4, m.John Church
8. John DAVIS, bp.1755, Sep.28, m. Mehitable Thomas
m2. 1765, Jan.30: Mrs. Amy Foote, of Derby, Conn.
7.* Dan Davis, b. 1710, Jan.17, d. 1789, Mar.20, Derby. Weaver, spinner and farmer at Derby.
m. 1738, Dec. 6: Ruth WOOSTER, b. 1722, Mar.30, d. 1794. ( See Chapter 3 ).
7. Betty Davis, b. 1719, Oct.11, d. 1784, Nov.,
m. 1738, Dec.07: Ebenezer KEENEY, b. 1718, d. 1795, Jan.10, of Milford, Conn. Settled at Derby Narrows, made scythes and hoes.
1. Lucy KEENEY, b. 1739, Dec.03 (died young)
2. Comfort KEENEY, b. 1741, Oct.11, m. 1758, Nov.23: Judson Benton Sr.
3. Eunice KEENEY, b. 1743, Aug.31
4. Betty KEENEY, b. 1745, Sep.20, m.1764, Feb.15: Sheldon Clark
5. Sarah KEENEY, b. 1748, Oct.03
6. Ebenezer KEENEY, b. 1750, Oct.24. d. 1777, May
7. Abigail KEENEY, b. 1753, Feb.11. d. 1769, Oct. 4
8. Ithiel KEENEY, b. 1755, Mar.17
9. William KEENEY, b. 1757, Jul.16
10. Medad KEENEY, b. 1759, May. 31
11. Lucy KEENEY, b. 1761, Sep. 30
6. Joseph DAVIS, b. 1743, Jul.10. ( for more contact: Deborah Ugel, e-mail= [email protected])
6. John Davis, b. 1755, Sep.28. d. 1848, Nov.27, Colonel, Oxford, Conn., m.1782, Apr.10: Mehitable Thomas, d. 1852, Dec.27, daughter of Reuben Thomas of New Haven.
1. Sarah DAVIS, b. 1783, Mar.31, d. 1808, Dec. 6
2. Anson DAVIS, b. 1785, Sep. 5
3. Truman DAVIS, b. 1787, Mar.13
4. John DAVIS, b. 1788, Sep. 8
5. Lucretia DAVIS, b. 1790, Sep.22
6. Mary DAVIS, b. 1792, May.28
7. Chary DAVIS, b. 1794, Feb. 8
8. Nabby DAVIS, b. 1795, Dec.21, m. Harvey Osborn, of Oxford
8. Nancy DAVIS, b. ?1828, Aug.25, m. Cyrus Humphrey
9. Joseph Wheeler DAVIS, b. 1798, Aug.13
10. Sheldon DAVIS, b. 1800, Sep. 3, d. 1813, May 30
11. Lewis DAVIS, b. 1803, Jan. 26
12. Burritt DAVIS, b. 1806, Jul. 12
13. Julia Maria DAVIS, b. 1810, Jul. 4, m. Ebenezer Riggs, of Oxford
5. Anson Davis, 1785, Sep. 5- , m. Sally Prudent, of Milford, Conn. Address: Davis Road, Oxford: "lived at top of Great Hill, having bought the old Tomlinson homestead"
1. Sheldon Davis, 1813, Jan. 1-, m.Marietta Church
2. Sarah Ann Davis, 1815, Mar.10-, m.Luman Chapman
3. Anson Riley Davis, 1813, Mar.30-, m.Mary N. Alling
4. Marcus Davis, 1820, Oct. 9-
5. Delia Maria Davis, 1822, Oct.25-, m. John F. Coxhead
6. Harpin Davis, 1825, Feb.24-, m. Mary Chatfield
7. Homer Davis, 1827, Oct.15-, to Nevada
8. Samuel Pruden Davis, 1831, Sep. 1-
9. Martha Ellen Davis, 1834, Jul.11-, principal of St.Catherine's Hall, Augusta, Maine
10. Victoria Sophia Davis, 1837, Sep.21-, m. John F. Coxhead
5. Truman Davis, Captain, 1787, Mar.13-
m1. 1808, Dec.6: Mary Allen, -1832, Feb.13, of Woodbridge
1. Emily Davis, 1810,Aug.19-, m. Adams
2. David Allen Davis, 1812, Jul.29-
3. Clark Davis,1815,Mar.31-, m. Toffey
4. Marietta Davis, 1817,Aug.22-,
m1. Morgan;
m2.Statia Ball, – 1854,Apr.24, of Bethany;
m3. Sophia Mallory, of Milford
(For more on Truman Davis, see: Orcutt, 717-)
5. John Davis Jr., 1788,Sep.08-, m1. Riggs,
1. John Davis, m. Jeanette Wheeler
2. Isaac B Davis., m. Ann Tucker, to Hartford
5. Joseph Wheeler Davis, 1798,Aug.13- , m. Henrietta Newton, of Woodbridge
1. Jonah N., m. Bassett
5. Lewis Davis, 1803,Jan.26- ,
1. Dr. Henry Davis., m. Beecher of Bethlehem, lived in Wallingford
5. Burritt Davis, 1806,Jul.12-, m. Osborn, daughter of Hiram OSBORN Jay, m.Anna Fairchild
1. Sarah, m.Frederic Cable. (More in Orcutt, 717-)
4. Marcus Davis, 1820,Oct. 9-, m.Sarah M. Green,
1. Geo.T. Davis, New Rochelle, N.Y. Author of Davis Genealogy, 1910
Lineage of Sarah Chatfield
9. John CHATFIELD, b.Guilford,Conn.166, Apr.08, d. Derby, 1748. Founder of Derby. m. Anna HARGER
1. Sarah CHATFIELD, b.5, Dec. 1686, d. 20 Jun. 1721
8* Sarah CHATFIELD, b.Stratfield 1686,Dec. 5, d. Derby, 1721,Jun.20 m.1706, Jul.15, m. John DAVIS Jr.
(For children see John Davis Jr. )
Jacobus, New England Historical & Genealogical Register, v.78, 259, and v.70, 55 and 125
Born 1672 Mar 2 Stratford, Ct
Died Derby, CT
Father Jabez Harger
Mother Margaret Tomlinson Harger Tibbals
Marriage
John Davis Sr. 1648-1712
Children 5
1. Mary Davis
Born 1693 Aug 2
Died
Married
Timothy Taylor
2. Nathaniel Davis
Born 1698 Feb 26
Died
Married
Eunice
3. Jabez Davis named for his mother's father (grandfather) Jabez Harger
Born 1703 Jul 24 Derby
Died
Married
Elizabeth Taylor
4. Elizabeth Davis
Born 1707 Jul 21
5. Abigail Davis named for her mother Abigail Harger
Born 1709 Apr 28
NOTE Abigail's sister Anna Harger b 1668 married John Chatfield.
NOTE John Tibbal was their step-father
"John Davis" was the name of two other men in the county of New Haven. One John Davis was the cooper's son who graduated from Harvard, taught at grammar school, and was lost at sea. Another John Davis was a carpenter on Main Street, who married and moved to Southold, Long Island. A fourth "John Davis Esq." has a gravestone in the "Colonial Cemetery" at 352 Derby Ave.
To delineate John Davis of this genealogy from the other two John Davises from England, "the Welshman" was added to his name in the records (Campbell, 430).
John Davis had four children with Abigail: Sarah, John Jr, Samuel, and George. Sarah and John Jr. were probably born before the Davises had come to Derby. Abigail got very sick and died after 10 years in Derby.
John married Mary Smith, the widow of the town recorder, Abel Gunn. The marriage was transcribed from the town book as "Davis, John m. Mrs. Mary Gunn, May 12, 1691." ( Town Records , 291; Vital Records V.2 25). She died soon after. John Davis's great-granddaughter Abigail Davis, later married an Abel Gunn of Waterbury in a ceremony conducted by Rev. Richard Mansfield of the Episcopal church on Dec.2,1756 ( Vital Records V.LR6, p.8). The second, A.Gunn, may have been a son, or grandson of the first.
John then married a third time. His third wife, Abigail Harger, was the step-daughter of John Tibbals. Abigail's father, Jabez Harger had moved to Derby from Stratford, and had died in Derby. Abigail's mother, Margaret (Tomlinson)—-now Widow Harger-—married John Tibbals.
John Davis Sr. and his third wife, Abigail, had five children: Mary in 1693, Nathaniel in 1698, Jabez in 1703, Elizabeth in 1707 and Abigail in 1709. Most of these children were named after known previous relatives: Mary for her mother's mother, Mary Tomlinson; Jabez for his mother's father, Jabez Harger; and Abigail, for her mother Abigail Harger.
Barbour Collection, Derby Vital Records.
Phillips, Town Records of Derby.
Will of John Davis Sr.
LIVELIHOOD
The livelihood of John Sr. and his neighbours was obtained through agriculture. Grown in the fields were hops for bitter flavour in malt liquor, hemp for making rope, and Indian corn which was ground at the mill for meal. Flax was grown on the meadow land, cut, dried, cured in Beaver Brook, combed with his "hackil", and spun on his "littell wheall" into linen thread. Two types of wheels were used for twisting fibers into thread. Wool, sheared from sheep purchased from neighbours, was washed, combed into fibers, and spun on his "two great wheals" into yarn, and sold for weaving.
The "great" wheel was also known as the wool wheel or "the walking wheel" (Leadbeater). The wheel was turned by hand, in one direction, causing the wool to twist as one operator walked backwards, drawing out the carded wool. The wheel was then stopped, and turned in the reverse direction, to roll up the length of the twisted yarn onto the spindle.
John Sr. had eight swine when he died; swine were kept for pork, ham, bacon and lard: Poultry were kept for eggs, oxen for plowing, and horses for getting around.
As well, everyone had a cow for milk and cheese, "stear" for beef. Tallow was used to make candles. Cattle were raised on the common pasture with ears notched to indicate their owners. Derby township had a lot of different families sharing common pastures, so families cut pieces out of the ears of cattle for identification, according to a pattern which was recorded. John Sr. marked his cattle ear with one "half tennant" under the right and a "half tennant" on the upper side of the left ear (*Town Records*, 252).
It is unknown whether John Sr. owned any slaves or servants. The 1650 Code of Connecticut adapted the code of Massachusetts:
"There shall never be any bond slavery, villanage or captivity among us, unless it be lawful captives taken in just ward, and such strangers as willingly sell themselves or are sold to us" (Orcutt).
Indians were enslaved when captured in battle, and sold for profit during the French and Indian War.
Indians were also servants to the early settlers. For instance, in 1722, Ebenezer Johnson, the head of the settlement, purchased an Indian slave girl named "Dinah" in Stratford for sixty pounds. She was about 26 years old, and had been taken at age seven with other captives around Saybrook in retaliation for an attack by the Indian leader King Philip. Johnson died six years later, and his wife gave Dinah to her son Timothy.
In 1714 George I from Luneburg, Germany (near Hamburg) was crowned the King of Great Britain. The next year a new law was passed prohibiting the importation to Britain of Indian slaves.
The community's first meetinghouse, 1681 (Derby Historical Society; in Hogan, The Lower Naugatuck Valley).
Leadbeater, "Spinning and Spinning Wheels".
Hogan, The Lower Naugatuck Valley.
Orcutt and Beardsley, History of the Old Town of Derby.
Will of John Davis Sr.
Lowrey, "Report on Forebears of Ithiel Davis"
CIVIC INVOLVEMENT
In 1683 London asked Massachusetts to submit its charter to the king for revision. When they refused, the king dissolved the colonial charter. Massachussets became a Royal Colony in 1684; all other colonial charters in New England were dissolved as well.
Restrictions against New England's independence were applied. The king installed his own government under Sir Edmund Andros. Andros brought an Anglican minister that took over a Congregational church building. Some towns refused to pay their taxes, protesting "no taxes without representation". Towns were restricted to one town meeting per year, and heavy jail sentences were applied for disobedience.
John Davis Sr. first appears in the town records in Derby when, along with Abel Gunn, he witnessed a deed to Samuel Bowers on December 2, 1690 ( Town Records , 93). The seller may have been the son of the deceased parson. The next year John was elected a "townsman".
It would have been expected that John dress up for the township meetings. He would have worn his linen shirt with "neck cloth" and "pear of stocking", his "lether briches" and "shews", his black broad cloath vest, and "broad cloath coat". On his head he would have worn a "perywig" covered by a hat (Will).
After saddling the horse, he rode to the meeting. He passed Indians that came to town to trade furs for pots, axes, cloth, etc. He stopped at a neighbours and ordered some oak barrels for making cider. At the town meeting-house he hung up his coat and hat, and put on his "close stoll" which is a ceremonial neck scarf of office.
The meeting house was at Squabble Hole in 1682. Meetings were held twice on Sundays, while on Saturdays, the militia trained on the town green. At meetings, men and women sat on opposite sides of the room, both facing the pulpit (Lichfield).
On December 2, 1690, John Davis and his future wife, Mary Gunn, were witnesses to a deed where Samuel Bowers sold two acres of swamp known as "David's meadow", located South East of Ansonia within Derby township, to George Bayman ( Town Records, 93). The Bowers and Davis families were friends and neighbours 200 years later at Brier Island (see chapter 6 ).
The Town chose Mr. Davis and two others to be "listers": "August 28, 1696 at a lawful town meeting at derby the town have chosen ensign riggs mr davis John pringle listers for the year ensuing" ( Town Records, 179). Listers kept records of inhabitants, and may have collected money. This demonstrates that John Davis could read and write.
John Davis Sr. is also listed among 42 men at a town meeting in 1696 who agreed to give a home lot to a physician (Orcutt).
The town selected John Davis to collect the salary for the Parson from its inhabitants in 1697, Dec.29. This would have been Reverend John James. Later, in 1702, Dec.14, John Davis Sr. was appointed to rate the Parson's salary: "Mr. John Davies senior & Saml Bowrs to make up ye Ministers rate & deliver it to ye Collectors" ( Town Records, 219). As a "Townsman", John Davis Sr. may also have been involved in the construction of the first parsonage.
On December 29, 1697, John Davis Sr.'s son Samuel and two others were elected as "fence viewers" ( Town Records, 188). Fence viewers settled property line disputes.
In 1707 the town meeting had difficulty deciding where its members would sit. Each year they would rearrange the seating plan. The head of each estate got a seat in a place of status, proportional to the worth of his estate in the tax list. Mr. John Davis sat in the audience, in the third row from the front, facing the pulpit; while his step father-in-law (John Tibbals) sat in front, beside the pulpit, facing the body of the meeting. On a single seat in front of Tibbals' bench, next to the pulpit, sat Major Ebenezer Johnson, who had purchased land from the Indians, and performed marriages.
Orcutt and Beardsley, History of the Old Town of Derby
Lichfield and Hoyt, History of the Town of Oxford,
Phillips, Town Records of Derby
Will of John Davis Sr.
LAND ACQUISITION
In 1703 John Davis owned 37 acres of land located on the West side of the Nagatuck river. (An acre of land is about 70×70 yards, or about the size of a short wide football field.) It extended between two highways, one running along the west side of the Naugatuck, and measured thirty rods along the highway. To the north was a 31 acre lot owned by George Beamons and to the south was a 70 acre lot owned by Isaac Nichols. ( Town Records, 285, 187).
His first land appears to have been acquired through his marriage to the widow Gunn. It was listed on October 12, 1696 in the Derby Town Record book that
"at a lawful town meeting at derby the town hav granted to john and joseph hulls the verbage of the side hil against trangam with in the town fenc
further at the sam tim the town have granted to mr davis twelve acres of land upon the upper end of Sentinul hill prety ny that was granted to weddow gun…
further they have agreed that the fenc shal bee kept up about the medow and that the field shall be cleared and craturs be kep out a the last of november next" ( Town Records, 182).
John Sr. may have become owner of the land of Widow Gunn, his wife and neighbour, as his inventory had 27 acres on Sentinel Hill.
On "Janewary 16 1699" John Sr. requested further land to build a barn. The record on page 42 reads:
"to the inhabitance of Derby the Request of John Davis Senior to you is that you would be Pleased to give him halfe a rood of land neare his hous being on the Est side of the high ways that gos along the hill
Map of Sentinel Hill. "the town have granted to mr davis twelve acres of land upon the upper end of Sentinel hill"
"... one towards mistris bowerses & the other to the meeting house the Reason of my request is becaus I have no convenant place to set my barne on the hill is soe rissing every wher in my hom lot.
"...if you please soe to doe you wil much oblige your Friend John Davis Senior. I desir to leave a sufisent high way this I hope be noe damag to the town"
The above was recorded again on February 25, 1703 with different spelling:
"To ye Inhabitants off Derb ye Request off Jno: Davies Senior To you is That yu would be Pleased to give him halfe a rood off land neare his hous being on ye East side off ye highway yt goes along ye hill on toward Mr. Bowrs & ye other towards ye meetinghouse. The Reason off my re-quest is because I have no convenient place to set my Barne on. ye hill is so rising everywhere in my home lot … ... I desire to leave sufficient highwayes … this land is att ye end off Jno Tybals his orchard." ( Town Record, 102).
On February 25, 1703, the land requested four years earlier was officially granted, after John Sr. had already built a barn on the land. On Page 102 it states that
"The Record off ye Town grant off a piece of land to mr Jno: Davies senior wron his Barn stands:
"The land granted to Jno: Davies Senior by ye Town in gen all is bounded
South East on Jno: Tibbals his land,
North East on ye Towns land,
south west on ye highway &
North west on ye high way "This land is measured
5 Rod next to Jno: Tibals his land south East
5 Rod North West on ye highway &
North East on ye Towns land 4 Rod &
south west on ye high way 4 Rod
"Layd out by us Ebenezer Johnson Jno: Tybbals
Entered ffebr 25 1702/3 pr me Jno: James Town Clerke"
( Town Records, 179).
Old bridge, Division Street, between Ansonia and West Derby. ( Ely, p.74. )
John Sr. earned a share in lands purchased from the Indians. Both John Davis Sr. and his son John Jr. are listed with fifty-two men on March 12, 1702 as participants in drawing lots for land.
After pieces of land had been purchased from the Naugatuck Indians, it was divided into lots and distributed to the inhabitants of the township. The town meeting decided the sequence for locating the lots. Lot #1 was measured starting in the north corner of the parcel of land. Lot #2 was measured to the west of lot #1, and continue west until Great Mountain. The participants drew a number from a container, which was the sequence for their piece of land.
John Davis Sr. drew number 4, meaning his land would be the fourth lot measured. The pieces of land were measured in numerical sequence, but were not equal in size. The size depended on the status or present worth of the resident. Thus John Jr.'s lot no.4 may have been larger than lots #3 & 5 on each side. Also, the surveyors were instructed to be fair in respect to the quality of the land: "where it wanted in quality it was to be made up in quantity."
Phillips, Town Records of Derby
ILLNESS
In June of 1700 John Davis Sr. became "very sick and weak in body" and made a will. He named his wife Abigail, his sons John and Samuel, his daughter Sarah, his under-age son George, and his youngest children Mary and Nathaniel. The will was witnessed by Jobamah Gunn and John Riske (Riggs?).
Child Named Pounds
1. Sarah 20 and biggest bed, two trunks marked "s. s."
2. John 5 already had received some (money?)
3. Samuel 5
4. George 20 when he becomes of age (after June 1700?)
5. Mary 5
6. Nathaniel 5
In his will, John made provisions for the continuance of debt payment from his first wife's brother,
"Uncle Cook", to his two oldest sons: "Unto my son John Daviss and to my son Samel Daviss I give five pounds to Each of them there being a bill for fifty pounds wch I Secured for them in ye hands of their Uncle Cook part of which John hath already Received and at my decease ye bill shall by my Executrix be delivered unto them my said sons John and Samel Daviss and the ten pounds wch I have made use of, of that money Shall by my Executrix be made Good unto them. besides the five pounds to each of them wch shall be paid to them out of my Estate in Derby."
When the will was written in 1700 Uncle Cook may possibly have still been paying for the former home of his deceased sister's husband. He was paying an amount each year to John Sr. but also had made some payment to John, Jr. In his will John Sr. asked his wife to obtain the balance due on the "bill" after he died and give it to his children.
John Sr. recovered, however, from being sick to have three more children and lived twelve more years. John may have been serviced by the new doctor, Josiah Baldwin.
Will of John Davis Sr.
DEATH
John Davis, "seinyear" died in the spring of 1712, aged circa 65. His death occurred sometime before September 17, 1712, when his will was probated, and sometime after a recording of his cattle earmarks on April 29, 1712. He was survived by his third wife and their five children, along with four children by his first wife, for a total of nine children. There were three daughters aged 3, 5, 19, and 39; and four sons aged 9, 14, 31, 33, & 37.
At that time "most burials were without any religious service". His body may have been taken to the township burying grounds in a wooden box. Transport was difficult in the early days without roads or wagons. One method described was to use two horses, one behind the other, with a pole on each side of them. Short boards were attached across the long poles to support the coffin.
John Davis Sr. may have been buried in the Congregationalist church graveyard which was just across the street from his home lot, but the location is unknown. His widow may alternatively have had him buried on his home lot at the top of a hill, within sight of his house near Bladen's Brook. If a stone was used to mark his burial place, it was not in a yard with others, or it would have been recorded in a survey of two thousand graveyards in Connecticut in 1930 by Hale.
His estate was inventoried at 268 Pounds: 18 shillings. This total comprised Real Estate valued at 109:02 Pounds and Personal Estate of 159:16 Pounds .
As the deceased had requested in his will of June 18, 1700, Abigail (Tibbals) Davis, widow, was appointed the "Executrix" of her husband's will on September 17, 1712, with "overseers" his step father-in-law John Tibbals and Ensign Samuel Riggs. The inventory made on 1712, Sept. 30 was signed by Appraysors: Joseph J. and John Riggs, and noted "Abigail Daviss, Sworne in Court, Test Jos/h. Whiting, Clerk". The bottom line "Sum" value had been crossed out, probably due to incorrect addition.
The inventory of Sept. 30 was copied over again with proper spelling and addition on October 3, 1712, when it was recorded in Court at Milford. It was preceded by two testimonies that tie it to the will. Saml Eells "one of the assistants of her Majesties Colony of Connecticut" stated that he had heard Jobamah Gunn state that he had seen John Davis declare in writing the instrument on the other side to be his last Will and testament. Josh Whiting, Court Clerk, stated that John H_o_s_k of Milford had sworn in Court that he had seen John Davis of Derby publish his last will and he was of sound mind at the doing and that he saw Jobamah Gunn sign as a witness.
John Davis Sr.'s will, written twelve years earlier, had said that 60 pounds were to go to the children; however, no money was listed in the inventory, although everything had been given a monetary value. It is possible that the 60 Pounds were to come mostly from his first wife's brother "Uncle Cook".
In the spring of 1712, John and his brother Samuel decided that their sister Sarah would stay in the old Davis home with her brother George, and their father's third wife, Abigail (Harger) Davis would raise her five children in Derby.
Barbour Collection, Derby Vital Records
Campbell, S. and B. Seymour, Past and Present
Davis, Genealogy of the Descendants of Col. John Davis of Oxford, Conn.
Hale, Gravestones of Two Thousand Cemeteries in Connecticut
Inventory of John Davis Sr.
Jacobus, "Davis Family of Derby"
Lichfield and Hoyt, History of the Town of Oxford,
Phillips, Town Records of Derby
Rockey, History of New Haven County
300th Anniversary Booklet of Derby
Descendants of John Davis, Sr.
9* John DAVIS, Sr. b. ca. 1648; d. 1712 Derby (New Haven County, Conn.) Farmer, town council, candlemaker, linen and wool spinner, cider maker. Purchased land ca. 1695 in Derby township (now Seymour).
m1: Abigail (Cook ?), d. ca. 1690
1. Sarah DAVIS
2. * John DAVIS Jr.; b. ca. 1675. m. 1706 Sarah CHATFIELD
3. Samuel DAVIS, b. ca. 1679: m. Mercy Bennet, of Derby
4. George DAVIS, b. ca. 1681
m2. May 12, 1691: Mrs. Mary ( Smith ) Gun, widow of Abel Gunn. [Phillips, Derby Records, p.291 (p.25) ].
m3. Abigail Harger, of Derby, b.1672 at Stratfordshire
5. Mary DAVIS, 1693, Aug. 2, m. Timothy Taylor, of Danbury, Conn
6. Nathaniel DAVIS, 1699, Feb. 26; m. Eunice; ch: twins Joseph and Dan b. 1746
7. Jabez DAVIS, b. 1703, Jul.24, m. Elizabeth Taylor.
8. Elizabeth DAVIS, b. 1707, July 21
9. Abigail DAVIS, b. 1709, Apr.28
8* John DAVIS Jr. b. ca. 1675, d. spring of 1767. Lived at Chestnut Tree Hill, Oxford, Conn.
m1. 1706, Jul.15: Sarah CHATFIELD, b. 1686, Dec. 5, d. 1721, Jan.20. ( See Chapter 2 )
8. Samuel Davis, b. ca. 1679, d.1748, spring at Stratford
m1. 1708, Jun. at Stratford: Mercy Bennet, of Derby, Conn. b. ca. 1688
1. Elias DAVIS b. 1708, Jan.17, m. Abigail Tomlinson b. 1723, Jul.18
2. John DAVIS, m. Esther
3. Enoch DAVIS
4. Nathan DAVIS
5. Samuel DAVIS
6. Betty/Elizabeth DAVIS, m. Thomas Leavenworth
7. Hannah DAVIS, m1. John Hawley, m2. Obadiah Richards
8. Sarah DAVIS, m. 1737, Jul.06: Zachariah Hawkins
8. Jabez Davis, 1703, Jul.24, Derby, Settled at Danbury, Conn.
m. Elizabeth Taylor, daughter of Thomas Taylor.
ch= 3 sons & 3 daughters. son = Eliakim Davis, ancestor of Theron Davis, Orville,WA. (2007,Apr.; [email protected])
7. Elias Davis, b. 1708, Jan.17, m. Abigail Tomlinson, 1723, Jul. 18, daughter of John Tomlinson and Elizabeth Wooster
7. Nathan Davis, m. Eunice, daughter of Samuel and Hannah Tomlinson. Resided on Bungay and at the Neck.
1. Rachel DAVIS, b. 1738, Apr. m. Adam Vose
2. Eunice DAVIS, b. 1740, Jun.20, m. Azariah Prichard
3. Benjamin DAVIS, b. 1743, Mar. 1
4. Daniel DAVIS, b. 1746, Mar.20, m.Susanna Wooster
5. Joseph DAVIS. m. Amy Foote
6. Sarah DAVIS, b. 1756, Oct.6
6. Benjamin Davis, b.1743, Mar. 1- d.1817, Nov. Benjamin was at the meeting to start Trinity Church in 1797.
m1. Betty Tomlinson, daughter of Joseph and Sarah Tomlinson. b.1744, Mar.23-1775,Apr. 5
m2. Naomi DAVIS, daughter of Daniel and Ruth Davis. d.1818
1. Benjamin DAVIS
2. Betsy DAVIS, m.Plilo Miles
Jacobus, " Davis Family of Derby "
Lineage of Abigail Harger
10. Jabez HARGER, d. 1678 at Derby.
m1. Margaret Tomlinson, d.1698, Mar.17 at Derby, daughter of Henry and Alice Tomlinson.
1. Anna HARGER, b. 1668 at Stratford, Conn. m. John Chatfield, b.1661
2. Abigail HARGER (1672-1706)
9* Abigail HARGER, b.1672, Mar.02 at Stratford, Conn.;
- m1. John Tibbals of Derby. – m2. 1706 John DAVIS Sr.
( For children see John Davis Sr. )
Chapter 2
Derby and Environs
Derby and Ansonia
JOHN DAVIS JR.
Abigail Harger, John Davis Sr.'s third wife, introduced her new step-son, John Davis Jr., to her sixteen year old niece, Sarah Chatfield, daughter of Abigail's older sister, Anna Chatfield and John Chatfield.
On July 15, 1706, John Davis Jr. was married to Sarah. At the time, John, Jr.'s. youngest step brother Jabez, was only three years old; John Sr.'s first grandchild would be born before his last child.
The wedding ceremony was conducted by Major Ebenezer Johnson, the head of the "plantation" of Derby Township ( Vital Records v.2, p.24). They were not married by the minister.
John Jr. and Sarah Chatfield probably lived north on Chestnut Tree Hill, in Oxford. In 1868 Four families with the last name of "Davis" lived on Chestnut Hill Road. Chestnut Hill Road is located in 1987 in the eastern part of Oxford township.
John Jr. and Sarah's children were Joseph, born June 30, 1708; Dan, born January 17, 1710, and Mindwell, born February 4, 1712. Joseph may have been named for Sgt. Hawkins. Derby was probably getting too many people named "John" for Sarah to name her son after her father and husband. The record of the birth of the second son was: "Daves, Dan: s. John + Sarah, b. Jan.10, 1709/10", ( Vital Records, v.2, 160). Abigail was then born in 1713, Rachael in 1716, and Betty in 1719. Abigail was named for her father's mother. Her birth record was "Davis, Abigail, d. John & Sarah, b. Nov.20, 1713/4" ( Vital Records, v.LR.3, p.2.).
Sarah and her next child both died on January 20, 1721. The children were young when their mother died: Joseph was 13, Dan 11, Mindwell 9, Abigail 8, Rachael 5, and Betty 2. John Jr. aged 46, must have had help looking after these children—possibly from his step-mother, his older sister, or an Indian servant. His step-mother and sister were busy raising his half siblings.
John Davis Jr. married the widow of John Sturdevant, named Elizabeth, who had been living with her husband in Rigefield, Conn. John Davis agreed to raise her children in a probate court paper of 1723.
Jacobus, "Davis Family of Derby"
Barbour Collection, Derby Vital Records
LIVELIHOOD
John Jr.'s business was raising sheep for wool, spinning it into yarn, and woodworking. He was busy with shearing sheep; washing, carding and spinning wool; as well as growing, harvesting, retting and combing flax and then spinning it into thread and weaving linen cloth.
Inventory of John Davis Jr.
Wiggington, "From Raising Sheep to Weaving Cloth"
CIVIC INVOLVEMENT
About 1708 "... a list of the names of the freemen in Derby viz; they that have taken the freeman's oath: ..." includes "John daves" within 32 men (Lichfield, 9; Town Records, 425). This is probably "Junior" being accepted into the town meeting. The Free Man's Charge required roughly the following charges: To not plot against, nor consent to any hurt against the civil government here established. To report any one so doing. To do honour to the magistrates and obey them. To give vote or suffrage in any election which concerns the "common wealth" as one's conscience dictates, for the best good of same.
The Second Meeting House in Derby; erected in 1721
The "Freemen" had been electing their own government, or "General Court", since 1660. Some of their laws were against smoking in public and against being a witch.
In the summer of 1721, John Davis was Constable of Derby. A record describes that he held a black ram with marked ears of unknown owner for a fine of eight shillings ( Town Records v.3, p.7).
Lichfield and Hoyt, History of the Town of Oxford,
Phillips, Town Records of Derby
LAND ACQUISITION
On April 4, 1705, John Davis Sr. bought two "acores of land lying in Derby on both sides beaver brook below the Scraping hole plaine" ( Town Records , 373) from Jabiz Harger, "of Stratford of Fairfield County", recorded May 19, 1705, as witnessed by John Tibbals and Ebenezer Johnson, "Justis". John Davis Jr. bought his first piece of land from his step-mother's relative: John Davis Sr.'s third wife was Abigail Harger, born in Stratford.
The land was measured as "South end 16 rods wide". Beaver Brook flows southwest into the Naugatuck River. It is the east border of the town of Ansonia. In 1720, John Jr. sold 5 acres of this land to the town. His son Dan Davis left a piece of this land for his own son Ethel in his will in 1789.
John Jr. and Sarah probably received some land from their fathers on the occasion of their marriage in 1706.
A month after the birth of his second child, John Jr. addressed the Derby town meeting with a land petition:
"Greeting: Gentelmen by necessity am forst to put forth my petition to your selves requesting this favour of all to whom it dus conserne yt you will be pleas to sett your Hands to this my small request, for four acers and A half of Land lying upon White mayre's hill: I having not land to Improve: hope you will not denie this my request: gentelmen as yourselves know I have lived these severall years in this sd Town and have not had one foot of Land of yr townbut what I have bought hopeing Gentlemen yt upon these Considerations: you will be pleas to sett your hands to this my small petition that is Above mentioned signifieing me the sd John Davis to be true proprietor of ye sd lands above mentioned —pray sor, denie not this request to yor frind & servant
John Davis. Feb.2, 1710.
"Fourty names were signed and the deed was recorded" (Orcutt, 111).
"the town have granted John daves jun that peace of land that he petisioned for & have chose Joseph hull & Ebenezer harger to lay it out" (Town Records , 440).
"The half of ten Acres of land at White Mares hill …" was still in his possession when John Jr. died in 1767 ( Inventory of John Davis Jr. ) and his son Dan owned "one Eight acre Lot on White mares hill – 20 pounds" at Dan's death in 1789. This location is said to be "...evidently the rounded hilltop", which can be found on the 1882 map of Derby. (Jacobus).
In 1711 a committee was formed to lay out the lots on the Quaker's Farm Purchase. "The last deed being given in 1711" by the Paugaset Indians to the Derby township, was either the Quaker's Farm or the North purchase. John Davis Sr. had died before he could receive his share in these lands, so according to the item in his inventory: "the Right of Land in the Last Indian Purchase — 1 pound", John Sr. and his brother Samuel may have received their father's division after it was awarded to their estate.
"The list of estates in Derby in 1718, by authority of the town" includes "John Davis = 54" (Orcutt, 129). This was an evaluation of their rating or Real Estate assesment in pounds for taxes.
On September 20, 1720, John Davis sold land to the town of Derby. It was
"5 & 1/4 acres on the west side of Beaver Brook Meadow. The piece was 40 rods long, and 22 rods wide on the north and south ends" ( Town Records , v.3, 287).
Some more of the land in the Quaker's Farm purchase from the natives, was distributed in the winter of 1727-28. A list of sixty-three property owner's names, shows their assessment, and their lot number (Lichfield, 147). John Davis had lot no.34, and was assessed 70 Pounds/4s. Samuel and George Davis, John's brothers, are not listed, as they probably were not living in Derby township. John Davis Jr.'s son Dan would not be on the list till another three years as he was only age 18.
Atlas of New Haven County
Jacobus, "Davis Family of Derby"
Karlsen, The Devil in the Shape of a Woman
Lichfield and Hoyt, History of the Town of Oxford
Orcutt and Beardsley, History of the Old Town of Derby
Phillips, Town Records of Derby,
DEATH
John Davis Jr. died in 1767. He might have been buried at his former home in another town, or in either the Congregationalist or the Episcopal church graveyards in Derby. Both burial-grounds existed in 1990 in the old town, but his headstone has not found; nor is it listed (Larsen, Hale).
The real estate included the house lot, land at Bryant's Plain, sequestered land north of town, and land at: White Mares Hill, Beaver Brook, Bear Hills, Tobeys Rocks, and Moose Hill.
Distribution of the Estate of John Davis Jr.
Jacobus, "Davis Family of Derby".
Kemp, Connecticut Researcher's Handbook
Larsen, "Search of Christ's Church Cemetery"
Descendants of John Davis Jr.
8. John DAVIS Jr. b. ca. 1675, d. spring of 1767. Lived at Chestnut Tree Hill, Oxford, Conn.
m1. 1706, Jul.15: Sarah CHATFIELD, b. 1686, Dec. 5, d. 1721, Jan. 20.
1. Joseph DAVIS b. 1708 d. 1784
2. * Dan DAVIS, b. 1710, Jan.17. d. 1789, Derby. m. Ruth WOOSTER
3. Mindwell DAVIS, b. 1712, Feb. 4, d. 1713, Jan. 5
4. Abigail DAVIS, b. 1713, Nov. 20
5. Rachael DAVIS, b. 1716, Jul. 5, m. Captain Francis Hawley
6. Betty DAVIS, b. 1719, Oct. 11, m. Ebenezer Keney
m2. Elizabeth, widow of: John Sturdevant, of Norwalk, Conn.
7. Joseph Davis, b.1708, Jun.30, Derby – d.1784, Captain in Colonial Militia, settled in Oxford, Conn.
m1.1734,Apr.25: Mary Wheeler, of Stratford, b. 1744, May 30. d. Jan 18, 1764, 8 children.
1. Sarah DAVIS, 1735, Nov. 26, m. Isaac Nichols
2. Abigail DAVIS, 1738, Apr.12, m. Abel Gunn
3. Mary DAVIS, 1740, b. Oct.15, m. Arnold
4. Joseph DAVIS, b. 1743, Jul.10.
5. Hannah DAVIS, 1744, m. Richard Welton
6. John DAVIS, 1748, Feb.2 (died young)
7. Rachael DAVIS, 1752, Jul. 4, m.John Church
8. John DAVIS, bp.1755, Sep.28, m. Mehitable Thomas
m2. 1765, Jan.30: Mrs. Amy Foote, of Derby, Conn.
7.* Dan Davis, b. 1710, Jan.17, d. 1789, Mar.20, Derby. Weaver, spinner and farmer at Derby.
m. 1738, Dec. 6: Ruth WOOSTER, b. 1722, Mar.30, d. 1794. ( See Chapter 3 ).
7. Betty Davis, b. 1719, Oct.11, d. 1784, Nov.,
m. 1738, Dec.07: Ebenezer KEENEY, b. 1718, d. 1795, Jan.10, of Milford, Conn. Settled at Derby Narrows, made scythes and hoes.
1. Lucy KEENEY, b. 1739, Dec.03 (died young)
2. Comfort KEENEY, b. 1741, Oct.11, m. 1758, Nov.23: Judson Benton Sr.
3. Eunice KEENEY, b. 1743, Aug.31
4. Betty KEENEY, b. 1745, Sep.20, m.1764, Feb.15: Sheldon Clark
5. Sarah KEENEY, b. 1748, Oct.03
6. Ebenezer KEENEY, b. 1750, Oct.24. d. 1777, May
7. Abigail KEENEY, b. 1753, Feb.11. d. 1769, Oct. 4
8. Ithiel KEENEY, b. 1755, Mar.17
9. William KEENEY, b. 1757, Jul.16
10. Medad KEENEY, b. 1759, May. 31
11. Lucy KEENEY, b. 1761, Sep. 30
6. Joseph DAVIS, b. 1743, Jul.10. ( for more contact: Deborah Ugel, e-mail= [email protected])
6. John Davis, b. 1755, Sep.28. d. 1848, Nov.27, Colonel, Oxford, Conn., m.1782, Apr.10: Mehitable Thomas, d. 1852, Dec.27, daughter of Reuben Thomas of New Haven.
1. Sarah DAVIS, b. 1783, Mar.31, d. 1808, Dec. 6
2. Anson DAVIS, b. 1785, Sep. 5
3. Truman DAVIS, b. 1787, Mar.13
4. John DAVIS, b. 1788, Sep. 8
5. Lucretia DAVIS, b. 1790, Sep.22
6. Mary DAVIS, b. 1792, May.28
7. Chary DAVIS, b. 1794, Feb. 8
8. Nabby DAVIS, b. 1795, Dec.21, m. Harvey Osborn, of Oxford
8. Nancy DAVIS, b. ?1828, Aug.25, m. Cyrus Humphrey
9. Joseph Wheeler DAVIS, b. 1798, Aug.13
10. Sheldon DAVIS, b. 1800, Sep. 3, d. 1813, May 30
11. Lewis DAVIS, b. 1803, Jan. 26
12. Burritt DAVIS, b. 1806, Jul. 12
13. Julia Maria DAVIS, b. 1810, Jul. 4, m. Ebenezer Riggs, of Oxford
5. Anson Davis, 1785, Sep. 5- , m. Sally Prudent, of Milford, Conn. Address: Davis Road, Oxford: "lived at top of Great Hill, having bought the old Tomlinson homestead"
1. Sheldon Davis, 1813, Jan. 1-, m.Marietta Church
2. Sarah Ann Davis, 1815, Mar.10-, m.Luman Chapman
3. Anson Riley Davis, 1813, Mar.30-, m.Mary N. Alling
4. Marcus Davis, 1820, Oct. 9-
5. Delia Maria Davis, 1822, Oct.25-, m. John F. Coxhead
6. Harpin Davis, 1825, Feb.24-, m. Mary Chatfield
7. Homer Davis, 1827, Oct.15-, to Nevada
8. Samuel Pruden Davis, 1831, Sep. 1-
9. Martha Ellen Davis, 1834, Jul.11-, principal of St.Catherine's Hall, Augusta, Maine
10. Victoria Sophia Davis, 1837, Sep.21-, m. John F. Coxhead
5. Truman Davis, Captain, 1787, Mar.13-
m1. 1808, Dec.6: Mary Allen, -1832, Feb.13, of Woodbridge
1. Emily Davis, 1810,Aug.19-, m. Adams
2. David Allen Davis, 1812, Jul.29-
3. Clark Davis,1815,Mar.31-, m. Toffey
4. Marietta Davis, 1817,Aug.22-,
m1. Morgan;
m2.Statia Ball, – 1854,Apr.24, of Bethany;
m3. Sophia Mallory, of Milford
(For more on Truman Davis, see: Orcutt, 717-)
5. John Davis Jr., 1788,Sep.08-, m1. Riggs,
1. John Davis, m. Jeanette Wheeler
2. Isaac B Davis., m. Ann Tucker, to Hartford
5. Joseph Wheeler Davis, 1798,Aug.13- , m. Henrietta Newton, of Woodbridge
1. Jonah N., m. Bassett
5. Lewis Davis, 1803,Jan.26- ,
1. Dr. Henry Davis., m. Beecher of Bethlehem, lived in Wallingford
5. Burritt Davis, 1806,Jul.12-, m. Osborn, daughter of Hiram OSBORN Jay, m.Anna Fairchild
1. Sarah, m.Frederic Cable. (More in Orcutt, 717-)
4. Marcus Davis, 1820,Oct. 9-, m.Sarah M. Green,
1. Geo.T. Davis, New Rochelle, N.Y. Author of Davis Genealogy, 1910
Lineage of Sarah Chatfield
9. John CHATFIELD, b.Guilford,Conn.166, Apr.08, d. Derby, 1748. Founder of Derby. m. Anna HARGER
1. Sarah CHATFIELD, b.5, Dec. 1686, d. 20 Jun. 1721
8* Sarah CHATFIELD, b.Stratfield 1686,Dec. 5, d. Derby, 1721,Jun.20 m.1706, Jul.15, m. John DAVIS Jr.
(For children see John Davis Jr. )
Jacobus, New England Historical & Genealogical Register, v.78, 259, and v.70, 55 and 125
Abigail Harger Tibbals Davis
Born 1672 Mar 2 Stratford, Ct
Died Derby, CT
Father Jabez Harger
Mother Margaret Tomlinson Harger Tibbals
Marriage
John Davis Sr. 1648-1712
Children 5
1. Mary Davis
Born 1693 Aug 2
Died
Married
Timothy Taylor
2. Nathaniel Davis
Born 1698 Feb 26
Died
Married
Eunice
3. Jabez Davis named for his mother's father (grandfather) Jabez Harger
Born 1703 Jul 24 Derby
Died
Married
Elizabeth Taylor
4. Elizabeth Davis
Born 1707 Jul 21
5. Abigail Davis named for her mother Abigail Harger
Born 1709 Apr 28
NOTE Abigail's sister Anna Harger b 1668 married John Chatfield.
NOTE John Tibbal was their step-father
"John Davis" was the name of two other men in the county of New Haven. One John Davis was the cooper's son who graduated from Harvard, taught at grammar school, and was lost at sea. Another John Davis was a carpenter on Main Street, who married and moved to Southold, Long Island. A fourth "John Davis Esq." has a gravestone in the "Colonial Cemetery" at 352 Derby Ave.
To delineate John Davis of this genealogy from the other two John Davises from England, "the Welshman" was added to his name in the records (Campbell, 430).
John Davis had four children with Abigail: Sarah, John Jr, Samuel, and George. Sarah and John Jr. were probably born before the Davises had come to Derby. Abigail got very sick and died after 10 years in Derby.
John married Mary Smith, the widow of the town recorder, Abel Gunn. The marriage was transcribed from the town book as "Davis, John m. Mrs. Mary Gunn, May 12, 1691." ( Town Records , 291; Vital Records V.2 25). She died soon after. John Davis's great-granddaughter Abigail Davis, later married an Abel Gunn of Waterbury in a ceremony conducted by Rev. Richard Mansfield of the Episcopal church on Dec.2,1756 ( Vital Records V.LR6, p.8). The second, A.Gunn, may have been a son, or grandson of the first.
John then married a third time. His third wife, Abigail Harger, was the step-daughter of John Tibbals. Abigail's father, Jabez Harger had moved to Derby from Stratford, and had died in Derby. Abigail's mother, Margaret (Tomlinson)—-now Widow Harger-—married John Tibbals.
John Davis Sr. and his third wife, Abigail, had five children: Mary in 1693, Nathaniel in 1698, Jabez in 1703, Elizabeth in 1707 and Abigail in 1709. Most of these children were named after known previous relatives: Mary for her mother's mother, Mary Tomlinson; Jabez for his mother's father, Jabez Harger; and Abigail, for her mother Abigail Harger.
Barbour Collection, Derby Vital Records.
Phillips, Town Records of Derby.
Will of John Davis Sr.
LIVELIHOOD
The livelihood of John Sr. and his neighbours was obtained through agriculture. Grown in the fields were hops for bitter flavour in malt liquor, hemp for making rope, and Indian corn which was ground at the mill for meal. Flax was grown on the meadow land, cut, dried, cured in Beaver Brook, combed with his "hackil", and spun on his "littell wheall" into linen thread. Two types of wheels were used for twisting fibers into thread. Wool, sheared from sheep purchased from neighbours, was washed, combed into fibers, and spun on his "two great wheals" into yarn, and sold for weaving.
The "great" wheel was also known as the wool wheel or "the walking wheel" (Leadbeater). The wheel was turned by hand, in one direction, causing the wool to twist as one operator walked backwards, drawing out the carded wool. The wheel was then stopped, and turned in the reverse direction, to roll up the length of the twisted yarn onto the spindle.
John Sr. had eight swine when he died; swine were kept for pork, ham, bacon and lard: Poultry were kept for eggs, oxen for plowing, and horses for getting around.
As well, everyone had a cow for milk and cheese, "stear" for beef. Tallow was used to make candles. Cattle were raised on the common pasture with ears notched to indicate their owners. Derby township had a lot of different families sharing common pastures, so families cut pieces out of the ears of cattle for identification, according to a pattern which was recorded. John Sr. marked his cattle ear with one "half tennant" under the right and a "half tennant" on the upper side of the left ear (*Town Records*, 252).
It is unknown whether John Sr. owned any slaves or servants. The 1650 Code of Connecticut adapted the code of Massachusetts:
"There shall never be any bond slavery, villanage or captivity among us, unless it be lawful captives taken in just ward, and such strangers as willingly sell themselves or are sold to us" (Orcutt).
Indians were enslaved when captured in battle, and sold for profit during the French and Indian War.
Indians were also servants to the early settlers. For instance, in 1722, Ebenezer Johnson, the head of the settlement, purchased an Indian slave girl named "Dinah" in Stratford for sixty pounds. She was about 26 years old, and had been taken at age seven with other captives around Saybrook in retaliation for an attack by the Indian leader King Philip. Johnson died six years later, and his wife gave Dinah to her son Timothy.
In 1714 George I from Luneburg, Germany (near Hamburg) was crowned the King of Great Britain. The next year a new law was passed prohibiting the importation to Britain of Indian slaves.
The community's first meetinghouse, 1681 (Derby Historical Society; in Hogan, The Lower Naugatuck Valley).
Leadbeater, "Spinning and Spinning Wheels".
Hogan, The Lower Naugatuck Valley.
Orcutt and Beardsley, History of the Old Town of Derby.
Will of John Davis Sr.
Lowrey, "Report on Forebears of Ithiel Davis"
CIVIC INVOLVEMENT
In 1683 London asked Massachusetts to submit its charter to the king for revision. When they refused, the king dissolved the colonial charter. Massachussets became a Royal Colony in 1684; all other colonial charters in New England were dissolved as well.
Restrictions against New England's independence were applied. The king installed his own government under Sir Edmund Andros. Andros brought an Anglican minister that took over a Congregational church building. Some towns refused to pay their taxes, protesting "no taxes without representation". Towns were restricted to one town meeting per year, and heavy jail sentences were applied for disobedience.
John Davis Sr. first appears in the town records in Derby when, along with Abel Gunn, he witnessed a deed to Samuel Bowers on December 2, 1690 ( Town Records , 93). The seller may have been the son of the deceased parson. The next year John was elected a "townsman".
It would have been expected that John dress up for the township meetings. He would have worn his linen shirt with "neck cloth" and "pear of stocking", his "lether briches" and "shews", his black broad cloath vest, and "broad cloath coat". On his head he would have worn a "perywig" covered by a hat (Will).
After saddling the horse, he rode to the meeting. He passed Indians that came to town to trade furs for pots, axes, cloth, etc. He stopped at a neighbours and ordered some oak barrels for making cider. At the town meeting-house he hung up his coat and hat, and put on his "close stoll" which is a ceremonial neck scarf of office.
The meeting house was at Squabble Hole in 1682. Meetings were held twice on Sundays, while on Saturdays, the militia trained on the town green. At meetings, men and women sat on opposite sides of the room, both facing the pulpit (Lichfield).
On December 2, 1690, John Davis and his future wife, Mary Gunn, were witnesses to a deed where Samuel Bowers sold two acres of swamp known as "David's meadow", located South East of Ansonia within Derby township, to George Bayman ( Town Records, 93). The Bowers and Davis families were friends and neighbours 200 years later at Brier Island (see chapter 6 ).
The Town chose Mr. Davis and two others to be "listers": "August 28, 1696 at a lawful town meeting at derby the town have chosen ensign riggs mr davis John pringle listers for the year ensuing" ( Town Records, 179). Listers kept records of inhabitants, and may have collected money. This demonstrates that John Davis could read and write.
John Davis Sr. is also listed among 42 men at a town meeting in 1696 who agreed to give a home lot to a physician (Orcutt).
The town selected John Davis to collect the salary for the Parson from its inhabitants in 1697, Dec.29. This would have been Reverend John James. Later, in 1702, Dec.14, John Davis Sr. was appointed to rate the Parson's salary: "Mr. John Davies senior & Saml Bowrs to make up ye Ministers rate & deliver it to ye Collectors" ( Town Records, 219). As a "Townsman", John Davis Sr. may also have been involved in the construction of the first parsonage.
On December 29, 1697, John Davis Sr.'s son Samuel and two others were elected as "fence viewers" ( Town Records, 188). Fence viewers settled property line disputes.
In 1707 the town meeting had difficulty deciding where its members would sit. Each year they would rearrange the seating plan. The head of each estate got a seat in a place of status, proportional to the worth of his estate in the tax list. Mr. John Davis sat in the audience, in the third row from the front, facing the pulpit; while his step father-in-law (John Tibbals) sat in front, beside the pulpit, facing the body of the meeting. On a single seat in front of Tibbals' bench, next to the pulpit, sat Major Ebenezer Johnson, who had purchased land from the Indians, and performed marriages.
Orcutt and Beardsley, History of the Old Town of Derby
Lichfield and Hoyt, History of the Town of Oxford,
Phillips, Town Records of Derby
Will of John Davis Sr.
LAND ACQUISITION
In 1703 John Davis owned 37 acres of land located on the West side of the Nagatuck river. (An acre of land is about 70×70 yards, or about the size of a short wide football field.) It extended between two highways, one running along the west side of the Naugatuck, and measured thirty rods along the highway. To the north was a 31 acre lot owned by George Beamons and to the south was a 70 acre lot owned by Isaac Nichols. ( Town Records, 285, 187).
His first land appears to have been acquired through his marriage to the widow Gunn. It was listed on October 12, 1696 in the Derby Town Record book that
"at a lawful town meeting at derby the town hav granted to john and joseph hulls the verbage of the side hil against trangam with in the town fenc
further at the sam tim the town have granted to mr davis twelve acres of land upon the upper end of Sentinul hill prety ny that was granted to weddow gun…
further they have agreed that the fenc shal bee kept up about the medow and that the field shall be cleared and craturs be kep out a the last of november next" ( Town Records, 182).
John Sr. may have become owner of the land of Widow Gunn, his wife and neighbour, as his inventory had 27 acres on Sentinel Hill.
On "Janewary 16 1699" John Sr. requested further land to build a barn. The record on page 42 reads:
"to the inhabitance of Derby the Request of John Davis Senior to you is that you would be Pleased to give him halfe a rood of land neare his hous being on the Est side of the high ways that gos along the hill
Map of Sentinel Hill. "the town have granted to mr davis twelve acres of land upon the upper end of Sentinel hill"
"... one towards mistris bowerses & the other to the meeting house the Reason of my request is becaus I have no convenant place to set my barne on the hill is soe rissing every wher in my hom lot.
"...if you please soe to doe you wil much oblige your Friend John Davis Senior. I desir to leave a sufisent high way this I hope be noe damag to the town"
The above was recorded again on February 25, 1703 with different spelling:
"To ye Inhabitants off Derb ye Request off Jno: Davies Senior To you is That yu would be Pleased to give him halfe a rood off land neare his hous being on ye East side off ye highway yt goes along ye hill on toward Mr. Bowrs & ye other towards ye meetinghouse. The Reason off my re-quest is because I have no convenient place to set my Barne on. ye hill is so rising everywhere in my home lot … ... I desire to leave sufficient highwayes … this land is att ye end off Jno Tybals his orchard." ( Town Record, 102).
On February 25, 1703, the land requested four years earlier was officially granted, after John Sr. had already built a barn on the land. On Page 102 it states that
"The Record off ye Town grant off a piece of land to mr Jno: Davies senior wron his Barn stands:
"The land granted to Jno: Davies Senior by ye Town in gen all is bounded
South East on Jno: Tibbals his land,
North East on ye Towns land,
south west on ye highway &
North west on ye high way "This land is measured
5 Rod next to Jno: Tibals his land south East
5 Rod North West on ye highway &
North East on ye Towns land 4 Rod &
south west on ye high way 4 Rod
"Layd out by us Ebenezer Johnson Jno: Tybbals
Entered ffebr 25 1702/3 pr me Jno: James Town Clerke"
( Town Records, 179).
Old bridge, Division Street, between Ansonia and West Derby. ( Ely, p.74. )
John Sr. earned a share in lands purchased from the Indians. Both John Davis Sr. and his son John Jr. are listed with fifty-two men on March 12, 1702 as participants in drawing lots for land.
After pieces of land had been purchased from the Naugatuck Indians, it was divided into lots and distributed to the inhabitants of the township. The town meeting decided the sequence for locating the lots. Lot #1 was measured starting in the north corner of the parcel of land. Lot #2 was measured to the west of lot #1, and continue west until Great Mountain. The participants drew a number from a container, which was the sequence for their piece of land.
John Davis Sr. drew number 4, meaning his land would be the fourth lot measured. The pieces of land were measured in numerical sequence, but were not equal in size. The size depended on the status or present worth of the resident. Thus John Jr.'s lot no.4 may have been larger than lots #3 & 5 on each side. Also, the surveyors were instructed to be fair in respect to the quality of the land: "where it wanted in quality it was to be made up in quantity."
Phillips, Town Records of Derby
ILLNESS
In June of 1700 John Davis Sr. became "very sick and weak in body" and made a will. He named his wife Abigail, his sons John and Samuel, his daughter Sarah, his under-age son George, and his youngest children Mary and Nathaniel. The will was witnessed by Jobamah Gunn and John Riske (Riggs?).
Child Named Pounds
1. Sarah 20 and biggest bed, two trunks marked "s. s."
2. John 5 already had received some (money?)
3. Samuel 5
4. George 20 when he becomes of age (after June 1700?)
5. Mary 5
6. Nathaniel 5
In his will, John made provisions for the continuance of debt payment from his first wife's brother,
"Uncle Cook", to his two oldest sons: "Unto my son John Daviss and to my son Samel Daviss I give five pounds to Each of them there being a bill for fifty pounds wch I Secured for them in ye hands of their Uncle Cook part of which John hath already Received and at my decease ye bill shall by my Executrix be delivered unto them my said sons John and Samel Daviss and the ten pounds wch I have made use of, of that money Shall by my Executrix be made Good unto them. besides the five pounds to each of them wch shall be paid to them out of my Estate in Derby."
When the will was written in 1700 Uncle Cook may possibly have still been paying for the former home of his deceased sister's husband. He was paying an amount each year to John Sr. but also had made some payment to John, Jr. In his will John Sr. asked his wife to obtain the balance due on the "bill" after he died and give it to his children.
John Sr. recovered, however, from being sick to have three more children and lived twelve more years. John may have been serviced by the new doctor, Josiah Baldwin.
Will of John Davis Sr.
DEATH
John Davis, "seinyear" died in the spring of 1712, aged circa 65. His death occurred sometime before September 17, 1712, when his will was probated, and sometime after a recording of his cattle earmarks on April 29, 1712. He was survived by his third wife and their five children, along with four children by his first wife, for a total of nine children. There were three daughters aged 3, 5, 19, and 39; and four sons aged 9, 14, 31, 33, & 37.
At that time "most burials were without any religious service". His body may have been taken to the township burying grounds in a wooden box. Transport was difficult in the early days without roads or wagons. One method described was to use two horses, one behind the other, with a pole on each side of them. Short boards were attached across the long poles to support the coffin.
John Davis Sr. may have been buried in the Congregationalist church graveyard which was just across the street from his home lot, but the location is unknown. His widow may alternatively have had him buried on his home lot at the top of a hill, within sight of his house near Bladen's Brook. If a stone was used to mark his burial place, it was not in a yard with others, or it would have been recorded in a survey of two thousand graveyards in Connecticut in 1930 by Hale.
His estate was inventoried at 268 Pounds: 18 shillings. This total comprised Real Estate valued at 109:02 Pounds and Personal Estate of 159:16 Pounds .
As the deceased had requested in his will of June 18, 1700, Abigail (Tibbals) Davis, widow, was appointed the "Executrix" of her husband's will on September 17, 1712, with "overseers" his step father-in-law John Tibbals and Ensign Samuel Riggs. The inventory made on 1712, Sept. 30 was signed by Appraysors: Joseph J. and John Riggs, and noted "Abigail Daviss, Sworne in Court, Test Jos/h. Whiting, Clerk". The bottom line "Sum" value had been crossed out, probably due to incorrect addition.
The inventory of Sept. 30 was copied over again with proper spelling and addition on October 3, 1712, when it was recorded in Court at Milford. It was preceded by two testimonies that tie it to the will. Saml Eells "one of the assistants of her Majesties Colony of Connecticut" stated that he had heard Jobamah Gunn state that he had seen John Davis declare in writing the instrument on the other side to be his last Will and testament. Josh Whiting, Court Clerk, stated that John H_o_s_k of Milford had sworn in Court that he had seen John Davis of Derby publish his last will and he was of sound mind at the doing and that he saw Jobamah Gunn sign as a witness.
John Davis Sr.'s will, written twelve years earlier, had said that 60 pounds were to go to the children; however, no money was listed in the inventory, although everything had been given a monetary value. It is possible that the 60 Pounds were to come mostly from his first wife's brother "Uncle Cook".
In the spring of 1712, John and his brother Samuel decided that their sister Sarah would stay in the old Davis home with her brother George, and their father's third wife, Abigail (Harger) Davis would raise her five children in Derby.
Barbour Collection, Derby Vital Records
Campbell, S. and B. Seymour, Past and Present
Davis, Genealogy of the Descendants of Col. John Davis of Oxford, Conn.
Hale, Gravestones of Two Thousand Cemeteries in Connecticut
Inventory of John Davis Sr.
Jacobus, "Davis Family of Derby"
Lichfield and Hoyt, History of the Town of Oxford,
Phillips, Town Records of Derby
Rockey, History of New Haven County
300th Anniversary Booklet of Derby
Descendants of John Davis, Sr.
9* John DAVIS, Sr. b. ca. 1648; d. 1712 Derby (New Haven County, Conn.) Farmer, town council, candlemaker, linen and wool spinner, cider maker. Purchased land ca. 1695 in Derby township (now Seymour).
m1: Abigail (Cook ?), d. ca. 1690
1. Sarah DAVIS
2. * John DAVIS Jr.; b. ca. 1675. m. 1706 Sarah CHATFIELD
3. Samuel DAVIS, b. ca. 1679: m. Mercy Bennet, of Derby
4. George DAVIS, b. ca. 1681
m2. May 12, 1691: Mrs. Mary ( Smith ) Gun, widow of Abel Gunn. [Phillips, Derby Records, p.291 (p.25) ].
m3. Abigail Harger, of Derby, b.1672 at Stratfordshire
5. Mary DAVIS, 1693, Aug. 2, m. Timothy Taylor, of Danbury, Conn
6. Nathaniel DAVIS, 1699, Feb. 26; m. Eunice; ch: twins Joseph and Dan b. 1746
7. Jabez DAVIS, b. 1703, Jul.24, m. Elizabeth Taylor.
8. Elizabeth DAVIS, b. 1707, July 21
9. Abigail DAVIS, b. 1709, Apr.28
8* John DAVIS Jr. b. ca. 1675, d. spring of 1767. Lived at Chestnut Tree Hill, Oxford, Conn.
m1. 1706, Jul.15: Sarah CHATFIELD, b. 1686, Dec. 5, d. 1721, Jan.20. ( See Chapter 2 )
8. Samuel Davis, b. ca. 1679, d.1748, spring at Stratford
m1. 1708, Jun. at Stratford: Mercy Bennet, of Derby, Conn. b. ca. 1688
1. Elias DAVIS b. 1708, Jan.17, m. Abigail Tomlinson b. 1723, Jul.18
2. John DAVIS, m. Esther
3. Enoch DAVIS
4. Nathan DAVIS
5. Samuel DAVIS
6. Betty/Elizabeth DAVIS, m. Thomas Leavenworth
7. Hannah DAVIS, m1. John Hawley, m2. Obadiah Richards
8. Sarah DAVIS, m. 1737, Jul.06: Zachariah Hawkins
8. Jabez Davis, 1703, Jul.24, Derby, Settled at Danbury, Conn.
m. Elizabeth Taylor, daughter of Thomas Taylor.
ch= 3 sons & 3 daughters. son = Eliakim Davis, ancestor of Theron Davis, Orville,WA. (2007,Apr.; [email protected])
7. Elias Davis, b. 1708, Jan.17, m. Abigail Tomlinson, 1723, Jul. 18, daughter of John Tomlinson and Elizabeth Wooster
7. Nathan Davis, m. Eunice, daughter of Samuel and Hannah Tomlinson. Resided on Bungay and at the Neck.
1. Rachel DAVIS, b. 1738, Apr. m. Adam Vose
2. Eunice DAVIS, b. 1740, Jun.20, m. Azariah Prichard
3. Benjamin DAVIS, b. 1743, Mar. 1
4. Daniel DAVIS, b. 1746, Mar.20, m.Susanna Wooster
5. Joseph DAVIS. m. Amy Foote
6. Sarah DAVIS, b. 1756, Oct.6
6. Benjamin Davis, b.1743, Mar. 1- d.1817, Nov. Benjamin was at the meeting to start Trinity Church in 1797.
m1. Betty Tomlinson, daughter of Joseph and Sarah Tomlinson. b.1744, Mar.23-1775,Apr. 5
m2. Naomi DAVIS, daughter of Daniel and Ruth Davis. d.1818
1. Benjamin DAVIS
2. Betsy DAVIS, m.Plilo Miles
Jacobus, " Davis Family of Derby "
Lineage of Abigail Harger
10. Jabez HARGER, d. 1678 at Derby.
m1. Margaret Tomlinson, d.1698, Mar.17 at Derby, daughter of Henry and Alice Tomlinson.
1. Anna HARGER, b. 1668 at Stratford, Conn. m. John Chatfield, b.1661
2. Abigail HARGER (1672-1706)
9* Abigail HARGER, b.1672, Mar.02 at Stratford, Conn.;
- m1. John Tibbals of Derby. – m2. 1706 John DAVIS Sr.
( For children see John Davis Sr. )
Chapter 2
Derby and Environs
Derby and Ansonia
JOHN DAVIS JR.
Abigail Harger, John Davis Sr.'s third wife, introduced her new step-son, John Davis Jr., to her sixteen year old niece, Sarah Chatfield, daughter of Abigail's older sister, Anna Chatfield and John Chatfield.
On July 15, 1706, John Davis Jr. was married to Sarah. At the time, John, Jr.'s. youngest step brother Jabez, was only three years old; John Sr.'s first grandchild would be born before his last child.
The wedding ceremony was conducted by Major Ebenezer Johnson, the head of the "plantation" of Derby Township ( Vital Records v.2, p.24). They were not married by the minister.
John Jr. and Sarah Chatfield probably lived north on Chestnut Tree Hill, in Oxford. In 1868 Four families with the last name of "Davis" lived on Chestnut Hill Road. Chestnut Hill Road is located in 1987 in the eastern part of Oxford township.
John Jr. and Sarah's children were Joseph, born June 30, 1708; Dan, born January 17, 1710, and Mindwell, born February 4, 1712. Joseph may have been named for Sgt. Hawkins. Derby was probably getting too many people named "John" for Sarah to name her son after her father and husband. The record of the birth of the second son was: "Daves, Dan: s. John + Sarah, b. Jan.10, 1709/10", ( Vital Records, v.2, 160). Abigail was then born in 1713, Rachael in 1716, and Betty in 1719. Abigail was named for her father's mother. Her birth record was "Davis, Abigail, d. John & Sarah, b. Nov.20, 1713/4" ( Vital Records, v.LR.3, p.2.).
Sarah and her next child both died on January 20, 1721. The children were young when their mother died: Joseph was 13, Dan 11, Mindwell 9, Abigail 8, Rachael 5, and Betty 2. John Jr. aged 46, must have had help looking after these children—possibly from his step-mother, his older sister, or an Indian servant. His step-mother and sister were busy raising his half siblings.
John Davis Jr. married the widow of John Sturdevant, named Elizabeth, who had been living with her husband in Rigefield, Conn. John Davis agreed to raise her children in a probate court paper of 1723.
Jacobus, "Davis Family of Derby"
Barbour Collection, Derby Vital Records
LIVELIHOOD
John Jr.'s business was raising sheep for wool, spinning it into yarn, and woodworking. He was busy with shearing sheep; washing, carding and spinning wool; as well as growing, harvesting, retting and combing flax and then spinning it into thread and weaving linen cloth.
Inventory of John Davis Jr.
Wiggington, "From Raising Sheep to Weaving Cloth"
CIVIC INVOLVEMENT
About 1708 "... a list of the names of the freemen in Derby viz; they that have taken the freeman's oath: ..." includes "John daves" within 32 men (Lichfield, 9; Town Records, 425). This is probably "Junior" being accepted into the town meeting. The Free Man's Charge required roughly the following charges: To not plot against, nor consent to any hurt against the civil government here established. To report any one so doing. To do honour to the magistrates and obey them. To give vote or suffrage in any election which concerns the "common wealth" as one's conscience dictates, for the best good of same.
The Second Meeting House in Derby; erected in 1721
The "Freemen" had been electing their own government, or "General Court", since 1660. Some of their laws were against smoking in public and against being a witch.
In the summer of 1721, John Davis was Constable of Derby. A record describes that he held a black ram with marked ears of unknown owner for a fine of eight shillings ( Town Records v.3, p.7).
Lichfield and Hoyt, History of the Town of Oxford,
Phillips, Town Records of Derby
LAND ACQUISITION
On April 4, 1705, John Davis Sr. bought two "acores of land lying in Derby on both sides beaver brook below the Scraping hole plaine" ( Town Records , 373) from Jabiz Harger, "of Stratford of Fairfield County", recorded May 19, 1705, as witnessed by John Tibbals and Ebenezer Johnson, "Justis". John Davis Jr. bought his first piece of land from his step-mother's relative: John Davis Sr.'s third wife was Abigail Harger, born in Stratford.
The land was measured as "South end 16 rods wide". Beaver Brook flows southwest into the Naugatuck River. It is the east border of the town of Ansonia. In 1720, John Jr. sold 5 acres of this land to the town. His son Dan Davis left a piece of this land for his own son Ethel in his will in 1789.
John Jr. and Sarah probably received some land from their fathers on the occasion of their marriage in 1706.
A month after the birth of his second child, John Jr. addressed the Derby town meeting with a land petition:
"Greeting: Gentelmen by necessity am forst to put forth my petition to your selves requesting this favour of all to whom it dus conserne yt you will be pleas to sett your Hands to this my small request, for four acers and A half of Land lying upon White mayre's hill: I having not land to Improve: hope you will not denie this my request: gentelmen as yourselves know I have lived these severall years in this sd Town and have not had one foot of Land of yr townbut what I have bought hopeing Gentlemen yt upon these Considerations: you will be pleas to sett your hands to this my small petition that is Above mentioned signifieing me the sd John Davis to be true proprietor of ye sd lands above mentioned —pray sor, denie not this request to yor frind & servant
John Davis. Feb.2, 1710.
"Fourty names were signed and the deed was recorded" (Orcutt, 111).
"the town have granted John daves jun that peace of land that he petisioned for & have chose Joseph hull & Ebenezer harger to lay it out" (Town Records , 440).
"The half of ten Acres of land at White Mares hill …" was still in his possession when John Jr. died in 1767 ( Inventory of John Davis Jr. ) and his son Dan owned "one Eight acre Lot on White mares hill – 20 pounds" at Dan's death in 1789. This location is said to be "...evidently the rounded hilltop", which can be found on the 1882 map of Derby. (Jacobus).
In 1711 a committee was formed to lay out the lots on the Quaker's Farm Purchase. "The last deed being given in 1711" by the Paugaset Indians to the Derby township, was either the Quaker's Farm or the North purchase. John Davis Sr. had died before he could receive his share in these lands, so according to the item in his inventory: "the Right of Land in the Last Indian Purchase — 1 pound", John Sr. and his brother Samuel may have received their father's division after it was awarded to their estate.
"The list of estates in Derby in 1718, by authority of the town" includes "John Davis = 54" (Orcutt, 129). This was an evaluation of their rating or Real Estate assesment in pounds for taxes.
On September 20, 1720, John Davis sold land to the town of Derby. It was
"5 & 1/4 acres on the west side of Beaver Brook Meadow. The piece was 40 rods long, and 22 rods wide on the north and south ends" ( Town Records , v.3, 287).
Some more of the land in the Quaker's Farm purchase from the natives, was distributed in the winter of 1727-28. A list of sixty-three property owner's names, shows their assessment, and their lot number (Lichfield, 147). John Davis had lot no.34, and was assessed 70 Pounds/4s. Samuel and George Davis, John's brothers, are not listed, as they probably were not living in Derby township. John Davis Jr.'s son Dan would not be on the list till another three years as he was only age 18.
Atlas of New Haven County
Jacobus, "Davis Family of Derby"
Karlsen, The Devil in the Shape of a Woman
Lichfield and Hoyt, History of the Town of Oxford
Orcutt and Beardsley, History of the Old Town of Derby
Phillips, Town Records of Derby,
DEATH
John Davis Jr. died in 1767. He might have been buried at his former home in another town, or in either the Congregationalist or the Episcopal church graveyards in Derby. Both burial-grounds existed in 1990 in the old town, but his headstone has not found; nor is it listed (Larsen, Hale).
The real estate included the house lot, land at Bryant's Plain, sequestered land north of town, and land at: White Mares Hill, Beaver Brook, Bear Hills, Tobeys Rocks, and Moose Hill.
Distribution of the Estate of John Davis Jr.
Jacobus, "Davis Family of Derby".
Kemp, Connecticut Researcher's Handbook
Larsen, "Search of Christ's Church Cemetery"
Descendants of John Davis Jr.
8. John DAVIS Jr. b. ca. 1675, d. spring of 1767. Lived at Chestnut Tree Hill, Oxford, Conn.
m1. 1706, Jul.15: Sarah CHATFIELD, b. 1686, Dec. 5, d. 1721, Jan. 20.
1. Joseph DAVIS b. 1708 d. 1784
2. * Dan DAVIS, b. 1710, Jan.17. d. 1789, Derby. m. Ruth WOOSTER
3. Mindwell DAVIS, b. 1712, Feb. 4, d. 1713, Jan. 5
4. Abigail DAVIS, b. 1713, Nov. 20
5. Rachael DAVIS, b. 1716, Jul. 5, m. Captain Francis Hawley
6. Betty DAVIS, b. 1719, Oct. 11, m. Ebenezer Keney
m2. Elizabeth, widow of: John Sturdevant, of Norwalk, Conn.
7. Joseph Davis, b.1708, Jun.30, Derby – d.1784, Captain in Colonial Militia, settled in Oxford, Conn.
m1.1734,Apr.25: Mary Wheeler, of Stratford, b. 1744, May 30. d. Jan 18, 1764, 8 children.
1. Sarah DAVIS, 1735, Nov. 26, m. Isaac Nichols
2. Abigail DAVIS, 1738, Apr.12, m. Abel Gunn
3. Mary DAVIS, 1740, b. Oct.15, m. Arnold
4. Joseph DAVIS, b. 1743, Jul.10.
5. Hannah DAVIS, 1744, m. Richard Welton
6. John DAVIS, 1748, Feb.2 (died young)
7. Rachael DAVIS, 1752, Jul. 4, m.John Church
8. John DAVIS, bp.1755, Sep.28, m. Mehitable Thomas
m2. 1765, Jan.30: Mrs. Amy Foote, of Derby, Conn.
7.* Dan Davis, b. 1710, Jan.17, d. 1789, Mar.20, Derby. Weaver, spinner and farmer at Derby.
m. 1738, Dec. 6: Ruth WOOSTER, b. 1722, Mar.30, d. 1794. ( See Chapter 3 ).
7. Betty Davis, b. 1719, Oct.11, d. 1784, Nov.,
m. 1738, Dec.07: Ebenezer KEENEY, b. 1718, d. 1795, Jan.10, of Milford, Conn. Settled at Derby Narrows, made scythes and hoes.
1. Lucy KEENEY, b. 1739, Dec.03 (died young)
2. Comfort KEENEY, b. 1741, Oct.11, m. 1758, Nov.23: Judson Benton Sr.
3. Eunice KEENEY, b. 1743, Aug.31
4. Betty KEENEY, b. 1745, Sep.20, m.1764, Feb.15: Sheldon Clark
5. Sarah KEENEY, b. 1748, Oct.03
6. Ebenezer KEENEY, b. 1750, Oct.24. d. 1777, May
7. Abigail KEENEY, b. 1753, Feb.11. d. 1769, Oct. 4
8. Ithiel KEENEY, b. 1755, Mar.17
9. William KEENEY, b. 1757, Jul.16
10. Medad KEENEY, b. 1759, May. 31
11. Lucy KEENEY, b. 1761, Sep. 30
6. Joseph DAVIS, b. 1743, Jul.10. ( for more contact: Deborah Ugel, e-mail= [email protected])
6. John Davis, b. 1755, Sep.28. d. 1848, Nov.27, Colonel, Oxford, Conn., m.1782, Apr.10: Mehitable Thomas, d. 1852, Dec.27, daughter of Reuben Thomas of New Haven.
1. Sarah DAVIS, b. 1783, Mar.31, d. 1808, Dec. 6
2. Anson DAVIS, b. 1785, Sep. 5
3. Truman DAVIS, b. 1787, Mar.13
4. John DAVIS, b. 1788, Sep. 8
5. Lucretia DAVIS, b. 1790, Sep.22
6. Mary DAVIS, b. 1792, May.28
7. Chary DAVIS, b. 1794, Feb. 8
8. Nabby DAVIS, b. 1795, Dec.21, m. Harvey Osborn, of Oxford
8. Nancy DAVIS, b. ?1828, Aug.25, m. Cyrus Humphrey
9. Joseph Wheeler DAVIS, b. 1798, Aug.13
10. Sheldon DAVIS, b. 1800, Sep. 3, d. 1813, May 30
11. Lewis DAVIS, b. 1803, Jan. 26
12. Burritt DAVIS, b. 1806, Jul. 12
13. Julia Maria DAVIS, b. 1810, Jul. 4, m. Ebenezer Riggs, of Oxford
5. Anson Davis, 1785, Sep. 5- , m. Sally Prudent, of Milford, Conn. Address: Davis Road, Oxford: "lived at top of Great Hill, having bought the old Tomlinson homestead"
1. Sheldon Davis, 1813, Jan. 1-, m.Marietta Church
2. Sarah Ann Davis, 1815, Mar.10-, m.Luman Chapman
3. Anson Riley Davis, 1813, Mar.30-, m.Mary N. Alling
4. Marcus Davis, 1820, Oct. 9-
5. Delia Maria Davis, 1822, Oct.25-, m. John F. Coxhead
6. Harpin Davis, 1825, Feb.24-, m. Mary Chatfield
7. Homer Davis, 1827, Oct.15-, to Nevada
8. Samuel Pruden Davis, 1831, Sep. 1-
9. Martha Ellen Davis, 1834, Jul.11-, principal of St.Catherine's Hall, Augusta, Maine
10. Victoria Sophia Davis, 1837, Sep.21-, m. John F. Coxhead
5. Truman Davis, Captain, 1787, Mar.13-
m1. 1808, Dec.6: Mary Allen, -1832, Feb.13, of Woodbridge
1. Emily Davis, 1810,Aug.19-, m. Adams
2. David Allen Davis, 1812, Jul.29-
3. Clark Davis,1815,Mar.31-, m. Toffey
4. Marietta Davis, 1817,Aug.22-,
m1. Morgan;
m2.Statia Ball, – 1854,Apr.24, of Bethany;
m3. Sophia Mallory, of Milford
(For more on Truman Davis, see: Orcutt, 717-)
5. John Davis Jr., 1788,Sep.08-, m1. Riggs,
1. John Davis, m. Jeanette Wheeler
2. Isaac B Davis., m. Ann Tucker, to Hartford
5. Joseph Wheeler Davis, 1798,Aug.13- , m. Henrietta Newton, of Woodbridge
1. Jonah N., m. Bassett
5. Lewis Davis, 1803,Jan.26- ,
1. Dr. Henry Davis., m. Beecher of Bethlehem, lived in Wallingford
5. Burritt Davis, 1806,Jul.12-, m. Osborn, daughter of Hiram OSBORN Jay, m.Anna Fairchild
1. Sarah, m.Frederic Cable. (More in Orcutt, 717-)
4. Marcus Davis, 1820,Oct. 9-, m.Sarah M. Green,
1. Geo.T. Davis, New Rochelle, N.Y. Author of Davis Genealogy, 1910
Lineage of Sarah Chatfield
9. John CHATFIELD, b.Guilford,Conn.166, Apr.08, d. Derby, 1748. Founder of Derby. m. Anna HARGER
1. Sarah CHATFIELD, b.5, Dec. 1686, d. 20 Jun. 1721
8* Sarah CHATFIELD, b.Stratfield 1686,Dec. 5, d. Derby, 1721,Jun.20 m.1706, Jul.15, m. John DAVIS Jr.
(For children see John Davis Jr. )
Jacobus, New England Historical & Genealogical Register, v.78, 259, and v.70, 55 and 125
Born 1672 Mar 2 Stratford, Ct
Died Derby, CT
Father Jabez Harger
Mother Margaret Tomlinson Harger Tibbals
Marriage
John Davis Sr. 1648-1712
Children 5
1. Mary Davis
Born 1693 Aug 2
Died
Married
Timothy Taylor
2. Nathaniel Davis
Born 1698 Feb 26
Died
Married
Eunice
3. Jabez Davis named for his mother's father (grandfather) Jabez Harger
Born 1703 Jul 24 Derby
Died
Married
Elizabeth Taylor
4. Elizabeth Davis
Born 1707 Jul 21
5. Abigail Davis named for her mother Abigail Harger
Born 1709 Apr 28
NOTE Abigail's sister Anna Harger b 1668 married John Chatfield.
NOTE John Tibbal was their step-father
"John Davis" was the name of two other men in the county of New Haven. One John Davis was the cooper's son who graduated from Harvard, taught at grammar school, and was lost at sea. Another John Davis was a carpenter on Main Street, who married and moved to Southold, Long Island. A fourth "John Davis Esq." has a gravestone in the "Colonial Cemetery" at 352 Derby Ave.
To delineate John Davis of this genealogy from the other two John Davises from England, "the Welshman" was added to his name in the records (Campbell, 430).
John Davis had four children with Abigail: Sarah, John Jr, Samuel, and George. Sarah and John Jr. were probably born before the Davises had come to Derby. Abigail got very sick and died after 10 years in Derby.
John married Mary Smith, the widow of the town recorder, Abel Gunn. The marriage was transcribed from the town book as "Davis, John m. Mrs. Mary Gunn, May 12, 1691." ( Town Records , 291; Vital Records V.2 25). She died soon after. John Davis's great-granddaughter Abigail Davis, later married an Abel Gunn of Waterbury in a ceremony conducted by Rev. Richard Mansfield of the Episcopal church on Dec.2,1756 ( Vital Records V.LR6, p.8). The second, A.Gunn, may have been a son, or grandson of the first.
John then married a third time. His third wife, Abigail Harger, was the step-daughter of John Tibbals. Abigail's father, Jabez Harger had moved to Derby from Stratford, and had died in Derby. Abigail's mother, Margaret (Tomlinson)—-now Widow Harger-—married John Tibbals.
John Davis Sr. and his third wife, Abigail, had five children: Mary in 1693, Nathaniel in 1698, Jabez in 1703, Elizabeth in 1707 and Abigail in 1709. Most of these children were named after known previous relatives: Mary for her mother's mother, Mary Tomlinson; Jabez for his mother's father, Jabez Harger; and Abigail, for her mother Abigail Harger.
Barbour Collection, Derby Vital Records.
Phillips, Town Records of Derby.
Will of John Davis Sr.
LIVELIHOOD
The livelihood of John Sr. and his neighbours was obtained through agriculture. Grown in the fields were hops for bitter flavour in malt liquor, hemp for making rope, and Indian corn which was ground at the mill for meal. Flax was grown on the meadow land, cut, dried, cured in Beaver Brook, combed with his "hackil", and spun on his "littell wheall" into linen thread. Two types of wheels were used for twisting fibers into thread. Wool, sheared from sheep purchased from neighbours, was washed, combed into fibers, and spun on his "two great wheals" into yarn, and sold for weaving.
The "great" wheel was also known as the wool wheel or "the walking wheel" (Leadbeater). The wheel was turned by hand, in one direction, causing the wool to twist as one operator walked backwards, drawing out the carded wool. The wheel was then stopped, and turned in the reverse direction, to roll up the length of the twisted yarn onto the spindle.
John Sr. had eight swine when he died; swine were kept for pork, ham, bacon and lard: Poultry were kept for eggs, oxen for plowing, and horses for getting around.
As well, everyone had a cow for milk and cheese, "stear" for beef. Tallow was used to make candles. Cattle were raised on the common pasture with ears notched to indicate their owners. Derby township had a lot of different families sharing common pastures, so families cut pieces out of the ears of cattle for identification, according to a pattern which was recorded. John Sr. marked his cattle ear with one "half tennant" under the right and a "half tennant" on the upper side of the left ear (*Town Records*, 252).
It is unknown whether John Sr. owned any slaves or servants. The 1650 Code of Connecticut adapted the code of Massachusetts:
"There shall never be any bond slavery, villanage or captivity among us, unless it be lawful captives taken in just ward, and such strangers as willingly sell themselves or are sold to us" (Orcutt).
Indians were enslaved when captured in battle, and sold for profit during the French and Indian War.
Indians were also servants to the early settlers. For instance, in 1722, Ebenezer Johnson, the head of the settlement, purchased an Indian slave girl named "Dinah" in Stratford for sixty pounds. She was about 26 years old, and had been taken at age seven with other captives around Saybrook in retaliation for an attack by the Indian leader King Philip. Johnson died six years later, and his wife gave Dinah to her son Timothy.
In 1714 George I from Luneburg, Germany (near Hamburg) was crowned the King of Great Britain. The next year a new law was passed prohibiting the importation to Britain of Indian slaves.
The community's first meetinghouse, 1681 (Derby Historical Society; in Hogan, The Lower Naugatuck Valley).
Leadbeater, "Spinning and Spinning Wheels".
Hogan, The Lower Naugatuck Valley.
Orcutt and Beardsley, History of the Old Town of Derby.
Will of John Davis Sr.
Lowrey, "Report on Forebears of Ithiel Davis"
CIVIC INVOLVEMENT
In 1683 London asked Massachusetts to submit its charter to the king for revision. When they refused, the king dissolved the colonial charter. Massachussets became a Royal Colony in 1684; all other colonial charters in New England were dissolved as well.
Restrictions against New England's independence were applied. The king installed his own government under Sir Edmund Andros. Andros brought an Anglican minister that took over a Congregational church building. Some towns refused to pay their taxes, protesting "no taxes without representation". Towns were restricted to one town meeting per year, and heavy jail sentences were applied for disobedience.
John Davis Sr. first appears in the town records in Derby when, along with Abel Gunn, he witnessed a deed to Samuel Bowers on December 2, 1690 ( Town Records , 93). The seller may have been the son of the deceased parson. The next year John was elected a "townsman".
It would have been expected that John dress up for the township meetings. He would have worn his linen shirt with "neck cloth" and "pear of stocking", his "lether briches" and "shews", his black broad cloath vest, and "broad cloath coat". On his head he would have worn a "perywig" covered by a hat (Will).
After saddling the horse, he rode to the meeting. He passed Indians that came to town to trade furs for pots, axes, cloth, etc. He stopped at a neighbours and ordered some oak barrels for making cider. At the town meeting-house he hung up his coat and hat, and put on his "close stoll" which is a ceremonial neck scarf of office.
The meeting house was at Squabble Hole in 1682. Meetings were held twice on Sundays, while on Saturdays, the militia trained on the town green. At meetings, men and women sat on opposite sides of the room, both facing the pulpit (Lichfield).
On December 2, 1690, John Davis and his future wife, Mary Gunn, were witnesses to a deed where Samuel Bowers sold two acres of swamp known as "David's meadow", located South East of Ansonia within Derby township, to George Bayman ( Town Records, 93). The Bowers and Davis families were friends and neighbours 200 years later at Brier Island (see chapter 6 ).
The Town chose Mr. Davis and two others to be "listers": "August 28, 1696 at a lawful town meeting at derby the town have chosen ensign riggs mr davis John pringle listers for the year ensuing" ( Town Records, 179). Listers kept records of inhabitants, and may have collected money. This demonstrates that John Davis could read and write.
John Davis Sr. is also listed among 42 men at a town meeting in 1696 who agreed to give a home lot to a physician (Orcutt).
The town selected John Davis to collect the salary for the Parson from its inhabitants in 1697, Dec.29. This would have been Reverend John James. Later, in 1702, Dec.14, John Davis Sr. was appointed to rate the Parson's salary: "Mr. John Davies senior & Saml Bowrs to make up ye Ministers rate & deliver it to ye Collectors" ( Town Records, 219). As a "Townsman", John Davis Sr. may also have been involved in the construction of the first parsonage.
On December 29, 1697, John Davis Sr.'s son Samuel and two others were elected as "fence viewers" ( Town Records, 188). Fence viewers settled property line disputes.
In 1707 the town meeting had difficulty deciding where its members would sit. Each year they would rearrange the seating plan. The head of each estate got a seat in a place of status, proportional to the worth of his estate in the tax list. Mr. John Davis sat in the audience, in the third row from the front, facing the pulpit; while his step father-in-law (John Tibbals) sat in front, beside the pulpit, facing the body of the meeting. On a single seat in front of Tibbals' bench, next to the pulpit, sat Major Ebenezer Johnson, who had purchased land from the Indians, and performed marriages.
Orcutt and Beardsley, History of the Old Town of Derby
Lichfield and Hoyt, History of the Town of Oxford,
Phillips, Town Records of Derby
Will of John Davis Sr.
LAND ACQUISITION
In 1703 John Davis owned 37 acres of land located on the West side of the Nagatuck river. (An acre of land is about 70×70 yards, or about the size of a short wide football field.) It extended between two highways, one running along the west side of the Naugatuck, and measured thirty rods along the highway. To the north was a 31 acre lot owned by George Beamons and to the south was a 70 acre lot owned by Isaac Nichols. ( Town Records, 285, 187).
His first land appears to have been acquired through his marriage to the widow Gunn. It was listed on October 12, 1696 in the Derby Town Record book that
"at a lawful town meeting at derby the town hav granted to john and joseph hulls the verbage of the side hil against trangam with in the town fenc
further at the sam tim the town have granted to mr davis twelve acres of land upon the upper end of Sentinul hill prety ny that was granted to weddow gun…
further they have agreed that the fenc shal bee kept up about the medow and that the field shall be cleared and craturs be kep out a the last of november next" ( Town Records, 182).
John Sr. may have become owner of the land of Widow Gunn, his wife and neighbour, as his inventory had 27 acres on Sentinel Hill.
On "Janewary 16 1699" John Sr. requested further land to build a barn. The record on page 42 reads:
"to the inhabitance of Derby the Request of John Davis Senior to you is that you would be Pleased to give him halfe a rood of land neare his hous being on the Est side of the high ways that gos along the hill
Map of Sentinel Hill. "the town have granted to mr davis twelve acres of land upon the upper end of Sentinel hill"
"... one towards mistris bowerses & the other to the meeting house the Reason of my request is becaus I have no convenant place to set my barne on the hill is soe rissing every wher in my hom lot.
"...if you please soe to doe you wil much oblige your Friend John Davis Senior. I desir to leave a sufisent high way this I hope be noe damag to the town"
The above was recorded again on February 25, 1703 with different spelling:
"To ye Inhabitants off Derb ye Request off Jno: Davies Senior To you is That yu would be Pleased to give him halfe a rood off land neare his hous being on ye East side off ye highway yt goes along ye hill on toward Mr. Bowrs & ye other towards ye meetinghouse. The Reason off my re-quest is because I have no convenient place to set my Barne on. ye hill is so rising everywhere in my home lot … ... I desire to leave sufficient highwayes … this land is att ye end off Jno Tybals his orchard." ( Town Record, 102).
On February 25, 1703, the land requested four years earlier was officially granted, after John Sr. had already built a barn on the land. On Page 102 it states that
"The Record off ye Town grant off a piece of land to mr Jno: Davies senior wron his Barn stands:
"The land granted to Jno: Davies Senior by ye Town in gen all is bounded
South East on Jno: Tibbals his land,
North East on ye Towns land,
south west on ye highway &
North west on ye high way "This land is measured
5 Rod next to Jno: Tibals his land south East
5 Rod North West on ye highway &
North East on ye Towns land 4 Rod &
south west on ye high way 4 Rod
"Layd out by us Ebenezer Johnson Jno: Tybbals
Entered ffebr 25 1702/3 pr me Jno: James Town Clerke"
( Town Records, 179).
Old bridge, Division Street, between Ansonia and West Derby. ( Ely, p.74. )
John Sr. earned a share in lands purchased from the Indians. Both John Davis Sr. and his son John Jr. are listed with fifty-two men on March 12, 1702 as participants in drawing lots for land.
After pieces of land had been purchased from the Naugatuck Indians, it was divided into lots and distributed to the inhabitants of the township. The town meeting decided the sequence for locating the lots. Lot #1 was measured starting in the north corner of the parcel of land. Lot #2 was measured to the west of lot #1, and continue west until Great Mountain. The participants drew a number from a container, which was the sequence for their piece of land.
John Davis Sr. drew number 4, meaning his land would be the fourth lot measured. The pieces of land were measured in numerical sequence, but were not equal in size. The size depended on the status or present worth of the resident. Thus John Jr.'s lot no.4 may have been larger than lots #3 & 5 on each side. Also, the surveyors were instructed to be fair in respect to the quality of the land: "where it wanted in quality it was to be made up in quantity."
Phillips, Town Records of Derby
ILLNESS
In June of 1700 John Davis Sr. became "very sick and weak in body" and made a will. He named his wife Abigail, his sons John and Samuel, his daughter Sarah, his under-age son George, and his youngest children Mary and Nathaniel. The will was witnessed by Jobamah Gunn and John Riske (Riggs?).
Child Named Pounds
1. Sarah 20 and biggest bed, two trunks marked "s. s."
2. John 5 already had received some (money?)
3. Samuel 5
4. George 20 when he becomes of age (after June 1700?)
5. Mary 5
6. Nathaniel 5
In his will, John made provisions for the continuance of debt payment from his first wife's brother,
"Uncle Cook", to his two oldest sons: "Unto my son John Daviss and to my son Samel Daviss I give five pounds to Each of them there being a bill for fifty pounds wch I Secured for them in ye hands of their Uncle Cook part of which John hath already Received and at my decease ye bill shall by my Executrix be delivered unto them my said sons John and Samel Daviss and the ten pounds wch I have made use of, of that money Shall by my Executrix be made Good unto them. besides the five pounds to each of them wch shall be paid to them out of my Estate in Derby."
When the will was written in 1700 Uncle Cook may possibly have still been paying for the former home of his deceased sister's husband. He was paying an amount each year to John Sr. but also had made some payment to John, Jr. In his will John Sr. asked his wife to obtain the balance due on the "bill" after he died and give it to his children.
John Sr. recovered, however, from being sick to have three more children and lived twelve more years. John may have been serviced by the new doctor, Josiah Baldwin.
Will of John Davis Sr.
DEATH
John Davis, "seinyear" died in the spring of 1712, aged circa 65. His death occurred sometime before September 17, 1712, when his will was probated, and sometime after a recording of his cattle earmarks on April 29, 1712. He was survived by his third wife and their five children, along with four children by his first wife, for a total of nine children. There were three daughters aged 3, 5, 19, and 39; and four sons aged 9, 14, 31, 33, & 37.
At that time "most burials were without any religious service". His body may have been taken to the township burying grounds in a wooden box. Transport was difficult in the early days without roads or wagons. One method described was to use two horses, one behind the other, with a pole on each side of them. Short boards were attached across the long poles to support the coffin.
John Davis Sr. may have been buried in the Congregationalist church graveyard which was just across the street from his home lot, but the location is unknown. His widow may alternatively have had him buried on his home lot at the top of a hill, within sight of his house near Bladen's Brook. If a stone was used to mark his burial place, it was not in a yard with others, or it would have been recorded in a survey of two thousand graveyards in Connecticut in 1930 by Hale.
His estate was inventoried at 268 Pounds: 18 shillings. This total comprised Real Estate valued at 109:02 Pounds and Personal Estate of 159:16 Pounds .
As the deceased had requested in his will of June 18, 1700, Abigail (Tibbals) Davis, widow, was appointed the "Executrix" of her husband's will on September 17, 1712, with "overseers" his step father-in-law John Tibbals and Ensign Samuel Riggs. The inventory made on 1712, Sept. 30 was signed by Appraysors: Joseph J. and John Riggs, and noted "Abigail Daviss, Sworne in Court, Test Jos/h. Whiting, Clerk". The bottom line "Sum" value had been crossed out, probably due to incorrect addition.
The inventory of Sept. 30 was copied over again with proper spelling and addition on October 3, 1712, when it was recorded in Court at Milford. It was preceded by two testimonies that tie it to the will. Saml Eells "one of the assistants of her Majesties Colony of Connecticut" stated that he had heard Jobamah Gunn state that he had seen John Davis declare in writing the instrument on the other side to be his last Will and testament. Josh Whiting, Court Clerk, stated that John H_o_s_k of Milford had sworn in Court that he had seen John Davis of Derby publish his last will and he was of sound mind at the doing and that he saw Jobamah Gunn sign as a witness.
John Davis Sr.'s will, written twelve years earlier, had said that 60 pounds were to go to the children; however, no money was listed in the inventory, although everything had been given a monetary value. It is possible that the 60 Pounds were to come mostly from his first wife's brother "Uncle Cook".
In the spring of 1712, John and his brother Samuel decided that their sister Sarah would stay in the old Davis home with her brother George, and their father's third wife, Abigail (Harger) Davis would raise her five children in Derby.
Barbour Collection, Derby Vital Records
Campbell, S. and B. Seymour, Past and Present
Davis, Genealogy of the Descendants of Col. John Davis of Oxford, Conn.
Hale, Gravestones of Two Thousand Cemeteries in Connecticut
Inventory of John Davis Sr.
Jacobus, "Davis Family of Derby"
Lichfield and Hoyt, History of the Town of Oxford,
Phillips, Town Records of Derby
Rockey, History of New Haven County
300th Anniversary Booklet of Derby
Descendants of John Davis, Sr.
9* John DAVIS, Sr. b. ca. 1648; d. 1712 Derby (New Haven County, Conn.) Farmer, town council, candlemaker, linen and wool spinner, cider maker. Purchased land ca. 1695 in Derby township (now Seymour).
m1: Abigail (Cook ?), d. ca. 1690
1. Sarah DAVIS
2. * John DAVIS Jr.; b. ca. 1675. m. 1706 Sarah CHATFIELD
3. Samuel DAVIS, b. ca. 1679: m. Mercy Bennet, of Derby
4. George DAVIS, b. ca. 1681
m2. May 12, 1691: Mrs. Mary ( Smith ) Gun, widow of Abel Gunn. [Phillips, Derby Records, p.291 (p.25) ].
m3. Abigail Harger, of Derby, b.1672 at Stratfordshire
5. Mary DAVIS, 1693, Aug. 2, m. Timothy Taylor, of Danbury, Conn
6. Nathaniel DAVIS, 1699, Feb. 26; m. Eunice; ch: twins Joseph and Dan b. 1746
7. Jabez DAVIS, b. 1703, Jul.24, m. Elizabeth Taylor.
8. Elizabeth DAVIS, b. 1707, July 21
9. Abigail DAVIS, b. 1709, Apr.28
8* John DAVIS Jr. b. ca. 1675, d. spring of 1767. Lived at Chestnut Tree Hill, Oxford, Conn.
m1. 1706, Jul.15: Sarah CHATFIELD, b. 1686, Dec. 5, d. 1721, Jan.20. ( See Chapter 2 )
8. Samuel Davis, b. ca. 1679, d.1748, spring at Stratford
m1. 1708, Jun. at Stratford: Mercy Bennet, of Derby, Conn. b. ca. 1688
1. Elias DAVIS b. 1708, Jan.17, m. Abigail Tomlinson b. 1723, Jul.18
2. John DAVIS, m. Esther
3. Enoch DAVIS
4. Nathan DAVIS
5. Samuel DAVIS
6. Betty/Elizabeth DAVIS, m. Thomas Leavenworth
7. Hannah DAVIS, m1. John Hawley, m2. Obadiah Richards
8. Sarah DAVIS, m. 1737, Jul.06: Zachariah Hawkins
8. Jabez Davis, 1703, Jul.24, Derby, Settled at Danbury, Conn.
m. Elizabeth Taylor, daughter of Thomas Taylor.
ch= 3 sons & 3 daughters. son = Eliakim Davis, ancestor of Theron Davis, Orville,WA. (2007,Apr.; [email protected])
7. Elias Davis, b. 1708, Jan.17, m. Abigail Tomlinson, 1723, Jul. 18, daughter of John Tomlinson and Elizabeth Wooster
7. Nathan Davis, m. Eunice, daughter of Samuel and Hannah Tomlinson. Resided on Bungay and at the Neck.
1. Rachel DAVIS, b. 1738, Apr. m. Adam Vose
2. Eunice DAVIS, b. 1740, Jun.20, m. Azariah Prichard
3. Benjamin DAVIS, b. 1743, Mar. 1
4. Daniel DAVIS, b. 1746, Mar.20, m.Susanna Wooster
5. Joseph DAVIS. m. Amy Foote
6. Sarah DAVIS, b. 1756, Oct.6
6. Benjamin Davis, b.1743, Mar. 1- d.1817, Nov. Benjamin was at the meeting to start Trinity Church in 1797.
m1. Betty Tomlinson, daughter of Joseph and Sarah Tomlinson. b.1744, Mar.23-1775,Apr. 5
m2. Naomi DAVIS, daughter of Daniel and Ruth Davis. d.1818
1. Benjamin DAVIS
2. Betsy DAVIS, m.Plilo Miles
Jacobus, " Davis Family of Derby "
Lineage of Abigail Harger
10. Jabez HARGER, d. 1678 at Derby.
m1. Margaret Tomlinson, d.1698, Mar.17 at Derby, daughter of Henry and Alice Tomlinson.
1. Anna HARGER, b. 1668 at Stratford, Conn. m. John Chatfield, b.1661
2. Abigail HARGER (1672-1706)
9* Abigail HARGER, b.1672, Mar.02 at Stratford, Conn.;
- m1. John Tibbals of Derby. – m2. 1706 John DAVIS Sr.
( For children see John Davis Sr. )
Chapter 2
Derby and Environs
Derby and Ansonia
JOHN DAVIS JR.
Abigail Harger, John Davis Sr.'s third wife, introduced her new step-son, John Davis Jr., to her sixteen year old niece, Sarah Chatfield, daughter of Abigail's older sister, Anna Chatfield and John Chatfield.
On July 15, 1706, John Davis Jr. was married to Sarah. At the time, John, Jr.'s. youngest step brother Jabez, was only three years old; John Sr.'s first grandchild would be born before his last child.
The wedding ceremony was conducted by Major Ebenezer Johnson, the head of the "plantation" of Derby Township ( Vital Records v.2, p.24). They were not married by the minister.
John Jr. and Sarah Chatfield probably lived north on Chestnut Tree Hill, in Oxford. In 1868 Four families with the last name of "Davis" lived on Chestnut Hill Road. Chestnut Hill Road is located in 1987 in the eastern part of Oxford township.
John Jr. and Sarah's children were Joseph, born June 30, 1708; Dan, born January 17, 1710, and Mindwell, born February 4, 1712. Joseph may have been named for Sgt. Hawkins. Derby was probably getting too many people named "John" for Sarah to name her son after her father and husband. The record of the birth of the second son was: "Daves, Dan: s. John + Sarah, b. Jan.10, 1709/10", ( Vital Records, v.2, 160). Abigail was then born in 1713, Rachael in 1716, and Betty in 1719. Abigail was named for her father's mother. Her birth record was "Davis, Abigail, d. John & Sarah, b. Nov.20, 1713/4" ( Vital Records, v.LR.3, p.2.).
Sarah and her next child both died on January 20, 1721. The children were young when their mother died: Joseph was 13, Dan 11, Mindwell 9, Abigail 8, Rachael 5, and Betty 2. John Jr. aged 46, must have had help looking after these children—possibly from his step-mother, his older sister, or an Indian servant. His step-mother and sister were busy raising his half siblings.
John Davis Jr. married the widow of John Sturdevant, named Elizabeth, who had been living with her husband in Rigefield, Conn. John Davis agreed to raise her children in a probate court paper of 1723.
Jacobus, "Davis Family of Derby"
Barbour Collection, Derby Vital Records
LIVELIHOOD
John Jr.'s business was raising sheep for wool, spinning it into yarn, and woodworking. He was busy with shearing sheep; washing, carding and spinning wool; as well as growing, harvesting, retting and combing flax and then spinning it into thread and weaving linen cloth.
Inventory of John Davis Jr.
Wiggington, "From Raising Sheep to Weaving Cloth"
CIVIC INVOLVEMENT
About 1708 "... a list of the names of the freemen in Derby viz; they that have taken the freeman's oath: ..." includes "John daves" within 32 men (Lichfield, 9; Town Records, 425). This is probably "Junior" being accepted into the town meeting. The Free Man's Charge required roughly the following charges: To not plot against, nor consent to any hurt against the civil government here established. To report any one so doing. To do honour to the magistrates and obey them. To give vote or suffrage in any election which concerns the "common wealth" as one's conscience dictates, for the best good of same.
The Second Meeting House in Derby; erected in 1721
The "Freemen" had been electing their own government, or "General Court", since 1660. Some of their laws were against smoking in public and against being a witch.
In the summer of 1721, John Davis was Constable of Derby. A record describes that he held a black ram with marked ears of unknown owner for a fine of eight shillings ( Town Records v.3, p.7).
Lichfield and Hoyt, History of the Town of Oxford,
Phillips, Town Records of Derby
LAND ACQUISITION
On April 4, 1705, John Davis Sr. bought two "acores of land lying in Derby on both sides beaver brook below the Scraping hole plaine" ( Town Records , 373) from Jabiz Harger, "of Stratford of Fairfield County", recorded May 19, 1705, as witnessed by John Tibbals and Ebenezer Johnson, "Justis". John Davis Jr. bought his first piece of land from his step-mother's relative: John Davis Sr.'s third wife was Abigail Harger, born in Stratford.
The land was measured as "South end 16 rods wide". Beaver Brook flows southwest into the Naugatuck River. It is the east border of the town of Ansonia. In 1720, John Jr. sold 5 acres of this land to the town. His son Dan Davis left a piece of this land for his own son Ethel in his will in 1789.
John Jr. and Sarah probably received some land from their fathers on the occasion of their marriage in 1706.
A month after the birth of his second child, John Jr. addressed the Derby town meeting with a land petition:
"Greeting: Gentelmen by necessity am forst to put forth my petition to your selves requesting this favour of all to whom it dus conserne yt you will be pleas to sett your Hands to this my small request, for four acers and A half of Land lying upon White mayre's hill: I having not land to Improve: hope you will not denie this my request: gentelmen as yourselves know I have lived these severall years in this sd Town and have not had one foot of Land of yr townbut what I have bought hopeing Gentlemen yt upon these Considerations: you will be pleas to sett your hands to this my small petition that is Above mentioned signifieing me the sd John Davis to be true proprietor of ye sd lands above mentioned —pray sor, denie not this request to yor frind & servant
John Davis. Feb.2, 1710.
"Fourty names were signed and the deed was recorded" (Orcutt, 111).
"the town have granted John daves jun that peace of land that he petisioned for & have chose Joseph hull & Ebenezer harger to lay it out" (Town Records , 440).
"The half of ten Acres of land at White Mares hill …" was still in his possession when John Jr. died in 1767 ( Inventory of John Davis Jr. ) and his son Dan owned "one Eight acre Lot on White mares hill – 20 pounds" at Dan's death in 1789. This location is said to be "...evidently the rounded hilltop", which can be found on the 1882 map of Derby. (Jacobus).
In 1711 a committee was formed to lay out the lots on the Quaker's Farm Purchase. "The last deed being given in 1711" by the Paugaset Indians to the Derby township, was either the Quaker's Farm or the North purchase. John Davis Sr. had died before he could receive his share in these lands, so according to the item in his inventory: "the Right of Land in the Last Indian Purchase — 1 pound", John Sr. and his brother Samuel may have received their father's division after it was awarded to their estate.
"The list of estates in Derby in 1718, by authority of the town" includes "John Davis = 54" (Orcutt, 129). This was an evaluation of their rating or Real Estate assesment in pounds for taxes.
On September 20, 1720, John Davis sold land to the town of Derby. It was
"5 & 1/4 acres on the west side of Beaver Brook Meadow. The piece was 40 rods long, and 22 rods wide on the north and south ends" ( Town Records , v.3, 287).
Some more of the land in the Quaker's Farm purchase from the natives, was distributed in the winter of 1727-28. A list of sixty-three property owner's names, shows their assessment, and their lot number (Lichfield, 147). John Davis had lot no.34, and was assessed 70 Pounds/4s. Samuel and George Davis, John's brothers, are not listed, as they probably were not living in Derby township. John Davis Jr.'s son Dan would not be on the list till another three years as he was only age 18.
Atlas of New Haven County
Jacobus, "Davis Family of Derby"
Karlsen, The Devil in the Shape of a Woman
Lichfield and Hoyt, History of the Town of Oxford
Orcutt and Beardsley, History of the Old Town of Derby
Phillips, Town Records of Derby,
DEATH
John Davis Jr. died in 1767. He might have been buried at his former home in another town, or in either the Congregationalist or the Episcopal church graveyards in Derby. Both burial-grounds existed in 1990 in the old town, but his headstone has not found; nor is it listed (Larsen, Hale).
The real estate included the house lot, land at Bryant's Plain, sequestered land north of town, and land at: White Mares Hill, Beaver Brook, Bear Hills, Tobeys Rocks, and Moose Hill.
Distribution of the Estate of John Davis Jr.
Jacobus, "Davis Family of Derby".
Kemp, Connecticut Researcher's Handbook
Larsen, "Search of Christ's Church Cemetery"
Descendants of John Davis Jr.
8. John DAVIS Jr. b. ca. 1675, d. spring of 1767. Lived at Chestnut Tree Hill, Oxford, Conn.
m1. 1706, Jul.15: Sarah CHATFIELD, b. 1686, Dec. 5, d. 1721, Jan. 20.
1. Joseph DAVIS b. 1708 d. 1784
2. * Dan DAVIS, b. 1710, Jan.17. d. 1789, Derby. m. Ruth WOOSTER
3. Mindwell DAVIS, b. 1712, Feb. 4, d. 1713, Jan. 5
4. Abigail DAVIS, b. 1713, Nov. 20
5. Rachael DAVIS, b. 1716, Jul. 5, m. Captain Francis Hawley
6. Betty DAVIS, b. 1719, Oct. 11, m. Ebenezer Keney
m2. Elizabeth, widow of: John Sturdevant, of Norwalk, Conn.
7. Joseph Davis, b.1708, Jun.30, Derby – d.1784, Captain in Colonial Militia, settled in Oxford, Conn.
m1.1734,Apr.25: Mary Wheeler, of Stratford, b. 1744, May 30. d. Jan 18, 1764, 8 children.
1. Sarah DAVIS, 1735, Nov. 26, m. Isaac Nichols
2. Abigail DAVIS, 1738, Apr.12, m. Abel Gunn
3. Mary DAVIS, 1740, b. Oct.15, m. Arnold
4. Joseph DAVIS, b. 1743, Jul.10.
5. Hannah DAVIS, 1744, m. Richard Welton
6. John DAVIS, 1748, Feb.2 (died young)
7. Rachael DAVIS, 1752, Jul. 4, m.John Church
8. John DAVIS, bp.1755, Sep.28, m. Mehitable Thomas
m2. 1765, Jan.30: Mrs. Amy Foote, of Derby, Conn.
7.* Dan Davis, b. 1710, Jan.17, d. 1789, Mar.20, Derby. Weaver, spinner and farmer at Derby.
m. 1738, Dec. 6: Ruth WOOSTER, b. 1722, Mar.30, d. 1794. ( See Chapter 3 ).
7. Betty Davis, b. 1719, Oct.11, d. 1784, Nov.,
m. 1738, Dec.07: Ebenezer KEENEY, b. 1718, d. 1795, Jan.10, of Milford, Conn. Settled at Derby Narrows, made scythes and hoes.
1. Lucy KEENEY, b. 1739, Dec.03 (died young)
2. Comfort KEENEY, b. 1741, Oct.11, m. 1758, Nov.23: Judson Benton Sr.
3. Eunice KEENEY, b. 1743, Aug.31
4. Betty KEENEY, b. 1745, Sep.20, m.1764, Feb.15: Sheldon Clark
5. Sarah KEENEY, b. 1748, Oct.03
6. Ebenezer KEENEY, b. 1750, Oct.24. d. 1777, May
7. Abigail KEENEY, b. 1753, Feb.11. d. 1769, Oct. 4
8. Ithiel KEENEY, b. 1755, Mar.17
9. William KEENEY, b. 1757, Jul.16
10. Medad KEENEY, b. 1759, May. 31
11. Lucy KEENEY, b. 1761, Sep. 30
6. Joseph DAVIS, b. 1743, Jul.10. ( for more contact: Deborah Ugel, e-mail= [email protected])
6. John Davis, b. 1755, Sep.28. d. 1848, Nov.27, Colonel, Oxford, Conn., m.1782, Apr.10: Mehitable Thomas, d. 1852, Dec.27, daughter of Reuben Thomas of New Haven.
1. Sarah DAVIS, b. 1783, Mar.31, d. 1808, Dec. 6
2. Anson DAVIS, b. 1785, Sep. 5
3. Truman DAVIS, b. 1787, Mar.13
4. John DAVIS, b. 1788, Sep. 8
5. Lucretia DAVIS, b. 1790, Sep.22
6. Mary DAVIS, b. 1792, May.28
7. Chary DAVIS, b. 1794, Feb. 8
8. Nabby DAVIS, b. 1795, Dec.21, m. Harvey Osborn, of Oxford
8. Nancy DAVIS, b. ?1828, Aug.25, m. Cyrus Humphrey
9. Joseph Wheeler DAVIS, b. 1798, Aug.13
10. Sheldon DAVIS, b. 1800, Sep. 3, d. 1813, May 30
11. Lewis DAVIS, b. 1803, Jan. 26
12. Burritt DAVIS, b. 1806, Jul. 12
13. Julia Maria DAVIS, b. 1810, Jul. 4, m. Ebenezer Riggs, of Oxford
5. Anson Davis, 1785, Sep. 5- , m. Sally Prudent, of Milford, Conn. Address: Davis Road, Oxford: "lived at top of Great Hill, having bought the old Tomlinson homestead"
1. Sheldon Davis, 1813, Jan. 1-, m.Marietta Church
2. Sarah Ann Davis, 1815, Mar.10-, m.Luman Chapman
3. Anson Riley Davis, 1813, Mar.30-, m.Mary N. Alling
4. Marcus Davis, 1820, Oct. 9-
5. Delia Maria Davis, 1822, Oct.25-, m. John F. Coxhead
6. Harpin Davis, 1825, Feb.24-, m. Mary Chatfield
7. Homer Davis, 1827, Oct.15-, to Nevada
8. Samuel Pruden Davis, 1831, Sep. 1-
9. Martha Ellen Davis, 1834, Jul.11-, principal of St.Catherine's Hall, Augusta, Maine
10. Victoria Sophia Davis, 1837, Sep.21-, m. John F. Coxhead
5. Truman Davis, Captain, 1787, Mar.13-
m1. 1808, Dec.6: Mary Allen, -1832, Feb.13, of Woodbridge
1. Emily Davis, 1810,Aug.19-, m. Adams
2. David Allen Davis, 1812, Jul.29-
3. Clark Davis,1815,Mar.31-, m. Toffey
4. Marietta Davis, 1817,Aug.22-,
m1. Morgan;
m2.Statia Ball, – 1854,Apr.24, of Bethany;
m3. Sophia Mallory, of Milford
(For more on Truman Davis, see: Orcutt, 717-)
5. John Davis Jr., 1788,Sep.08-, m1. Riggs,
1. John Davis, m. Jeanette Wheeler
2. Isaac B Davis., m. Ann Tucker, to Hartford
5. Joseph Wheeler Davis, 1798,Aug.13- , m. Henrietta Newton, of Woodbridge
1. Jonah N., m. Bassett
5. Lewis Davis, 1803,Jan.26- ,
1. Dr. Henry Davis., m. Beecher of Bethlehem, lived in Wallingford
5. Burritt Davis, 1806,Jul.12-, m. Osborn, daughter of Hiram OSBORN Jay, m.Anna Fairchild
1. Sarah, m.Frederic Cable. (More in Orcutt, 717-)
4. Marcus Davis, 1820,Oct. 9-, m.Sarah M. Green,
1. Geo.T. Davis, New Rochelle, N.Y. Author of Davis Genealogy, 1910
Lineage of Sarah Chatfield
9. John CHATFIELD, b.Guilford,Conn.166, Apr.08, d. Derby, 1748. Founder of Derby. m. Anna HARGER
1. Sarah CHATFIELD, b.5, Dec. 1686, d. 20 Jun. 1721
8* Sarah CHATFIELD, b.Stratfield 1686,Dec. 5, d. Derby, 1721,Jun.20 m.1706, Jul.15, m. John DAVIS Jr.
(For children see John Davis Jr. )
Jacobus, New England Historical & Genealogical Register, v.78, 259, and v.70, 55 and 125
Family Members
Advertisement
Records on Ancestry
Advertisement
