Comments for sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/the-problem-of-jonathan-and-elnathan-davis

Comment #2712

2026-10-11T20:44:25Z

Thank you for posting this, Susan. I have four Elnathan Davises in my database. None of them looks like a match, but I have so little information on them I can't be sure. No match with any of my Sarah Davises, and no Alvit Clarkes, either.

Comment #2711

2026-10-11T20:13:17Z

I am trying to research Elnathan Davis, father of Sarah/Sally Davis(1802-1889)who married Alvit Clarke, SeventhDay Baptists. I’ve no info on her birth, they moved from Westerly/Hopkinton, RI to Milton, WI. I started following the SDB communities and finally found Elnathans in NJ. I’ve seen most of your above research and yes, confusing. I also came across this will extract of Elnathan Davis witnessed by Elnathan Davis Surveyor,

NJ will extracts Abstracts of Wills, 1771-1780

CALENDAR OF WILLS—I771-1780

129

1771, Aug. 25.

Davis, Elnathan, of Hopewell Township, Cumberland

Co.,

husbandman; will of.

Eldest son,

Elnathan Davis, my cane.

Second son,

Job,

my sword.

Daughters,

Ruth,

Phebe,

Mary

and

Jemima, 10 shillings each.

Youngest son,

Nathan, plantation where

I live,

paying to Israel Pemberton,

of Philadelphia the money T

owe him for said land.

Executor-son, Nathan.

Witnesses-John

Bonham, Alexander Campel, Elnathan Davis, surveyor. Proved July 30, 1773.

1773, July 6.

John Burgin.

Inventory, f113.19.5, made by Elnathan Davis and

Lib. 16, p.

Is this any of the Elnathans you researched?

Thanks

Comment #2710

2025-11-01T13:16:42Z

Ancestry.com can't decide about Wales for me. Sometimes it's there, sometimes it's not. Most recently, not -- but instead I have "West Midlands" in England, which is right next door.

Comment #2709

2025-10-10T07:48:05Z

Hello, it’s me again. I just started to read about the Davis family. A year or so ago Ancestry.com sent me info on my DNA. I am 2% Welsh, never knew where that came from until I read the beginning paragraphs of your (and my) Davis family tree. Thank you.

Comment #2708

2021-11-30T16:20:21Z

I'm sorry, Rachel, but that's not a branch of the family I've run into. As one well-known genealogist once told me, it's easier to research Smiths than Davises.

Comment #2707

2021-11-28T02:11:07Z

Does anyone have any information on Conrod/Conrad/Coonrod Davis, b. 1678 (Unknown place), d. 1781, in Greenwich Township, Sussex County (now Warren County), NJ.?

One of his sons, Conrad Davis, settles in the Jersey Settlement, in Rowan county, North Carolina and has sons Simon, Andrew, Jonathan, and Maurice “Morris,” I can’t find the eldest (NJ) Conrod’s parents or his place of birth. Have searched for years. I have taken a DNA test, but am not sure how to use results to determine my direct (DAVIS) lineage. Thanks.

Comment #2706

2021-09-23T14:47:23Z

Okay, I think I understand now. Here’s what I know, or at least think I know:

Fulke Davis’ son Samuel (by an unknown wife) married someone named Mary, but I’ve found no evidence of her surname.

Samuel and Mary’s son Elnathan married an unknown wife (possibly Hannah Housely but again the documentation is lacking).

Elnathan and his wife had (among others), the Rev. Jonathan Davis who married Esther Ayars. Among other children they had a son, Elnathan.

So far, we generally agree. Here’s where the lines diverge: You have this Elnathan married Marry White, and I that he married Susannah Bond. (See Gilbert Cope’s Genealogy of the Sharpless Family, H. Stanley Craig’s Cumberland County, New Jersey, Genealogical Data, and H. Stanley Craig’s Genealogical data from Cumberland County, New Jersey Wills.) Possibly Marry White was another wife? I find it unlikely, though, since the evidence indicates Elnathan married Susannah Bond at age 21 and predeceased her.

If I were you, I’d concentrate on your Elnathan Davis – Marry White connection. If you’ve never had an Ancestry.com subscription, you might sign up for a free trial and put some concentrated effort into seeing what they have available. Even there, you have to remember that genealogical data found online, and even in books, is notoriously unreliable. I’m a member of Find a Grave and a big proponent of it, but there’s no doubt that there’s plenty of speculative and unsourced material there.

Another thing I’d advise is making sure your later generations are solid – birth, death, and marriage certificates, photos, announcements, newspaper articles, anything that can document the events. And above all, talk with your family! So, so many of us did not become interested in our ancestry until it was too late to ask about it. A five-minute conversation can clear up information that might otherwise take a lot of painstaking work.

Comment #2705

2021-09-23T00:45:09Z

I may have mistyped the Davis's let me try to clear up my research.

Fulk Davis to Samuel Davis wife Marry Meddowes, His son Elnathan Davis marries Hannah Housely their son Jonathan marries Esther Ayars, their son Elanthan Davis marries Marry White (From here down we are now in the south), their son Jonathan Davis marries Nancy Kirksey their son Miles Davis marries Mary Hughes and has two sons before she passes in 1832. Sarah Gladden has Benton Davis, Minerva Davis, Milton Early Davis and Nancy Belle Davis all in Georgia, Miles Davis dies in 1840. Sarah Gladden marries a wheeler and Nancy Belle Davis becomes a wheeler as well but Milton Minerva and Benton do not. Milton marries Armenda Sprayberry in Ga they have a son William Lumpkin Davis. Armenda had a brother named Lumpkin as well. William Lumpkin Davis died in 1938 in Gurley Alabama. My grandfather remembered him and his funeral and that his father went by Early Davis and never really had anything to do with the family. William L Davis had a sone Edgar E Davis who had Hubert Hershel Davis who had Ron Davis who had me. My source is the census data of 1850 and 1840 as well as what records I can see on resources like find a grave and family search. I could very well be wrong but trying to see where I come from.

Comment #2704

2021-09-22T14:23:39Z

Hi, Kurt! By no means to I claim my research to be definitive, but for what it's worth I have a problem with your "Reverend Jonathan Elnathan Davis" (son of Samuel son of Fulk). From what I have been able to discover, Fulk's son Samuel had three sons: Rev. Jonathan, Samuel, and Elnathan. Rev. Jonathan had no children and his brother Samuel apparently died young. His brother Elnathan did have children: Elnathan, another Rev. Jonathan (who married Esther Ayars), Nathan, Samuel, and John. Of course at any point there may have been other children who did not survive long enough to be mentioned in the probate records.

What is your source for your Jonathan Elnathan Davis, his son Elnathan, and his grandson Miles?

Comment #2703

2021-09-22T04:17:01Z

Hello,

I have worked backward from my present day up to Fulke.

Kurt Davis son of

Ron Davis son of

Herschel Davis son of

Edgar Davis son of

William L Davis son of

Milton Early Davis son of

Miles Davis son of

Elnathan Davis son of

Reverend Jonathan Elnathan Davis son of

Samuel Davis son of

Fulk Davis

From Milton or Miles down seems they were in N Carolina and then Georgia and then Alabama. Does this seem right to you?

Comment #2702

2021-06-10T21:40:40Z

Thank you very much, Norm, for the comment, the information, and especially the source.

Gary Boyd Roberts (of the NEHGS), on looking at my surname list, commented, "I would rather research Smiths than Davises." I have both Smiths and Davises. Joneses, too.

Comment #2701

2021-06-10T21:12:13Z

Thanks so much for posting your research. I am descended from Fulke Davis, and have documented my family line back to him. My father also did considerable genalogical research on the line, and ran into the same roadblocks.

The Records of the Town of Jamaica, Long Island, New York, 1656-1751 [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008603783] leave no doubt whatsoever that the three Davis brothers who arrived in Shiloh NJ with their mother Mary are of the Fulke Davis line. The lynchpin in the lineage, if that is the right word, is Samuel Davis b.abt. 1647 in Southampton, NY, later living in Jamaica, NY, and noted on many land records. I note the following:

1685: Samuel Davis sells land he received "off my ffather Ffulk Davis" to Wait Smith; signed by Samuell Davis, witnessed by Elizabeth Davis and Mary Davis.

1688: Mary Davis sells land to Abigail Miles; deed is witnessed by Jonathan Davis

1696: William Creed sells land he bought "of Mary Davis widow and relickt of Sam'll Davis late of Jamaica"

1700: on 12 December, William Creed records the satisfaction of a mortgage he made to "Jonathan Davis, Samuell Davis, and Ellnathan Davis... of a deed formorly given... by Marry Davis latte of Jamaica beinge the widow and relict of Sameull Davis deseast... ". The document further releases Jonathan Davis, Samuell Davis and Mary Davis of all claims. The mortgage was made 7 Nov 1692. Creed then goes on to state that he releases from further obligation "the thre brothers" mentioned above.

Proof enough... the question is, what to do about it? I find many genealogists have accepted the Massachusetts origin of the NJ Davis line, but there are no records whatsover to confirm this. The search goes on, as they say.

Thanks again.... your work is very, very helpful.

Comment #2700

2021-01-22T16:51:27Z

Thanks, Mark. It's wonderful that you know the history of your home and are interested in it.

Comment #2699

2021-01-22T16:25:15Z

Thank you for posting this information! I was curious about Jonathan Davis since I live on his lot of land and Shiloh’s deeded plot of land! This was very interesting!

Comment #2698

2020-06-14T21:04:38Z

Norman, it appears that you and Rob Black (above) should get together—you have the same line. What I know is what I have published here.

Comment #2697

2020-06-14T20:34:44Z

My ancestor was John Davis (d 1775) who came to Rowan Co, NC in 1750 or so with the Jersey Settlement. His son was Benjamin Davis,and grandson was Benjamin Merrill Davis my ggggrandfather.

We are interested on any info regarding the arrival of John or his brother Samuel? to Rowan as initial settlers prior to 1745-7.

Comment #2696

2020-06-10T22:38:40Z

I know the problem with sparse records. I bless my New England Puritan ancestors frequently for their nitpicking attention to detail and their propensity for hauling people into court for every offense—they left GOOD RECORDS. I didn't realize how good until I started digging (or trying to dig) into my ancestors in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Virginia/West Virginia.

Certainly the Y-DNA evidence is encouraging; I sometimes wish I had a Y chromosome to contribute to the research. Unfortunately, the will of Jonathan Davis, his uncle, is all I have on John.

All I can say is have patience, as more and more records are becoming available. Sometimes it is still worth actually going to the places involved, as there are still small libraries and historical societies with records only available locally.

Comment #2695

2020-06-10T20:18:49Z

My ancestor John Davis d. 1775 "Jersey Settlement" in old Rowan Co NC came to NC in the 1750s as a linen weaver and is *probably* the son of Elnathan Davis son of Samuel Davis to whom the Rev. Jonathan Davis leaves a part of his estate. The Y-chromosome is on record at FTDNA (file 38091) and is shared with other descendants of Fulke. Can you imagine any way we could firm up the parental connection? Paper records in NC are thin at that period, and we don't even know his first wife's name. (Second was Mary, widow of John Parke.) Thanks!

Comment #2694

2020-06-08T00:29:38Z

Hi, Julie. There are no intersections that I can find with my database, despite the similarities of name. I note from FindAGrave that your Benjamin Davis was born in Tennessee, while my Davises seem to have stayed around New Jersey. No doubt you've found the Ancestry.com family tree that traces your Benjamin son of Elnathan back to the Fulke Davis above, who is the start of my Davis line in America. That's certainly possible, and if true you might find the above resources of some interest.

However, that tree has Fulke's son Benjamin born 1690 instead of the 1640 above, and there are other obvious errors (such as a man being married when he was four years old). Still, it might be worth looking into if you haven't checked it out already.

Comment #2693

2020-05-14T14:12:01Z

Hello, Benjamin Davis: 1795-1872 (wife Melvina Perry) are my line of Davis family. His parents are Elnathan Davis and possible Rebecca Brooks as his wife?

Have you run across this line? I am trying to make connections with Benjamin's father Elnathan and who his line might be.

Thank you.

Comment #2692

2020-03-09T17:11:57Z

Do you know how Rev. Elnathan Davis (pastor in NC and SC during the 2nd great awakening 1735-1821) fits into this line? He was born in Maryland and seems to be comtemporary to the grandsons of Foulk Davis.

After reading about what an awful person Foulk Davis was, I didn't want to be descended from him! After studying haplogroups in a gentic

genealogy group, I learned that Foulke Davis was not an R-M269 as a large part of Davises are. I guess I won't ever untangle this Davis mystery if you were not able to with all of your tedious research

Comment #2691

2019-08-31T16:29:20Z

I'm sorry for being so slow to respond to this, Rachel. Unfortunately, I have not run into Conrad Davis, but I will keep my eyes open for his name. My Davises settled mostly in the southern part of the state.

Comment #2690

2019-06-08T11:56:20Z

Conrad Davis, Sr. (b. 1678, d. 10/15/1781) was my 6th great-grandfather. He is buried at Greenwich Cemetery in Greenwich, Warren, New Jersey. His wife was named Charity. She is buried beside him. He served as a teamster in the Revolutionary War, and is buried next to General Maxwell (who Conrad mentions serving under, during a transcribed interview to determine his service/pension). His son, Conrad Davis, Jr. (of whom I also descend) was the operator of the Oxford Furnace for a period of time (early 1800’s). I am emailing beacause I cannot find out who Conrad Davis (Sr.)’s parents were, nor can I find out where he originally came from before settling in NJ. I would be most grateful for any information you may have concerning this early New Jersey Davis family. Thanks you!

Comment #2689

2019-06-03T20:36:03Z

Hi, Hatte! I once had a genealogist from the NEHGS tell me that Davises are harder to research than Smiths, and I believe him, having more than one Davis line to deal with.

I found your tree on Ancestry, and sent you a message there. While I don't find any one person in common with my own tree, it's impossible to believe we're not related, both having Davis and Ayars ancestors from Cumberland County, NJ.

Comment #2688

2019-06-03T03:58:18Z

My ggg grandmother was Sarah Davis born 1774 in Cumberland County. I have Ayars / Sheppard DNA matches and I know a little about Sarah Davis. She grew up with the Elmers and Ogdens. She married Timothy Bennett and then William Mints. Her daughter married a Conover - Dubois son. I've never been able to fit her into the various Davis genealogies, but perhaps your work will help me.