Orange Runnels Davis & Adelaide Barlow

transcribed from the Pettis/Davis History written by the Ponwith sisters.

Orange Runnels Davis, son of Isaac Van Norman Davis and Mercy Rogers

Orange Runnels Davis was born in Canada, in the Province of Quebec, December 10, 1800. On December 2, 1822, he married Adelaide Barlow, daughter of William Barlow and his wife, who was a French woman, unidentified at this time. Adelaide was born July 15, 1804 in the Province of Quebec. It is believed that Adelaide's parents were opposed to this marriage because Adelaide ran away from a convent in Montreal to elope with Orange. In 1837 when the trouble between the English and the French flared up again, the Davis family was living near Kingston, Ontario.

Although Orange was not in sympathy with the French revolutionists, he was adverse to bearing arms under the British government. In order to avoid being drafted into the British army, Orange abandoned his possessions in Canada in the latter part of that year and with his family, fled across Lake Ontario in samll boats to Sackets Harbor, New York. They continued to live in Jefferson Co., New York until some time in 1839 when they moved to Pike Co., Illinois, where they settled on a farm near Pittsfield.

In the spring of 1853, Orange Runnels moved to Minnesota and on May 17 became a squatter on land that was, as soon as surveyed, to become the Davis homestead on Lake Emily, Kasota Township, Le Sueur County. Orange was accompanied by his daughter, Sally, who kept house for him while he built his log cabin and cleared the land in preparation for the rest of the family to join him in 1854. Orange would later divide his time between farming and making shingles. The Davis family belonged to the United Brethren Church. Orange Runnels Davis died at the home of his son, S. W. Davis in St. Peter on March 19, 1882 and was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.

Adelaide Barlow Davis died December 10, 1887 according to the following obituary:
"Died: On Saturday, December 10, 1887, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. S. H. Pettis, on the shores of Lake Emily, Mrs. Adelaide Davis, aged 84 years. The deceased was the widow of the late O. R. Davis who died 4 years ago last March. The deceased was ill only three or four days, being stricken on Wednesday and dying the following Saturday. The funeral was held in the Church in Kasota, the remains being interred in the St. Peter Cemetery. She with her husband were among the first white settlers of the county, coming almost directly here from Canada. She was the mother of twelve children. The funeral was a very large one, nearly all the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren being present. The deceased was a lady of rare and noble virtues, dearly beloved not only by her immediate family but by all who had the pleasure of her acquaintance." (From a St. Peter paper)

Children of Orange Runnels Davis and Adelaide Barlow Davis:
1. Thomas Barlow Davis, born September 18, 1823 in the Province of Quebec; died from "fits" on November 13, 1864.
2. Sidney William Davis, born June 11, 1825, died April 24, 1912
3. Orange Runnels Davis, born May 18, 1827, died September 1, 1889
4. Isaac Davis, born June 1, 1829 in Canada, died in infancy
5. Ebenezer Rogers Davis, born August 31, 1832, died May 11, 1909
6. Louisa Davis, born December 24, 1833, died January 30, 1908
7. Isaac Van Norman Davis, born March 20, 1835, died January 19, 1910
8. Sarah Ann Davis, born January 1, 1838, died September 1, 1922
9. Caroline Davis, born April 24, 1840, died October 29, 1920
10. Harriet Davis, born July 24, 1842, died in 1873
11. Henry Clay Davis, born July 6, 1844, died April 26, 1914
12. Lovina Davis, born July 6, 1844, died in infancy.

The following is by Jennie B. Carpenter, Village Clerk at Sackets Harbor, New York ...submitted by Jane Bonny

"Orange Runnels Davis and family probably rowed across the St. Lawrence to Wolfe Island, crossed the Island, and then rowed to Cape Vincent. He could have done so with about one and one half hours rowing time on each lap of the trip. From the Cape he could have come to Sackets Harbor by land or rowed fairly close to shore all the way. December can be dangerous on the open lake. Points mentioned are at the headwaters of the St. Lawrence - that point where Lake ontario narrows down into the river."