Frederick Walter Davies was second son to Anthony Harpin Davies and Mildred Pollard (Gaines) Davies. He opened and ran Lake Village Bank and ran Lake Hall Plantation after his father's death in 1862 and when he came of age after the end of the civil war. Lakehall plantation consisted of most of the east side of the oxbow lake (Chicot). Walter Davies operated a plantation store at Vaucluse Landing from the 1890s through 1920s and slowly began selling off parcels before his death.
After his wife, Kate Sessions, died he did not remarry but instead fathered at least four if not more children with Susan Bliss, who was a laundress and cook for the household after 1885. Upon his death in 1929, Walter left much of his estate to Susan Bliss and $30,000 to each of his three surviving "bastard children". These provisions in his will were met with strong disapproval from a number of other Davies family (there was no common-law marriage in Arkansas even had bi-racial marriages been legal, which it wasn't at the time). The lawsuits were brought against the estate and Susan Bliss, litigated for years but ultimately failed so that Susan Bliss and her children received what they were entitled. Walter had stipulated that his bequests to Susan were for "45 years of service," essentially back payment for her labor on the farm and within his household, and that any member of the family or other party disputing her share were to get $1 only and nothing more.
After his wife, Kate Sessions, died he did not remarry but instead fathered at least four if not more children with Susan Bliss, who was a laundress and cook for the household after 1885. Upon his death in 1929, Walter left much of his estate to Susan Bliss and $30,000 to each of his three surviving "bastard children". These provisions in his will were met with strong disapproval from a number of other Davies family (there was no common-law marriage in Arkansas even had bi-racial marriages been legal, which it wasn't at the time). The lawsuits were brought against the estate and Susan Bliss, litigated for years but ultimately failed so that Susan Bliss and her children received what they were entitled. Walter had stipulated that his bequests to Susan were for "45 years of service," essentially back payment for her labor on the farm and within his household, and that any member of the family or other party disputing her share were to get $1 only and nothing more.
Frederick Walter Davies was second son to Anthony Harpin Davies and Mildred Pollard (Gaines) Davies. He opened and ran Lake Village Bank and ran Lake Hall Plantation after his father's death in 1862 and when he came of age after the end of the civil war. Lakehall plantation consisted of most of the east side of the oxbow lake (Chicot). Walter Davies operated a plantation store at Vaucluse Landing from the 1890s through 1920s and slowly began selling off parcels before his death.
After his wife, Kate Sessions, died he did not remarry but instead fathered at least four if not more children with Susan Bliss, who was a laundress and cook for the household after 1885. Upon his death in 1929, Walter left much of his estate to Susan Bliss and $30,000 to each of his three surviving "bastard children". These provisions in his will were met with strong disapproval from a number of other Davies family (there was no common-law marriage in Arkansas even had bi-racial marriages been legal, which it wasn't at the time). The lawsuits were brought against the estate and Susan Bliss, litigated for years but ultimately failed so that Susan Bliss and her children received what they were entitled. Walter had stipulated that his bequests to Susan were for "45 years of service," essentially back payment for her labor on the farm and within his household, and that any member of the family or other party disputing her share were to get $1 only and nothing more.
After his wife, Kate Sessions, died he did not remarry but instead fathered at least four if not more children with Susan Bliss, who was a laundress and cook for the household after 1885. Upon his death in 1929, Walter left much of his estate to Susan Bliss and $30,000 to each of his three surviving "bastard children". These provisions in his will were met with strong disapproval from a number of other Davies family (there was no common-law marriage in Arkansas even had bi-racial marriages been legal, which it wasn't at the time). The lawsuits were brought against the estate and Susan Bliss, litigated for years but ultimately failed so that Susan Bliss and her children received what they were entitled. Walter had stipulated that his bequests to Susan were for "45 years of service," essentially back payment for her labor on the farm and within his household, and that any member of the family or other party disputing her share were to get $1 only and nothing more.
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