Davis Children

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

24 July 2016

The other Harrison...

My Great Great Grandfather mentioned previously was Harrison Henry Davis. My Grandfather's youngest brother was named for him - Harrison Everett Davis - or as the entire family lovingly called him all his life, Baby Harry. It is hard to be the last of 16 children, following my grandfather who was the eldest, 22 years later. 

His elder siblings looked after him as large families are prone to do. His eldest brother thought the world of him and it is my belief that he was saddened that the age gap robbed him of some of the great times they would have had in youth if closer in age. It never stopped him from visiting and spending time with him every fall on the yearly trip home to Maine. 

Harry may not have ever realized how highly he was regarded by his siblings, or perhaps it was just that he would never let on that he knew. I repeatedly heard of how his WWII service affected his siblings. Not the service itself, as others served too, but the fact that he and his crew were shot down behind enemy lines.

He was the tail gunner on a B-17 bomber tasked with many missions over both France and then later over Berlin. 

I never heard him speak of his experience, I am sure it resulted in PTSD, but I hope he knows how much his whole family appreciated his service, let alone the rest of America.


24 January 2016

New Job...time to travel!!

So the new job has me traveling to Salt Lake City, UT to be trained on our machines and software packages. And...I will be moving to another location once that is complete. At first it was Memphis but now my new boss says maybe Charlotte, NC or Atlanta, GA instead. 

All this makes me wonder about the ancestors I know who moved long distances in their lives, from my Pilgrim ancestors making that heroic choice to go to the new world, to my GG Grandfather who decided to leave Maine and head to California to find a better life, while leaving my GG Grandmother and G Grandmother [born after he left] to fend for themselves in Maine. 

One of the benefits of going to Salt Lake is that the Family History Library is there - the largest repository of files, films and books needed to trace ones tree. I have been very lucky in finding lots of documents already scanned and available online. But I still have those unresolved ancestors I cannot find info on. 

Salt Lake will also afford me the opportunity to investigate a branch of my family who indeed were involved in the founding of the Mormon Church. It turns out that Joseph Smith, known as the Prophet, is my 3rd cousin, 5x removed. And one of my GG Grandfather's sister married a man who was also one of the original founders of the church and she eventually lived and died in the SLC area. So maybe a trip to the Church's Museum might be in my plans too. 

And maybe I will go to the rehearsal of the choir...because I can!