History of The William Davis Family

 Hancock County ILGenWeb

Retyped by Jan Knapp Feb10, 2004

The Davis Family



History of the Davis family as written by Sarah Matilda (Sadie) Myrick Seger about 1890 will be given here just as she wrote it. Her mother was Eliza Davis born in Bedford Cp., Pa., Feb. 5, 1819 In 1840 she married William Simpson Myrick. She died at the age of 85 (Sept. 21, 1904) at Chillicothe, Iowa.


From Sadie’s old Tri-fold Notebook


William Davis came from England. He had two sisters; one married a Gee, the other married a White.

William served seven years in the Revolutionary War. After the war he married Polly. They settled on the Juiata River (Pa), taking a large land grant (previously granted to Riddle) four miles square for ten cents per acre. After improving it and living on the land for twenty years, they lost it. He mined a vein of coal seven feet high, and built a gristmill.

William and Polly had four sons: John, James, William and Isiah.

William the son, married Mary Peet, whose father came from Germany. (William and Mary were Sadie’s grandparents.) Mary had two sisters both older than she. Peggy married Reed, Katy married Snider.

William and Polly removed to the SE of Bedford Co. where he ran a mill. It was here that son William married Mary Peet. Katy came to see Mother’s people when she was five years old in 1825. In 1830 Mother’s parents, William and Mary, removed to Ft. Cumberland. Uncle Isiah Davis also moved to Fort Cumberland. They lived there until 18__. There William ran a merchant mill. Then he removed eight miles north into Penn. He bought a piece of land and built a mill. He also ran a mill for one Weller. Hard times came on and they removed to Zanesville, Ohio, but had intended to go to Missouri. Owing to low water got teams by stages to Zanesville.

The children of William and Mary were (1833)

James born 1814

Henry born 1816

Eliza born 1820

Mary Ann, b. 1821

Lewis born 1822

John born 1826

Matilda, b. 1828

Levi, born 1832

Sarah Ann, b. 1830

Mary Ann was drowned at the age of 2 ½ on the Town Creek Race, a channel of water diverted from the river to flow over the wheel of the mill.




Notes from Jan: This has been a very a very reliable source with just a few exceptions. Some being:


  1. Actual tri-fold notebook says three sisters for Mary Peet. Does not name the third. Some documents suggest that Katy and Peggy may have been younger.

  2. According to history of Henry Putt his mother’s name was, Maria Putt not Peet. Believe this to be nothing more than a transcription error for Put.

  3. Unlikely, that William spent seven years in the Revolutionary War but may have spent a combined term of seven years in Military Service or at a Fort.

  4. Some misspellings

  5. Additional information regarding family line in original notebook that was omitted.