Stephen Moses Davis
The information in this biography is based on the Pettis/Davis History by the Ponwith Sisters.
The natal day of Stephen M. Davis was February 18, 1823, and his birthplace
what is now the Province of Ontario, Canada. Stephen died February
5, 1893 at Pike County, Illinois. His schooling was obtained in the old fashioned
log schoolhouse and the teachers were paid by subscription. At the early
age of eighteen the young man married and began life for himself. He busied
himself as a shingle-maker, in this way earning money with which to remove
to the State of Illinois in 1843. he left Kingston, Canada, on October 23rd.
He went by boat to Buffalo and thence took passage for Chicago. eleven days
after leaving Buffalo the passengers were landed in Chicago, having encountered
server storms on the way. He spent a few days in fruitless search for work,
then leaving his wife and children in a cottage he had rented, struck out
for Pike County on foot, carrying an ax and a little bundle containing a
clean shirt. He walked three hundred miles reaching Pike county on December
1st. He had relatives in the vicinity and was able to send a nephew with
a team to Chicago after his family, who reached Pike County, Illinois on
January 16, 1844. During the remainder of the winter Mr. Davis worked in
Detroit Township, Pike Co., Illinois. In the spring Mr. Davis rented a farm,
continuing to operate rented land until 1849. He then purchased a farm.
On March 16, 1841, Mr. Davis led to the hymeneal altar, Miss Harriet Young, a native of Canada. Miss Young was only spared to Mr. Davis for a few years. She bore him three children, names respectively, John L. , Julia, and James P. The daughter was later Mrs. Kesterton. On July 2, 1848, Mr. Davis was united in marriage to Miss Lucinda M. Foreman, who was born in Ohio on March 26, 1824. Lucinda was an enterprising, intelligent Christian, to whom Mr. Davis owed much for encouragement, good counsel and the joys of home; she died July 20, 1886, strong in the faith of the Christian Church. Stephen Moses Davis and Harriet Young had three children;
1. John Stephen Moses Davis and Lucinda Foreman had nine children; 1. Sidney W. Davis ---------- 2. Louis McNeil Davis, born November 18, 1849 at Pike County, Illinois, died April of 1912 at Kasota, Minnesota. Louis married Mary Louis Frank on March, 1882. Louis and Mary had one known child; Ora Ray, born January 6, 1883 at Kasota, Minnesota, died April 11, 1961 at Los Angeles, California. Ora Ray married William Cole on September 29, 1902. Ora Ray Davis and William Cole had one known child; Patricia, who married Willard Weeks. ----------- 3. Sarah E. Davis. Date of birth/death unknown. Married Jacob Diamond. Sarah Davis and Jacob Diamond had two known children; 1. Roy Diamond who married Rena Mink and had a child, Theron Eugene Diamond who married Clara Belle Jackson. 2. Ada Diamond, died in 1923. Ada married Clyde Mink. He died January 20, 1972 at Pittsfield, Pike County, Illinois. ------------- 4. Samuel Isaac, born 1851 at Pike County, Illinois, died in 1911. Samuel married (1) Alice Martin (1849-1884), married (2) Jennie Unknown (1864-1902) and married (3) Unknown. Samuel Isaac Davis and Alice Martin had five children; 1. Paul J. Davis 2. Jennie Davis, who married Unknown Jameson. 3. Louis Edward, born in 1876, died in 1946, married Eva Miller. Louis "Lou" managed the lumber yard in Kasota, Minnesota. Louis and his wife Eva, had two known children; 1. Fern Davis, born June 3, 1902 at Lexington Township, Le Sueur County, Minnesota, died May 14, 1964 at her home near Kasota, Minnesota, married Leslie Davis in 1925 at Le Sueur, Minnesota. 2. Marion Davis, who married Arnold Anderson. 4. Wallace Davis. 5. Edna Davis, (1881-1883) Samuel Isaac Davis and Jennie Unknown had three children; 1. Henry, born April 30, 1885, died June 19, 1885.
2. Llewellyn (1886-1887) ---------------- 5. Mary Jane Davis, married Frank Wackerman and lived at Pittsfield. Mary Davis and Frank Wackerman had two children; 1. Lloyd Wackerman, married (1) Evelyn Salee (died in childbirth), (2) Viola Graham. Loyd and his second wife, Viola had one known child; Rena Mildred Wackerman who married Edward Hoos. 2. Flora Wackerman, married Charles Winans. Flora and Charles had three children; 1. Lyle Winans, died at the age of twenty-six, 2. Lucille Winans, married Julian Chandler, and 3. Helen Winans, married Donald Zimmerman. --------------- 6. Flora Davis ----------------- 7. Henry E. Davis, married Lucy Unknown. Two children; Lyle and Marion. ------------------ 8. Ella Davis ---------------- 9. Charles W. Davis. Charles had a newspaper in Kasota, Minnesota. |