Surname Saturday ~ Davenport of Massachusetts and Rhode Island

My earliest known Davenport ancestor is Thomas Davenport, who was in Dorchester, Massachusetts, by 1640, when he became a church member. He was married by 1643, as his oldest child was born in December of that year. His wife's name was Mary, but I have not found confirmation of her surname.

According to the Dawes-Gates genealogy, Thomas Davenport appears in plenty of early records, including several land purchases, in 1653, 1659, and 1665. Records also indicate that he served as a fence viewer, assisted in laying out a "highway" in 1677, and served as a constable for a few years.

His property was near Mount Bowdoin, seen in the middle of the map at right (courtesy of Wikipedia).

Thomas Davenport and his wife Mary had ten children: Sarah, Thomas, Mary, Anna, Charles, Abigail, Mehitable, Jonathan, Ebenezer, and John. His oldest son Thomas died on December 19, 1675 fighting in King Philip's War.

He died on November 9, 1685. His will was proved on February 4, 1685/86, but his estate wasn't settled for another 35 years, after the death of his administrator, his son, Charles.

I descend from his eighth child and third son, Jonathan.

Tuesday's Tip ~ Massachusetts Town and Vital Records at Ancestry.com

I have been researching my Davenport ancestry and have gotten back to 17th century Dorchester, Massachusetts.

Ancestry.com has a very useful database called the Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988. From the description of the database:

Massachusetts boasts some of the oldest and most extensive records in the United States, and some documents in this database go back to the colony’s earliest days. They were made more readily accessible through the efforts of Jay and DeLene Holbrook. About 30 years ago, the Holbrooks began filming vital and town records in Massachusetts. To date, the Holbrooks have visited 315 of the state's 351 towns and cities and filmed their records collections.

I am looking for the marriage record for my 7th great-grandparents, Jonathan Davenport and his wife Hannah. I found four versions of their marriage record in this database because it had been copied several times. I am guessing that the first image is the original. The last one was obviously created in the 20th century.

Dorchester Births Marriages, Deaths, 1646-1682

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Noah Davenport, Veteran

Photo courtesy FindAGrave volunteer, Denise Haviland

Noah

Davenport

Died

Aug. 13, 1840

AE 82 Yrs.

Noah Davenport is buried in Stamford Cemetery, Stamford, Delaware County, New York.

More about Noah Davenport can be found here and his FindAGrave memorial can be found here.

Revolutionary War Veteran Noah Davenport - 52 Ancestors: #5

For this week's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge from blogger Amy Crow Johnson of No Story Too Small, the theme is "Plowing Through." I decided to use this theme to look for an ancestor who lived through snowy winters in a northern state. I realized that I have never fully explored the life of my 4th great grandfather, Noah Davenport, who lived most of his adult life in upstate New York.

Noah Davenport was born in Little Compton, Rhode Island, on August 17, 1758, to Oliver and Mary (____) Davenport.

He served in the Revolutionary War and there is a wealth of information provided in his Revolutionary War Pension application, which I found at Ancestry.com. He enlisted in May 1778 when he was living in Lebanon, Connecticut. He served as a private in several different enlistments between 1778 and 1780. He applied for his pension from Harpersfield, Delaware County, New York in 1832.

Noah Davenport married Lydia Metcalf in Bozrah-Norwich, New London County, Connecticut, on September 23, 1784.

Noah and Lydia moved to Columbia County, New York soon after their marriage, as their first child was born there in April 1785. They had eight children: Frances (Fanny), William, Lydia, Erastus, Ira, (Henriette) Marie, Charles, and Lucy.

The decennial U.S. Census from 1790 until 1840 only displayed the head of household and I find Noah Davenport in 1790, 1800, 1810, in Hillsdale, Columbia County, N.Y. By 1820, he was in Harpersfield, Delaware County, N.Y. and in 1830, he is in nearby Stamford, Delaware County. In the 1840 census, Noah Davenport is listed as Revolutionary War veteran in the household of son-in-law, Nicholas N. Champlin, in Stamford.

Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Services, Included in the Foregoing
Noah Davenport [age] 82

Noah Davenport died later that summer, on August 13, 1840.

I did some searching at the wonderful Fulton History website, hoping to find an obituary, and instead, I found a legal notice (luckily two copies since they're both hard to read) that lists all of the children, which requests that they appear for the reading of the will on November 5, 1840. This legal notice, in the Albany Evening Journal for both October 2 and October 8 is transcribed as follows:

Matrilineal Monday ~ Fanny Davenport (1785-1871)

Frances (known as Fanny) Davenport is my third great-grandmother.

A couple of years after the death of her first husband, Leonard Adsit, Fanny (with five surviving children) married Orlando Davis and subsequently had three children with him. I have not done much research on Orlando, as he is not a direct ancestor. However, with a relatively unusual name, I am able to use it to find his wife, my third great-grandmother.

In the 1840 Federal Census, I find Orlando Davis in Sherburne, Chenango County, New York.

Year: 1840; Sherburne, Chenango, New York; Roll: 273; Page: 224;
Line 24; Record for Orlando Davis

The numbers indicate that the household included one young man between the ages of 10-15 and one young man between the ages of 15-20 (likely two of their three sons). There is a man between the ages of 40-50 (Orlando Davis) and a woman between the ages of 40-50 (Fanny (Davenport) (Adsit) Davis).

~~~~~~~~

James Adsit's Parents in New York State

There is a biographical sketch written about my second great-grandfather, James Monroe Adsit in Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois: with portraits (1899). You can tell from this biographical sketch that this is a family that knew about its roots!

In this sketch, James' parents are mentioned as Leonard Adsit and Frances Davenport. The last U.S. Federal Census that Leonard Adsit appears in is in 1810. Back then, the federal government was really just counting people and only listed the names of the head of household. (It wasn't until 1850 that we get to see the names of everyone in the household.) The remaining household members are indicated by numbers in the columns to the right. I enjoy the challenge of figuring out who is represented by the numbers in the columns of these pre-1850 censuses.

1810 U.S. Federal Census. Hillsdale, Columbia, New York; Roll: 31; Page: 666; Line: 20.

The headings for the columns that follow the head of household's name are as follows:

The three Free White Males Under 10 are likely Leonard's three oldest sons: Albert, age 2; Arunah, age 2; and James, age 1.
The fourth column, the Male 26-44 is Leonard.
The last number is in the column for Free White Females 26-44 and is his wife, Frances (Davenport) Adsit, also known as Fanny.

I found the following image at AmericanAncestors.org.

"Abstracts of Wills, Administrations and Guardianships in NY State, 1787 - 1835", AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, p 1985. Administration of Estate of Leonard Adsit.

Page 109
Adm of the Estate of Leonard Adsit
late of Sherburne, Chenango Co, died
intestate. Granted to Fanny Adsit,
widow of Leonard Adsit, Dec'd, as
Admix.
Seal third Feb 1817.

His FindAGrave memorial indicates that he died September 10, 1816. He is buried at the Sherburne East Hill Cemetery, in Sherburne, Chenango County, New York.

Workday Wednesday ~ First Chicago Banker

A paternal second great grandfather of mine, James Monroe Adsit, is considered the first banker in Chicago.

Found at The Internet Archive is an 1899 book with a biography of James M. Adsit on pp 123-125.

Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois: with portraits (1899). (Chicago, Illinois: La Salle Book Company, 1899) Digital images. The Internet Archive, accessed 27 October 2011, is the source for the following transcription. 

Note that the images that I have inserted are NOT from this book, but are images from Chicago City directories found at Fold3. My additional notes and editorial comments are in red.

JAMES M. ADSIT

To have been among the first in Chicago to engage in any honorable calling is quite sufficient to make such a one a local historical personage for all time to come, and so the career of James M. Adsit is filled with unusual interest, because of the conspicuous fact that, apart from his being an exceptional character, he was among the first bankers to enter upon a career of finance within the present limits of Cook County.

Mr. Adsit was born February 5, 1809, in Spencertown, Columbia County, New York, unto Leonard and Frances Adsit (nee Davenport). His father dying when the son was but six years of age, he went to live and remain with his grandfather Adsit, and after finishing the common-school education customary for those early days, went for a time into employment in his uncle Ira Davenport's store.

On April 2, 1838, he arrived in Chicago, then a city of but a single year's standing, consisting of only a few streets stragglingly built up; and, as one of the earliest pioneers, founded a private bank at Number 37 Clark Street in 1850, having up to that time, from the date of his arrival, been engaged in loans and investments on Lake Street. [The first Chicago City Directory I find James M. Adsit in, he is a carpenter in 1844.]

1844 Chicago City Directory, page 21