Davis Children

Davis Children
Ernest and Chessell's first 6 children...

29 August 2015

Harrison -- Con't

The current DAVIS Family book [again written my my father George Davis and cousin Royce Miller] states Harrison was "a foot soldier"for the Union Army. Clearly, I think I have found that he is deserving of being classified a bit higher then that and in light of all the battles his artillery served in, prominent and horrific, I know the family will think of him a bit differently now.

Harrison was discharged in DC and returned to the little town of Liberty, March 1864. 


He met and married Martha Jane Boynton in January of the next year and they had a daughter Alice Julia in November of that year. She was followed by Laura Annie, Stanton Elbridge, Clara Adah, my Great Grandfather Ernest Augustus, Rose Emily and Harrison Everett Davis. 

My family will all recognize names that have been used in successive generations to pay tribute to their ancestors. My great grandfather Ernest named sons after his brother's [and father Harrison], his older brother Stanton Elbridge Davis having died at 25 from Tuberculosis when Ernest was 15. Sadly...the children named for him also died young, Stanton at the age of 5 and Ernest Chester [known as Chester tot he family] at the age of 4.  Many men in the family have one of those names as middle name tributes.  My name is just a coincidence - chosen by my mother but I like to think maybe a few Davis angels assisted....

Harrison would go on to live to the age of 73, eventually succumbing to heart issues - likely the same ones that got him discharged from his Civil War service.



24 August 2015

Harrison

A family name, fondly used most often by calling him "Baby Harry", was my great uncle. Harrison was also the name of my GG Grandfather. Both fought in wars for our American freedom, the first shot down over Germany in WWII and the later in the Civil War. It is this later Harrison I will share info on.

Harrison Henry Davis - son of [Charles] Elbridge and Julianna [Dunton] Davis- was born in 1839 in the little town of Liberty, Maine in Waldo County. Per the US Census in 1860 he was living with his parents and siblings, working on the farm. In the family genealogy book my father and cousin Royce wrote they stated that he had the honor of shaking President Lincoln's hand. That got my research into high gear.  There is a wonderful site - Civil War Trust at CivilWar.org where much of my research took place

In 1861 he enlisted in the Union Army 14 Dec joining the Maine 1st Battalion, 2nd Light Artillery Battery. I sent off to the National Archives for his Civil War records - they sent me a CD of them, including his discharge for disability. Organized in Augusta and headed to Portland and Fort Preble -10 March 1861. They were stationed there until 1 Apr when they headed to Washington, DC. By the beginning of June they were in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia skirmishing with the confederates under Stonewall Jackson and eventually they ended up in the Battle of Cedar Mountain. The Union troops there were outnumbered 2 to 1 and it is the first battle where Clara Barton was officially allowed to care for wounded soldiers on the battlefield. The federals attacked first and a two hour artillery barrage ensued on the 98 degree day.  Harrison's wartime experience was not going to get easier.

Following this first action, his unit spent much time battling Jackson's Confederates through Virginia along the Rappahanock River. Eventually they wound up in the Battles at Groveton and Bull Run [known as the 2nd Manassas] before they got a break and worked defending Washington DC. 

From tha point on it was a build up to some very difficult time for his unit. They helped guard the railroad lines south of DC and camped at a place called "Brooks Station" It took me lots of reading letters to figure out that this referred to a place and the only railroad crossing to Fredericksburg and Richmond - Potomac Creek Bridge. But this also meant that his unit would be right in the middle of two horrific events - the Battle of Fredericksburg and the infamous Mud March in January 1863. They finally got a two month reprieve [mid winter] in Fletcher's Chapel, VA.

The rest would be needed as they then had to begin the Chancellorsville Campaign. Chancellorville Campaign really explains what occurred there and how. After yet another horrific loss it seems that they get a month long respit, which they will need. For on the 1st of July they are engaged and play a pivotal role in the Battle of Gettysburg. There is a monument erected in their honor on those hallowed grounds and the following artwork depicts their efforts. 

I wonder where it was that Harrison shook the hand of Pres Lincoln? He had reviewed the troops while Harrison was in Camp there before Gettysburg. Or was it at Gettysburg? Perhaps while in the hospital at Camp Berry in Washing ton before his discharge 4 March 1864?? Perhaps I will never know exactly. His units flag is at the State Capital in Augusta Maine. Harrison lost two brothers in battles in the Civil War - Charles and William - likely both fought at Port Hudson in Louisiana without knowing it.

I do wish I had known all of this when I lived in Arlington Virginia. And I went to Fredericksburg when I did an internship in college - saw the Civil War cannonball still embedded in the upper section of a house [yes, on the side the union was firing]. I had no idea then that my GG Grandfather was there 120 years earlier firing them. 

Harrison Henry Davis 1839-1913

23 August 2015

Greats...

Ernest and Chessell [Bryant] Davis were married on  25 Mar 1900. They are my Great Grandparents and lived their lives in Waldo County, Maine. This photo is the second of the two that my Ancestry contact "KeriQueen"  had found. 


Conveniently, this was just before her aunt was going to be in the same town where these photos were taken, where the family homestead/farm is located and she was kind enough to return it to the family.



This is their wedding photo, never before seen by our family as far as everyone seems to know. We used it on T shirts for our family reunion in 2012.


The photo below...is them celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, 1950. After 16 kids [only 13 making it to adulthood] and the trials of the Great Depression - family was the thing that was a common thread - and a strong one.  



Ernest & Chessell Davis - 50th Anniversary

The Photo...

The image I chose to use above is a story in itself. One day I was contacted through my tree on Ancestry asking if I would help identifying a photo that only had "Chessell's Children" written in pencil on the back. It was sent to me, digitally, and I immediately recognized my grandfather - Arnold Davis - as the eldest in the photo. 

He was born in 1900, lived to almost 101 but I really did not have many photos of him as a kid. Much of that was due to the family circumstance and location, taking photos in rural Maine was not convenient at that time nor inexpensive I presume. So finding, or being found more correctly, was great. I asked for help from my more senior family members, plus then was able to share it at the same time. 

So...the verdict was that the photo is L to R:
Arnold, Norman, Edna, Stanton, Chester and Theo  

taken before Stanton and Chester died in 1909. 

I do not know, yet, how this photo ended up with the woman who contacted me. She said it was in a collection of photos her aunt had. There is more to this story...stay tuned...

Day One

it has become increasingly difficult to keep up with updating all in the family as we literally move through our lives. My father and cousin Royce started the work on our family tree not too long after my dad retired. Many versions of their work followed and then, sadly, the passing of my father. Boxes of notes and binders were saved and stored until one day, I too was bitten by the same bug.

I have completely recreated and verified the work they both painstakingly did. I chose to use digital online sources, while referring to those binders and notes. I like to think my version had a much smaller carbon footprint then theirs, yet I too spent countless hours in its creation. My family tree on Ancestry has close to 10,000 people in it.

Along my journey I have found new information, verified facts and been blessed with finding some interesting "things". This blog is to share those discoveries...the ones past and the ones yet to come in hope that the next generation will be able to continue "our" quest, and that you are "caught up".

Laurie Davis

"The Southernmost Davis"
Ft Lauderdale, FL