William Davis, My Welsh immigrant of 1684.

The progenitor of many Davis families in New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia was the ever-controversial Rev. William Davis of Glamorganshire [Glamorgan], Wales [research has shown that his father was William Davies of Llanstephan, Radnorshire, Wales, where in his will Rev. William Davis is listed as his son] who arrived at Penn’s colony in America as a Quaker convert in 1684. Inspired by William Penn and George Fox while a ministerial student at Oxford, he left school before graduating in order to join Quaker brothers and sisters in Philadelphia two years after Penn had founded the “city of brotherly love”. (1)

Matriculated Oxford University June 30, 1682 at age 18 to study theology. Documentation from the Bodleian Library at Oxford University archives suggest his father was William Davies of Llanstephen, Wales. While studying at Oxford he became interested in the doctrines of the Quaker Society. He left not finishing school, and immigrated to Philadelphia in 1684 living amongst William Penn and others of the Society.

Penn’s colony “Pennsylvania” provided a safe haven for the Society of Friends, nicknamed “Quakers”, who were being persecuted by the Puritans throughout New England.

Within the first year, young William Davis found a wife. In his lifetime, William Davis married twice and possibly had ten children. Both wives were named “Elizabeth” (Brisley and Pavior). (1)

His first marriage to Elizabeth May Brisley took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1685.

As a member of the Society of Friends in the new city of Philadelphia, a young, exuberant William Davis soon rose as a speaker on doctrinal issues. His subsequent views, however, were not well received as he and others became dissatisfied with the Quaker leadership. In 1691, William Davis, became a follower of George Keith, who had come to Philadelphia in 1689, to serve as headmaster at a Quaker school. Keith soon felt the Quakers had strayed from orthodox Christianity and formed a “short-lived group called the Christian Quakers”, of which William Davis likely was a part. However, within a couple of years, William and George also parted ways — again — because of doctrinal issues. Keith returned to England, hoping to gain support, but found his views rebuked by the Quaker leadership there as well. Before the decades end, George Keith was an ordained Anglican priest. (1)

Banished by the Baptists.

Still seeking his denominational niche, about 1696, William Davis “accepted many principles of the Baptists after coming in contact with Rev. Thomas Killingsworth” and was baptized by him. Davis joined the Pennepek Baptist Church near Philadelphia, where he later became pastor. It may have been here that he met and took his second wife, Elizabeth Pavior. William’s first wife, Elizabeth BRISLEY Davis, likely died in the 1690s’ to early 1700’s. Her cause of death is unknown, but epidemics were rampant during this period. (1)

Actually his first wife Elizabeth May Brisley Davis died 30 June 1700 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In 1698, William Davis was banished from the Pennepek Baptist Church for expressing a heretical view of the person of Christ.” Two years later, he published his controversial book called “Jesus Christ, the Crucifyed Man – the Eternal Son of God ” in which he describes Christ both human and divine in nature, a theory, by today’s standards, considered centuries ahead of its time. (1)

For anyone with an interest in reading this book written by our ancestor Rev. William Davis, it is available online to read here: Jesus the crucifyed man, the eternal Son of God, or, An answer to an anathema or paper of excommunication, of John Wats entituled, Points of doctrine preached & asserted by William Davis. Wherein the mystry [sic] of Christs descention, incarnation and crucifixion is unfolded. / By William Davis. (umich.edu)

Rev. William Davis took his “heretical views” to Rhode Island, a new colony founded on freedom of religious tolerance. A year later, in 1699, he “returned to Pennepek and organized a Seventh Day Baptist church as a branch of the Providence (Rhode Island) Church. Seventh Day Baptist history mentions a third group of churches (which) came out of the Keithian split from Quakerism in the Philadelphia area about 1700. (2)

Seven years later, in 1706, he and his wife (second wife Elizabeth Pavior) returned to Rhode Island and applied for membership into the Newport Seventh Day Baptist Church, and three years later, he was called to be their pastor.

Fifty years prior, in the 1660s, this church had splintered away from the First Baptist Church of Newport, when a few members “became convinced that the Ten Commandments should be obeyed literally and began to observe the Sabbath on Saturday, the seventh day of the week. (2)

Although he had served as pastor of other churches, Rev. William Davis was not ordained as a Seventh Day Baptist minister until 1710, in Westerly, Rhode Island, where the denomination flourished. Years later, Seventh Day Baptists fled to Westerly to avoid British occupation. (4) The extended Davis family was likely among them. To this day, Westerly, Rhode Island is the home of the SDBC General Conference offices.

On March 1, 1714, following his father’s death in Wales, William Davis, then in his 40s, applied for membership to a church in England, with plans to claim his portion of his father’s estate. William was said to have been born in the Shire of Radnor in South Wales, and his father, William Davies of Llanstephen. (5) But as he was about to return to his homeland, family and friends changed his mind.

In the spring of 1717, William and Elizabeth (Pavior) returned to Pennsylvania where they remained for the next seven years, during which time a fire to caused them a “severe loss”. (6) “From here, they moved between Stonington, Connecticut and Westerly, Rhode Island (by 1734) – villages only a few miles apart along the Atlantic coast, most likely abiding in homes of their children. (1)

Circa 1740, when a Seventh Day Baptist group organized in Monmouth County, New Jersey – William and Elizabeth (Pavior) Davis, now elderly, moved for the last time to settle with family between the Manasquan and Shark Rivers. Although William‘s son, John, was called by the SDB elders to pastor this new congregation, he declined. Instead, he (apparently) stepped aside out of respect for his father. In 1745, the Shrewsbury Seventh Day Baptist Church was formally organized with Rev. William Davis as minister. The first congregation consisted of “five men and eight women, all having come from Stonington, Connecticut”. (7) That same year, William Davis of Wales died. He was 82 years old. Fifteen years later, his wife, Elizabeth (Pavior) died in Middletown, a community on the north coast of Monmouth County, New Jersey. (4)

Of William Davis of Wales, Seventh Day Baptist historian Don Sanford writes: “His loyalty to the denomination has never been questioned, although both his temperament and certain unorthodox views caused considerable controversy not only among the Pennsylvania churches, but in Rhode Island and New Jersey as well… his descendants provided the nucleus, nearly a century later, for a migration into what is now West Virginia. (4)

Children of Rev. William Davis and first wife Elizabeth Brisley:

1. Martha Davis born about 1687 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She may have married Joseph Eaton.
2. Rev. John Davis born 5 May 1692 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and died 18 August 1754 in Shrewsbury, Monmouth, New Jersey. He married Elizabeth Maxson, daughter of Rev. John M. Maxson, Jr. and Judith Clarke. (My direct ancestors).
3. Mary Davis born about 1695 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and died 1789. She married Richard Ridley on 24 September 1715.
4. William Davis born 7 November 1695 in Westerley, Washington, Rhode Island, and died April 1751 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He married Rachel Evans.

Children of Rev. William Davis and second wife Elizabeth Jane Pavior:

1. Thomas Davis, died 1786, and married Bethia Maxson. They lived in Pennsylvania and Middletown, New Jersey. His son Joseph Davis was captured by the British at the Battle of Middletown, he was imprisoned in 1777 in New York.
2. Joseph Davis. He married first to Anna Babcock and second to Mary Babcock. They lived in Middletown, New Jersey. Joseph came from Pennsylvania to Shrewsbury, New Jersey in 1747 and to Westerly, Rhode Island in 1752.
3. Edward Davis. He married Sarah Bowen in 1744 in Gloucester, Rhode Island.
4. Lydia Davis. She married Hope Covey.
5. James Davis born 1720, and died 1778. He married Judith Maxson at Westerly, Rhode Island. The British burn his shipyard. He was killed by a stray bullet as he rode out to watch the Battle of Monmouth.
6. Elisabeth Davis. She married Joseph Maxson of Stonington, Connecticut.

My ancestor is Rev. John Davis, son of Rev. William Davis and Elisabeth May Brisley. As noted above Rev. John Davis, was called by the SDB (Seventh-Day Baptist) elders to pastor the new congregation (Shrewsbury Seventh Day Baptist Church), he declined. Instead, he (apparently) stepped aside out of respect for his father.

On 25 August 1715 in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, Rev. John Davis married Elizabeth Maxson. She was the daughter of Rev. John Maxson, Jr. and Judith Clarke.

Rev. John Maxson, Jr. was born 12 October 1666 in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, and died 28 October 1747 in Hopkinton, Washington, Rhode Island. He was the son of Rev. John M. Maxson, Sr. and Mary _____ (possible maiden name was Mosher, she may have been the daughter of Hugh Mosher and Lydia Maxson). Rev. John Maxson, Jr. married Judith Clarke.

Judith Clarke was the daughter of Rev. Joseph Clarke, Jr. and Bethia Hubbard.

Rev. Joseph Clarke, Jr. was the son of Rev. Joseph Clarke, Sr. and Margaret Turner.

Rev. Joseph Clarke, Sr. was born 9 December 1618 in Westhorpe, Mid Suffolk District, Suffolk, England, and died 1 June 1694 in Newport, Rhode Island. He married Margaret Turner (she died 1694).

Rev. Joseph Clarke, Sr. was one of the four brothers who came to Portsmouth in 1638, and the only one to leave children. He and his wife Margaret had ten [children], six of them boys. While his older brother John was spending thirteen years in London getting a charter for Rhode Island, Joseph became the spiritual leader of the community, and one of the founders of the Seventh-Day Baptist Church in Newport. Later he was the first pastor of the church in Hopkinton, later Westerly. For seven years he was Governor’s Assistant from Newport, and for two more years from Westerly. He was also Deputy for several years, dying in office at the age of seventy-two. (8)

Rev. Joseph Clarke, Sr. – There were four brothers of the name Clarke, John, Thomas, Joseph, and Carew. Dr. John Clark was born Oct. 8, 1609 and died April 20, 1676. He was thrice married, but left no issue; was several times Deputy Governor, and for a long time Colony Agent in London. (9)

Rev. Joseph Clarke, Sr. was the son of Thomas Clarke and Rose Kerridge (Kerrich/Keridge).

Thomas Clarke was born in October, 1570 in Westhorpe, Suffolk, England, and baptized at St. Margaret’s there on November 1. He was the son of John Clarke and Katherine Cook. He married Rose Kerrich at All Saints Church in Saxtead, Suffolk, on May 11, 1600. They returned to Westhorpe and settled there. When his father died, Thomas probably took his father’s lands in Westhorpe because he resided there when his children were born. His brothers John, Carew and Christopher must have taken their father’s lands in Finningham, as subsidies were levied on them at Finningham in 1597. Thomas and Rose had eight children at Westhorpe. Thomas died July 29, 1627 and was buried in the churchyard of St. Margaret’s Church at Westhorpe on the 30th. (10)

Rose Kerrich was born in April, 1572 in Saxtead, Suffolk, England and baptized there on April 13 of that year. She was the daughter of William and Margery Kerrich. She married Thomas Clarke in All Saints Church in Saxtead on May 11, 1600. Rose died at Westhorpe on September 19, 1627 and was buried in the churchyard of St. Margaret’s Church there on the 20th. (10)

Bethia Hubbard (wife of Rev. Joseph Clarke, Jr. and mother of Judith Clarke Maxson) was the daughter of Rev. Samuel Hubbard and Tacy Cooper.

Rev. Samuel Hubbard was born 10 May 1610 in Suffolk, England, and died 10 May 1689 in Newport, Rhode Island. He was the son of Captain James Hubbard and Naomi Cooke (Cocke).

Religious persecution is likely what brought Samuel Hubbard to America in 1633. It is believed that his grandfather, Thomas Hubbard, was a religious martyr, burned at the stake in Essex, England. Samuel’s father, James of Mendelsham, “was a suspect who escaped persecution.” After disembarking from the James Grant, Samuel Hubbard first settled in a Massachusetts village called Salem. (1)

My ancestors Rev. John M. Maxson, Jr. and his wife Judith Clarke “were baptized and joined the Newport Seventh Day Baptist Church on 31 July 1692. He was ordained deacon in the Westerly church 21 August 1712, as they were members of that church after it was set off from the Newport church. In 1720 he became pastor of the Westerly church, following his father [Rev. John M. Maxson, Sr.]. He served as pastor for twenty-seven years, until his death in July 1747. In 1739 his brother Joseph was ordained Elder to assist him. John, Jr., was an extensive land holder in Westerly. He represented Westerly in the Colonial Assembly in 1742, 1743 and 1744. (9)

Children of Rev. John M. Maxson, Jr. and Judith Clarke:

1. Judith Maxson born 23 September 1689 in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, and died November 1731. She married Capt. Samuel Hubbard Burdick.
2. Mary Maxson born 26 October 1691 in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, and died 16 March 1692 in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island.
3. Jesse Maxson born 1692 in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, and died 1710 in Shrewsbury, Monmouth, New Jersey.
4. Bethiah Maxson born 31 July 1693 in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, and died 18 April 1751 in Shrewsbury, Monmouth, New Jersey. She married her first cousin Joseph Maxson. They were among the founding 18 members of the Seventh Day Baptist Church of Shrewsbury, New Jersey.
5. Elizabeth Maxson born 7 November 1695 in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, and died 18 April 1751 in Shrewsbury, Monmouth, New Jersey. She married Rev. John Davis. (My direct ancestors).
6. Hannah Maxson born 13 June 1698 in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, and died after 19 March 1752 in Hopkinton, Washington, Rhode Island. She married Hubbard Burdick.
7. Captain John Maxson born 21 April 1701 in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, and died 1786 in Westerly, Rhode Island. He married Thankful Randall.
8. Dorothy Maxson born 20 October 1703 in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, and died 1741 in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island. She married Thomas Burdick.
9. Susannah Maxson born 19 October 1706 in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, and died 1774 in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island. She married George Deake.
10. Joseph Maxson born 1 December 1709 in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, and died July 1710 in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island.
11. Avis Maxson born 27 December 1712 in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, and died 1795 in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island. She married Samuel Hubbard Burdick.

You probably noticed that several Maxson children married into the same Burdick family. I also have a link to this same Burdick family, but you have to take it two generations down to my Davis/Crandall ancestors.

Elizabeth Maxson and Rev. John Davis are my direct ancestors.

Children of Rev. John Davis and Elizabeth Maxson:

1. Elizabeth Davis born 17 April 1717 in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, and died 14 December 1791 in Shrewsbury, Monmouth, New Jersey. She married William Bland.
2. Rev. Thomas William Davis born 15 May 1718 in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island and died 15 July 1791 in White Day Creek, Monongalia, West Virginia. He married Tacy Crandall. She was the daughter of John F. Crandall and Mary Yeomans.
3. Martha Davis born 14 August 1721 in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, and died 1 April 1756 in Waterford, New London, Connecticut. She married Nathan Rogers.
4. Rev. John Davis II born 16 September 1723 in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, and died 29 August 1792 in Bristol, Hartford, Connecticut. He married Bethia Rogers.
5. Joseph Davis born 24 September 1726 in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, and died in Rush, Monroe County, New York. He married first to Comfort Langworthy and married second to Dorcas Clark.
6. Anna Davis born 23 January 1728 in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, and died 10 May 1786 in Shrewsbury, Monmouth, New Jersey. She married John Havens.
7. Judith Davis born 7 April 1731 in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, and died 1785 in Shrewsbury, Monmouth, New Jersey. She married Thomas Babcock.
8. Experience Davis born 1735 in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, and died 20 October 1795 in Salem, Harrison, West Virginia. She married Zebulon Maxson.
9. Mary Ann Davis born 5 December 1737 in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, and died 16 January 1785 in Hopkinton, Washington, Rhode Island. She married Elisha Stillman.

Tacy Crandall (wife of Rev. Thomas William Davis) was the daughter of John F. Crandall and Mary Yeomans.

Rev. Thomas William Davis and Tacy Crandall are my 5th great-grandparents.

John F. Crandall was born 1682 in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, and died 17 January 1767 in Hopkinton, Washington, Rhode Island. He married Mary Yeomans, who was the daughter of Samuel Yeomans and Mary Ellis.

John F. Crandall was the son of Rev. Joseph Crandall and Deborah Burdick, she was the daughter of Robert Burdick and Ruth Hubbard. This is where my direct line links up with the same Burdick family that has so many Maxson/Burdick intermarriages.

Ruth Hubbard, wife of Robert Burdick, was the daughter of Rev. Samuel Hubbard and Tacy Cooper.

Ruth Hubbard Burdick listed above and Bethia Hubbard (wife of Rev. Joseph Clarke, Jr. and mother of Judith Clarke Maxson) are both my ancestors and both were the daughters of Rev. Samuel Hubbard and Tacy Cooper.

My ancestor Rev. John Crandall was a minister in the Seventh-Day Baptist Church. He lived in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, and died in Newport, Rhode Island. He married Mary Yeomans. Rev. John Crandall was the son of Rev. (Elder) John Crandall. Some give the name of the wife of Rev. (Elder) John Crandall as Mary Opp. The name of his first wife is unknown and unproven, she was the mother of Rev. John Crandall. His first wife died in 1670 and was buried 2 August 1670. He married second to Hannah Gaylord.

The above photos are of the homestead built by my ancestor Rev. John Crandall (Elder) and one of the many barns on the property, there is also a family cemetery on the property.

Elder John Crandall’s homestead was built in 1665, it’s 1411 square feet with 3 bedrooms and one bath. The lot size is 4,724,953 square feet. The Crandall homestead stayed in the family for 332 years until owners Irving and Arlene Crandall, gave back their land to the Narragansett tribe of Rhode Island in 1991. They had been unable to pay the overdue taxes of $5,500 annually. The 350 acres was estimated to be worth $1.37 million dollars in 1991. Their move thwarted the City of Westerly’s threat to seize the land. It also stopped speculators who hoped to make a fortune in development. The Narragansetts agreed to pay all back taxes. The written agreement also allowed the couple and any heirs they choose to live on the homestead for life. (12)

John Brown, a Narragansett tribal council member said, this whole thing kind of renewed my faith in mankind. It has now come full circle. My people gave this land to the original Crandalls as a gesture of good will, and now it has been returned to us in the same spirit. He said tribal records show that Elder John Crandall got the land from the Narragansett in 1659, and it was re-granted to his heirs through a signed deed in 1732 out of gratitude for their friendship and help. He said the good relations between the family and the Narragansett continued through successive generations. (12) 

Arlene and Irving got a great sense of satisfaction after all the years of feeling the pressure from the town of Westerly for unpaid taxes. They didn’t have any children. Irving Crandall passed away on May 17, 2015, at age 94. He was the proprietor of Crandall’s Junkyard until his retirement. He joined his wife Arlene Bliven Crandall who died on April 5, 2005, at age 80. They are both buried in the Old Crandall Cemetery on the property.” (12)

Reverend [Elder] John Crandall, one of the founding settlers of Westerly, Rhode Island, was born about 1612 in Monmouthshire, England to James and Eleanor Crandall. Some biographers put his date of birth closer to February 16, 1617, the date of his christening recorded at Westerleigh, Gloucestershire, England. As such, some historians believe Westerly, Rhode Island, was named for the town in England where he was christened, or possibly even born. (11)

While the exact date of Crandall’s arrival is not known, it is believed to be 1637 when he arrived in Providence, Rhode Island, then a new settlement and a refuge for dissident Puritans from the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

From Providence he came to Newport, Rhode Island, as early as 1651. (The first actual documentation for Elder John Crandall in American is in 1643 when he appears as a grand jury member in Newport.) He became a prominent member of the Baptist church there, subsequently the first elder of the denomination at Westerly, Rhode Island. With John Clarke and Obadiah Holmes, he went to Lynn, Massachusetts, to hold services for the Baptists, was arrested there July 21, 1651, and sent to prison in Boston. Ten days later he was convicted of breaking the law by holding services and fined five pounds, in default of which he was to be publicly whipped. Upon his promise to appear at the next term of court he was released. (11)

In 1655, he was a freeman of Rhode Island; in 1658-59, 1662-63, he was a commissioner.

With eight others he signed a letter to the court of commissioners of Rhode Island, dated August 27, 1661, in relation to a tract of land at Westerly, where they and others desired to settle.

He was a deputy to the general assembly in 1687, and in the fall of that year was living at Westerly. He and Joseph Torrey were appointed commissioners to treat with Connecticut as to jurisdiction over disputed territory, May 14, 1669, and he was supplied with thirty-five shillings by the colony of Rhode Island to pay his expenses to Connecticut.

In November 18, 1669, he received a letter from the governor and assistants of Connecticut, complaining that he and others had appropriated a large tract of land belonging to Stonington, Connecticut. He and Tobias Saunders answered the complaint for the Westerly people. He was conservator of the peace at Westerly in 1670, and deputy to the general assembly again in 1670-71.

He was arrested by the Connecticut authorities, May 2, 1671, and was advised by the Rhode Island government to decline to give bond. The Rhode Island colony promised to pay his expenses and defend him.

His first wife is thought by some to be Mary Opp (born 1633; died August 1, 1670), and he married (second) Hannah Gaylord (born 1647), probably daughter of William Gaylord and Ann (Porter), of Windsor, Connecticut. She died in 1678. He died at Newport, where he had moved because of King Philip’s War, in 1676. (11)

Note that there is no record of the name of Elder John’s wife in any Rhode Island records nor has a record of the marriage ever been found. Based on the approximate dates of birth of their children (with the eldest, John, born ca. 1649 based on the date he appears as a freeman in Westerly) it would appear likely that Elder John married his first wife in the latter part of the 1640s. It also would seem to indicate that he probably married her in America. Since she is referred to as a “Sabbath keeper” in communications from Samuel Hubbard, it is likely that she was of the Seventh Day Baptist faith, and perhaps she was a daughter of one of the SDB families in Rhode Island at the time. (11)

Rev. John Crandall (Elder) is the ancestor of a number of prominent Americans, including actors Amy Adams, Lucille Ball, and Katharine Hepburn; cooking teacher, author, and television personality Julia Child,; anthropologist and folklorist Ruth Benedict; author, storyteller,  humorist, voice actor, and radio personality Gary Edward “Garrison” Keillor, County Music and Pop singer Billy Gilman, First Lady Frances Folsom Cleveland (wife of US President Grover Cleveland), John Batterson Stetson (Inventor of the Cowboy Hat), and TV Producer Cash Warren.

Included in this blog entry is information about my Davis, Crandall, Maxson, Burdick, and related direct ancestors and kin. To tie it all togther, I need to go back to my 5th great-grandparents Rev. William Thomas Davis and Tacy Crandall.

Children of Rev. William Davis and Tacy Crandall:

1. Thomas William Davis born 1 May 1738 in Westerly. Washington, Rhode Island, and died 30 September 1740 in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island.
2. John Davis born 1 May 1738 in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, and died 1739 in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island.
3. Rev. Nathan Davis, Sr. born 9 May 1740 in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, and died before 17 October 1814 in Salem, Harrison, West Virginia. He married Anne “Annie” Gifford.
4. Elizabeth Davis born 1746 Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, and died 1807 West Union, Doddridge, West Virginia. She married Ephraim Maxson and Cornelius Sutton.
5. Lydia Davis born 21 OCT 1749 in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, and died 18 April 1828 in Lincklaen, Chenango, New York. She married Samuel Stillman.
6. Mary S. Davis born 1750 in Shrewsbury, Monmouth, New Jersey, and died in 1806 in Shrewsbury, Monmouth, New Jersey. She married Rev. Jacob Davis (who was her Davis/Maxson kin).
7. Rev. John Davis born 1 January 1754 in Westerly, Washington County, Rhode Island, and died 22 May 1842 in Jane Lew, Lewis County, West Virginia. He married Marvel D. Maxson (who was his Maxson relation).
8. Ruth Davis born 1757 in Shrewsbury, Monmouth, New Jersey, and died before 1830 in Pike Township, Perry County, Ohio. She married Dennis Kennedy, who was the son of John Kennedy and Sarah Murray. (My 4th great-grandparents).
9. William “Greenbriar Billy” Davis born 21 Mar 1758 in Shrewsbury, Monmouth County, New Jersey, and 6 January 1845 in Shelby County, Ohio. He married Elizabeth Anna Johnston.
10. Martha Davis born 15 August in Squankum, Monmouth, New Jersey, and died 2 January 1854 in Salem Township, Shelby, Ohio. She married Deacon Thomas Babcock, Jr. 
11. Tacy Davis born 1761 in Shrewsbury, Monmouth, New Jersey, and died 1 June 1858 in Pennsylvania, She married Thomas S. Palmer.
12. Henry Davis born about 1762.
13. ______ Davis (Father of John and William Davis who both went to Pike Township, Perry County, Ohio).

The next generation down is my ancestor John Kennedy, son of Dennis Kennedy and Ruth Davis. He married Jane Williams, daughter of Zachariah Williams and Elizabeth Swartzlander.

Please see my blog entry My Kennedy, Graham, and Murray Ancestors from Ballintoy, Antrim, Northern Ireland that continues with the descendants of John Kennedy and Jane Williams.

☆ Side note: For a long time the parentage of my ancestor Ruth Davis Kennedy was a brick wall. I must thank my sister Linda; my niece, my brother’s daughter, Elisabeth; my grand-niece, my sister’s granddaughter, Bethany; my cousin William; and my Kennedy cousins Laura and her father John. For it was only with my DNA matches, as well as all of them also matching to the same Davis, Crandall, Maxson, Burdick, and related lines that enabled me to piece together her ancestry. As well as the fact that her husband’s Kennedy family were also Baptist, and the Kennedy family helped build the first Baptist Meeting House in Perry County, Ohio, shortly after the county was formed. And it also explains why Ruth Davis and Dennis Kennedy named a daughter Tacy Kennedy. The first name Tacy was passed down numerous times throughout the various family lines. My ancestor, my 2nd great-grandfather, Capt. John Davis Kennedy (pictured below), the grandson of Dennis Kennedy and Ruth Davis, was given the middle name Davis in honor of his grandmother’s maiden name. ☆

There was so much intermarriage in these families, that I am not surprised that I have a TON of DNA matches. Also, I am descended from a few lines twice.

References:

1. Geni – William Davis, Jr. (1663-1745)- Shrewsbury
2. “Entering Into Covenant: The History of Seventh Day Baptists in Newport,” by Don A. Sanford, Newport History: the Quarterly Journal of the Newport Historical Society, vol. 66, part 1, no. 226, Summer 1994.
3. SABBATH HISTORY BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF MODERN DENOMINATIONS – via the Internet Archive.
4. “Entering Into Covenant: The History of Seventh Day Baptists in Newport,” by Don A. Sanford Sanford, Don A. (1994) “Entering Into Covenant: The History of Seventh Day Baptists in Newport,” Newport History: Vol. 66: Iss. 226, Article 2.
   Available at: https://digitalcommons.salve.edu/newporthistory/vol66/iss226/2
5. Glenna Maria Davis-Johnson, Huma, AZ, USA. DAVIS and Allied Families ECKSTROM, HENRY, HOXIE, KENT, MONEY, PETTIT, STRAIGHT, WEX of RI, NY, & WI (rootsweb.com) 
6. Davis, Settlers of Salem, West Virginia, by Susie Davis Nicholson, 1979, Original from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.
7. Sojourners Day, Clarksburg Telegram, Dorothy Davis, 1989.
8. Swamp Yankee from Mystic, A Family, A Region and It’s Roots, By James H. Allyn, Copyright 1980, Page 50-51.
9. Early Settlers of Westerly, RI, J.D. Champlin, Jr., NEHGR, Vol 14, January 1860, Page 25.
10. “The ‘Clarke’ Families of Rhode Island.” G. A. Morrison. NEHGR 75:279.
11. 28 June 2015: Elder John Crandall’s Homestead in Westerly, RI | Wells Family Genealogy (wordpress.com)
12. Libby on the Label: #52 Ancestors Week 13 – “The Old Homestead”

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