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Individual Record for: Jonathan DAVIS (male)

Notes:

(Rev. 17 Dec 2006.) Son of John II of Acton MA, Shirley MA, and Reading VT. His line was from John4, Samuel3, Samuel2, and Dolar1 Davis (immigrated 1634).
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Seth Chandler's The History of Shirley says that in 1788 father John Davis [III] and those of his children that had not reached their majority [which would include Jonathan] migrated from Shirley MA to Reading VT. (By 1790s, father John Davis [III], and his sons Cornelius & Ezekial were recorded as heads of households in the Reading VT census.).
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It is not clear to me precisely when in the late 1780s and early 1790s his then-unmarried son Jonathan Davis came to VT. A Davis family historian says that he owned property in Reading at some point prior to 1798 [Fred C. Davis, "John Davis and His Descendants," in Gilbert A. Davis, "History of Reading Vermont," (v2, 1903) p. 209)]. I do see (in Mrs. Dana's file) an extract from a Reading VT deed Jonathan signed in 1787 [davisNotes_058.jpg]. I also have a copy of a May 1789 deed to him (a cordwainer) of land in Reading VT adjacent to a Cornelius Davis (probably his brother) [Reading VT town records]. These deeds, however, described Jonathan as being of Shirley. His marriage VRs in early 1791 in both Shirley MA and in Lunenburg MA also state that he was "of Shirley," But I do not see a birth record for any of his children in the Shirley MA VRs.
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In 1794, he bought land in Windsor (now West Windsor); he became an early & permanent settler there [Dorothy Dana McEnaney, "Am. Ancest. & Desc'ts of William Elbridge DAVIS 1848-1926," p. 6 (Windsor VT: 2003)]. History of Reading concurs that Jonathan eventually settled in Windsor [F.C. Davis, "John Davis and His Descendants," p209 in G.A. Davis, "History of Reading," Vol. 2 (1903).
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The History of Shirley p383 also says that Jonathan was the son of John [II] & Hulda (Thayer) Davis and that, "He purchased a farm of wild land in Windsor, Vt., [now West Windsor], which was his home for life. He had six sons and five daughters [unfortunately unnamed!], and d. Apr. 11, 1865." Dana & Kittredge "Genealogy Notebooks" (& McEnaney p6) gives five daughters as follows: (Sarah b. 1791, Abigail 1793, Miranda 1799, Hulda 1804, & Lucinda 1811) but only three sons (Jonas 1793, Jonathan 1795, & Sylvester 1806). (Dana & Kittredge also tentatively notes two more sons [Jedidiah 1797 & Joshua 1800] as unproven possibilities.) I do not find birth or baptism records for any of Jonathan's & Sarah's children in this "wild land." The list of descendants has apparently been compiled using a variety of sources, such as gravestone records, etc. Sarah, for example, has a complete d/c [see also Jonathan II (Hartland d/c)].
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A notebook originally in the West Windsor town clerk's ofice (now in West Windsor Hist Society in 2004) contained the minutes of meetings (starting in 1796 et seq.) in regard to the first school district in the region called "Broomshire," which was then in Windsor and is now in West Windsor. Jonathan Davis was the first moderator of the district and his name appears often until about 1848. A card in EHE's Davis card index file box says : "Jona. Davis: Record of 1st school, 11th dist. (later may have been 1st dist.) 1st meeting, Jona. chosen moderator 18 Apr 1796. & on Committee to build new school -- 1 Dec. 1802. & on Committee to singing [sic.] 1 Apr. 1805. Moderator 5 Nov. 1810. Moderator 29 Oct. 1811. On Com. 16 Mar. 1812. On Com. 28 Feb. 1815. On Com. Mar. 1820. About 1815, he's listed as having 4 children in school."
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In 1800 census, Jonathan was a head of household in [West] Windsor, which shows 3 Ms under 10; 1 M 26-44; 2 Fs under 10 [fits our ABIGAIL]; 1 F 26-45. Beside farming he had a trade as a cordwainer. The West Windsor property remained in his family until 1845 when he sold it to his youngest brother Levi.
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SOURCES:
Seth Chandler, "History of the Town of Shirley, Mass. from its Earliest Settlement to A.D. 1882," (Shirley MA: by author, 1883).
Wm. Richard Cutter, "New England Families: Genealogical and Memorial," v. 3, p 1410-1411 (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing, 1915);
Beatrice Dana & Mildred Kittredge, "Genealogy Notebooks," ms. at West Windsor, Vt., Hist. Soc., c.1980;
Fred C. Davis, "John Davis and His Descendants," in Gilbert A. Davis, "History of Reading Vermont," (v2, 1903) p. 209);
Horace Davis, "Dolar Davis, A Sketch of His Life," p. 39 (Cambridge MA: Riverside Press (1881);
Dorothy Dana McEnaney, "Am. Ancest. & Desc'ts of William Elbridge DAVIS 1848-1926," p. 6 (Windsor VT: 2003).
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BIRTH: b. 11 Oct. 1766 [from both Chandler p383 & Cutter p1411], bapt. 9 Nov 1766 [Shirley MA VR gives, on p. 25, the following: 'Jonathan Davis, s. of John & Hulda, bapt. Nov. 9, 1766. B.R.' (B.R. stands for Bolton Record. The Bolton Church record verifies the date]. His gravestone in Sheddsville Cem., W. Windsor VT reads "d. Apr. 11, 1856, ae. 88," [CHECK THIS] (i.e., his calc DOB wud be between 13 APR 1767 and 11 APR 1768), which is at least six months later than 11 Oct 1766 DOB.
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MARRIAGE: Lunenburg marriage record says "Jonathan Davis of Shirley m. 22 February 1791 [by Zabdiel Adams, minister] Sally Francis" [LTR fr Mary Padula, Town Clerk of Lunenburg MA to Mrs. F.B. Ells letter 26 Jan 1965]. In agreement is George A. Cunningham's "History of the Town of Lunenburg, Mass." (p269, t.s. [c1865] at Lunenburg Hist. Soc. Cutter v3 p1411, simply says he married Sally Francis. Chandler's History of Shirley says (p383) "m. Sally Francis of Lexington, Mass." Shirley marriage record says "Jonathan [Davis] and Mrs Salley Francis of Lunenburg, int. Jan. 16, 1791. [m. Feb. 22, B.R.]" [from Mass VR to 1800, NEHGS web; B.R. signifies that the fact was from historian Mrs. C.K. Bolton].
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DEATH: from gravestone; and from Seth Chandler, p383; Dorothy Dana McEnaney, "Am. Ancest. & Desc'ts of William Elbridge DAVIS 1848-1926," p. 6 (Windsor VT: 2003). [Rev. 2 May 2006]
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Apparently many of the Lunenburg-area settlers later settled in Cheshire and Sullivan Counties in NH as well as Windsor County Vermont. For example, his wife's sister Hannah and her husband Reuben Kendall (m. Lunenburg 1788) also settled in Windsor at this time [Cunningham History of Lunenburg p269]..

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