A Wilson Family Tree
Notes for Walter Davis
From the Parks manuscript:
Walter Davis came to America between 1740 and 1750, and spent some time in trading with the Indians northwest of the Ohio. He was of respectable family of the north of Ireland, which traced its ancestry to Wales. I believe he was the youngest son of the family, but am not able to state the Christian name of his father nor the maiden name of his mother, or in what country he was born, but he was a small man with sparkling black eyes, and most genial of spirit. In or about the year of 1750, he married Martha Cunningham and settled at Rock Spring. Whether great-grandfather [Robert Cunningham] died at this time, I cannot say. But I have always understood from my mother and other members of the family that my grandfather Davis became the possessor of Rock Spring soon after his marriage, and that all of his children were born on that place. Walter Davis, as I said, was a man of genial spirit. So far as I know, he never held a civil office, but was an elder in the Presbyterian Church, and exercised almost boundless influence throughout his neighborhood. There was but little use for law or lawyers where he lived, for he managed to settle all difficulties by the law of love. In short, I doubt not, he is in the enjoyment of the blessings promised to the peacemaker. I think he was not an actual participant in the Revolutionary struggle, although an ardent patriot, and heart and soul for the cause of Liberty. He was then advanced in life, had a large family, and was bound to provide for it and protect it. But he, no doubt, gave freely of his substance for the good cause; and his oldest son went into the army. The others were too young. All who personally knew Walter Davis regarded him with the utmost veneration and affection.
The Parks manuscript lists eight children of Walter and Martha Davis. Together, the wills of Walter and Martha list nine children; the one not listed by Parks is John. I would have guessed from this that John was the youngest child, but the Ancestral File shows him as being born before 1770, which would make him older than Elizabeth. The Ancestral File also lists a daughter named Euphonia, who was born before 1762. I do not include her since she is not listed anywhere else. Parks says that Euphemia was the third child and James was fourth, but if the birth dates for Martha and James are correct, there is no way that Euphemia could have been born between them. On the other hand, several sources say she was born about 1756. Also, her mother's will appears to list her children in order of birth, and Euphemia (transcribed as Euphora) is listed after James (actually, the heirs of James). This theory also fits with John being the youngest child, because he is listed last in Martha Cunningham Davis's will.
Several sources say that Walter was born in 1733, but that seems too late. Birth in 1733 would mean he was only about 17 when he married Martha, and according to Dr. Parks he had spent time trading with the Indians before marrying Martha and settling at Rock Spring. Perhaps it would work if the marriage was actually later than 1750. It might make sense for Robert Cunningham's sale of land to Walter in June 1753 to have been at the time of the wedding. That would not be consistent with daughter Margaret being born in or about 1751, though, or even with daughter Martha being born in January 1754. For what it's worth, Find A Grave (listing for Walter Davis) says the inscription on his gravestone is 70 yr.
The names of Walter’s parents come from the Dryden manuscript and WFT 5 # 1914. Further research on them is needed.
Walter Davis's will, from the Dryden manuscript:
In the name of God, Amen, I Walter Davis of Augusta County & Commonwealth of Virginia being weak in body but of sound mind & memory Blessed be the almighty God for the same, do make and sign ordain this my last Will & Testament, as for the worldly Estate with which God has blessed me, I devise & bequeath in the manner & form following to wit;
It is my will that my just debts be first paid. It is my will that all my lands shall be sold, & also my entry that I made joining the Seder Spring Survey.
I allow my Executors hereafter named to sell & convey my right of it to the best advantage as it now stands, all which lands I allow my said Executors to sell & convey as soon as they can have a good opportunity & I do hereby empower them to make a sufficient title for the said land as I myself could do and the money they receive for it they are to keep the one half of each payment & put it to interest & if that interest is not sufficient I do allow them to make use of the principle for the support of my wife & daughter Agnes & the other half of the price of the lands, I give unto my son John Davis, him to get one of each payment, as soon as it is paid.
I devise to my said John Davis the Waggon & geers & the farming utensils except the four axes & two of he is to have, which ever two he choses and do allow him to live on the land, untill it is sold, if be think fit, and give his mother the one third of the produce, & to put her part of both grain & hay up in good order in the lower end of the barn or whatever place she choses to have it put, and my wife to hold possession of the dwelling house & That part of the barn until the land is sold, but if my son will not chose to live on the land & pay his mother that rent, I allow my executors to rent it to the best advantage they can for the Support of my wife & daughter Agnes for untill the land can be sold to the most advantage for the Legatees, & my said son John Davis to have two thirds of the rent, and
I do give devise & bequeath to my beloved wife Martha Davis the whole of both household and kitchen furniture & my negroe girl Clery & all her increase to her & her heirs & assigns forever with all my sheep gees & her choice of two cows to dispose of as she thinks fit, except one bed & I give & bequeath to my daughter Agnes forever. I allow the hogs to be equal divided between my wife & John, and all the remainder of my estate not otherwise disposed of, I do allow my executors to sell & collect it with all the money due to me at my decease & put the whole with what ready I may have to interest, which interest & principle, I do likewise allow with the before mentioned interest & principle for aforesaid sufficient support my wife & daughter Agnes during their natural lives & what money is not expended at both of their deaths, I devise to be divided in the manner following.
I give my daughter, Euphema Donelly twenty pounds and my daughter Elizabeth Parks twenty pounds & all the rest of my children that is not heretofore mentioned, each of them to have one dollar, I devise to my grand children, Patsy Donelly, Wat Ewin, Walter Davis, Martha Ann Davis, Patsey Davis & Patsey Davis Herrin, each of them to have ten pounds. In case ever my son John Davis should have a son named Walter, or if my daughter Elizabeth Parks should have a son named Walter, or if either have a daughter named Martha, each of them is to have an equal share with the rest of my grand children before mentioned & in case Martha Rivers has no child named Walter or Martha she is to have five pounds herself & in case there should be more money left I allow my daughters & grand children to have in proportion to what I have allowed them, & if there is left they are to take in proportion. I allow Andrew Hunter the privilege of the water that runs through his pipes from my spring during the life of his present wife, if she lives there if she do not more damage that what she do at present, & also during the natural life of the said Andrew Hunter under the same restrictions & and I do hereby nominate constitute & appoint my beloved son William Davis & my trusty friends Joseph Bell & Robert Stuart Executors of this my last Will & Testament revoking all others.
In Testimony hereof I have hereunto set my hand & affixed my seal this 15th day March in ye year of our Lord eighteen hundred & three.
Walter Davis (Seal)
[Augusta County, Virginia, Superior Court Will Book 1-A, page 51]
WFT 137 # 299:
Supplement to the Annals of Augusta County, VA, pages 442-443
Davis Family Records, February 21, 1878
Family History of Christian County, KY 1797-1986, page 149
WFT 22 # 1690:
He came to America between 1740 and 1745. He spent some time trading with the Indians northwest of OH. After marriage he settled at Rock Spring. all his children were born at Rock Spring Farm, Augusta Co., VA. He was a member of the House of Burgesses. He was an Elder in the Presbyterian Church. As an older man he joined the Colonial Army.
Rock spring Farm was near Tinkling Spring Church.
His daughters were called the five smartest women in Augusta Co., VA.
Note that most of the notes from WFT 22 # 1690 are clearly based on Parks. However, the Parks manuscript says that Walter Davis never held civil office, so the part about him being a member of the House of Burgesses may not be correct (available lists of members of the House of Burgesses say they are not complete, so it is hard to be sure). That Walter was a church elder is confirmed in "The Tinkling Spring: Headwater of Freedom", by Howard McKnight Wilson, which has a list of Elders of the Tinkling Spring Meeting House in Appendix C. It says that his service began before 1765 and presumably continued until his death on 20 Mar 1803. The part about him joining the Colonial Army disagrees with Parks, but according to Cynthia McBride (email dated 18 May 2020) Walter is considered a patriot by the DAR because of his service as a surveyor during the war. This is confirmed by an entry in Augusta County Order Book 16, p. 378 (17 Nov 1778), which says, "Ordered that Walter Davis be continued Surveyor of the road from Love's ford to the road that leads from Long's Mill to Staunton and ordered that he with the usual tithables clear and keep the same in repair as the law directs." ("Augusta County, Virginia Court Orders 1774-1785" by Bevin J. Creel, self-published, Alexandria, VA, 2010.)
The Tinkling Spring church was very important in the early history of Augusta County and to the Cunningham/Davis family. Since Walter was a church elder for 40 years, this seems like a good place to include some discussion of the church. This brief discussion is based on the book “TheTinkling Spring: Headwater of Freedom”, which is a history of the church.
Religion was an important driver in the settlement of the Shenandoah Valley. Many Scots-Irish Presbyterians came to America seeking religious freedom, but they had trouble practicing their religion even here. Many of the Scots-Irish initially came to Pennsylvania, but conflicts with the Quakers and others there led them to head up the Shenandoah River into the wilderness. The settled part of Virginia, east of the Blue Ridge, was dominated by the Church of England, but in 1738 Virginia explicitly established a new religious policy for the settlers beyond the mountains. “Tinkling Spring”, on p. 44, says “It was in this condition of freedom of conscience and enjoyment of limited civil and religious liberties that the Presbyterian faith was first to take root and grow vigorously in the Virginia Colony.”
The first regular Presbyterian pastor in the area was John Craig, who was ordained in Pennsylvania in 1740, with the intent to practice in the southern part of the Beverley Manor. In 1740 and subsequent years, several “meeting houses” (only the official Church of England could legally use the term “church”) were established for church services. At first the meetings were in homes, but on 14 Aug 1741 a resolution was recorded for the south side of Rev. Craig’s congregation to purchase land and build an actual meeting house. Robert Cunningham was one of the signers. It was decided on 28 Sep 1742 that the meeting house would be built at the Tinkling Spring. ("Tinkling Spring", p. 3: “The earliest pioneers in the Valley of Virginia found a bold spring, whose emerging waters made a musical sound upon the cavernous rocks, and they called it the tinkling spring.”) It was to be a log structure, 50 ft. by 24 ft., with doors on the two shorter sides, which were on the north and the south. The “Tinkling Spring” book has a drawing and a floor-plan layout. There was no chimney and no heating. There was a note in Rev. Craig’s record of baptisms that Sunday, 14 Apr 1745, was the first day meeting at the “Contentious Meeting house about half built”. A 110-acre tract of land was purchased from William Thompson for £15 on 19 Nov 1747. There were some difficulties in raising the money to finish the work and then to pay the minister’s salary, so starting on 26 Apr 1748 a policy was established of renting out the seats in the church! The rents ranged from £1.12.6 down to £0.12.0 per year (the numbers are pounds.shillings.pence).
In 1764, the congregation of the Triple Forks of the Shenandoah was split up and Rev. Craig went to the northern part, which met at the Stone Meeting House (several miles north of Staunton, at present-day Fort Defiance). Tinkling Spring did not have a regular pastor for the next several years, until James Waddel took over in May 1776. This development was important to Walter Davis’s family, especially daughter Sallie, as recounted in the Parks manuscript:
In the year of 1776, that remarkable man and devoted minister of God, James Waddell, came to Augusta County, Virginia, and was settled as pastor over Tinkling Spring Church. Of this church our grandfather [Walter Davis] was a ruling elder. Mr. Waddell lived within about three miles of him. Of course intimate intercourse immediately sprang up between the families. At this time my Aunts Smith, Reeves, and Donly were all married. My Uncle James was probably absent in the army, but Aunt Sallie was just budding into early womanhood with the warm affections and sprightly intellect. It is easy to imagine the influence of his rare eloquence and of the society of a refined intelligent family on a girl of that age and character. [From the notes for Sarah (Sallie) Davis.]
Rev. Waddel was also one of the founding trustees of Liberty Hall in Lexington, VA, which later became Washington and Lee University. He was pastor at Tinkling Spring until 1784. According to "Tinkling Spring" (p. 208), the congregation was unable to support a minister in their post-war condition, so Rev. Waddel established a new church in Staunton, though he did not stay there very long. After Waddel, there was another gap without a regular pastor, until John McCue became pastor in 1791. He served until 1818, well after Walter Davis’s time as church elder.
It was resolved on 20 Jun 1777 to build a new meeting house of stone or brick. Walter Davis pledged £10 to the effort. Five others also pledged £10; the other pledges were smaller, so we see that Walter was prosperous and deeply committed to the church. However, this effort was disrupted by the war and the new stone meeting house (60 ft. by 30 ft.) was not built until about 1792, under Rev. McCue. Walter Davis was one of the trustees appointed to direct the building. They sold 107 acres of the church’s land on 15 Jun 1794 to help cover the expenses.
Note: Some of the information in these pages is uncertain. Please let me know of errors or omissions using the email link above. ...Mike Wilson
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