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Stephen Arthur DAVIS (b 1807)

I know little of Stephen Arthur Davis's origins. The Find A Grave memorial on the web gives a date of birth as 10 Apr 1807, but it is clear that the fact is not found on the stone marking his grave and no source is given. I have seen family trees on Ancestry that name his parents as Stephen Davis and Bethia Mead and place his birth in Greenwich (Fairfield) Connecticut on 10 Apr 1807, but I know of no sources for this very specific information. A Sons of the American Revolution Membership Application gives a date of birth as 14 Apr 1807 but fails to report a location. Stephen reported his place of birth as New York until the 1870 US Census when he offered Connecticut. I suspect the latter was the true answer. His daughter, Mary Jane Brush Davis, told the census enumerator in 1900 that her father was born in Connecticut.

Stephen's marriage to Martha Conklin Brush (b 1814) is firmly established. The date and place of the marriage, 25 May 1836 in Huntington (Suffolk) NY, Martha's hometown, is much less certain. I can find no public record of either the date or the place of marriage. I do wonder how the two met. As the crow flies, Greenwich and Huntington are not that far apart but they are across Long Island Sound.

The first public record I have found involving Stephen or Martha is an 1845 baptismal record for their third child, Laura Mead Davis. The baptismal record is from the Seventh Presbyterian Church in New York City, a church in lower Manhattan, just across the Williamsburg Bridge from Brooklyn.

The 1855 Census of New York found Stephen and Martha in the 6th Election District of Ward 20 in New York City. The election district's boundaries were given as 35th Street and the Hudson River to 40th Street and 8th Avenue (Manhattan), an area to the east of the current location of Penn Station. Stephen reported that he had been a resident of the city for 30 years, which would suggest that he was in New York City from the time he was 17 or 18 years old. He reported his place of work as an iron foundry. He reported that Martha had been a resident of the city for 20 years, which would place her arrival there in 1835, about a year before their marriage. Thirty and twenty are clearly round numbers, so I don't suspect they mean much more than an approximate number of years. My guess is that Martha arrived in New York City only after their marriage. In addition to their four children, Mary B (age 15), Sarah B (age 12), Laura M (age 10) and Clara I (age 1), the household included a servant girl, Ann Riley, age 18, born in Ireland but naturalized. It is worth noting that this census also reported that Stephen was born in New York (not Connecticut), but that could very easily have been an enumerator's error since the balance of the family were, in fact, born in New York.

So, I believe it is reasonable to conclude the couple lived the first 20 years of their married life in New York City. I still have no better idea about Stephen's origins or what brought him to New York City in roughly 1825.

Something clearly happened to the family between 1855 and 1860. The 1860 US Census found them living in the household of Rinaldo Sammis and their eldest daughter Mary Jane Brush Davis in Northport, Huntington (Suffolk) New York. Rinaldo and Mary had married in March 1858. Rinaldo was a farmer and an apparently prosperous one at that. Stephen gave his occupation in 1850 as farm laborer. The couple's other surviving children accompanied them, Laura M (age 15), Charity J (age 6) and Stephen A Jr (age 2). A son, Thomas William, had died in 1851 and was buried in Huntington Rural Cemetery in Huntington. Their second daughter, Sarah, had died in October 1857 and she was also buried in Huntington Rural Cemetery.

In the 1870 US Census, Stephen and Martha were still listed as members of the household of their daughter and son-in-law Rinaldo Sammis in Huntington (Suffolk) New York. There were three grandchildren in the household as well. Stephen's was recored as 'no occupation.' The census record that year reported that Stephen was born in Connecticut.

Stephen died on the Fourth of July in 1873 probably in Northport. He was buried in Huntington Rural Cemetery. His wife Martha lived on until 1895. Curiously, I have been unable to find her in the 1880 US Census.

Sources:

Long Island Genealogy Fact Sheet for Stephen Arthur Davis (b 1807): Citation: Long Island Surnames Maintained by Long Island Genealogy. Content: The genealogy for Stephen Arthur Davis has PersonID I23334. It references the book Descendents of Thomas and Richard Brush of Huntington, Long Island: A Source Book by Stuart Camp Brush and Russell B Brush. (Baltimore, Gateway Press; Reading Center, Conn., 1982). The reference is to page 115. Note: This chart names the place of birth for all of the couple's children as Northport (Suffolk) New York. This is certainly possible since mother Martha Brush hailed from there and she could very well have returned home for each birth, but the uniformity seems suspect since the family lived in New York City at least until 1855.

1964 Application for Membership in Sons of the American Revolution, Sammis Lewis Kirby (b 1958): Citation: Ancestry.com. U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Note: The application provides the names and some dates of birth and death for Stephen and a date for their marriage. It fails to identify Stephen's place of birth.

The 1840 US Census: There is a household headed by Stephen Davis in Ward 12 of New York City in 1840. The composition of the household is almost a match for what one would expect this Stephen Davis's household to look like. However, the female child in the household is reported to be age 5-9 and not 0-4 as would be expected. The other anomaly is that the one person in the household with an occupation is working in agriculture.

The 1850 US Census: I am relatively confident that the family was missed in the 1850 US Census. It is likely they were living in Manhattan at the time, but I can find no trace of them in the 1850 US Census records on Ancestry.

Find a Grave Memorial 75057619 for Thomas William Davis (b 1849) .

1845 Baptismal Record for Laura Mead Davis (b 1845): Citation: Ancestry.com. U.S., Presbyterian Church Records, 1701-1970 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. Presbyterian Historical Society; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; U.S., Presbyterian Church Records, 1701-1907; Book Title: 1818 - 1888. Content: A record of Seventh Presbyterian Church, New York, New York, reports the baptism of Laura Mead, daughter of Stephen A and Martha C Davis on 07 Sep 1845. She was born 19 Mar 1845.

1855 NY State Census, Household of Stephen A Davis (b c1808): Citation: Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., State Census, 1855 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. Year: 1855; Location: New York City, Ward 20, New York, New York, USA; District: E.D. 6. Content: The 1855 NY State Census of Election District 6, Ward 20, New York City, NY, enumerated on 13 Jun 1855, shows the HH of Stephen A Davis sharing a brick house valued at $4500 with another family. The HH includes (1) Stephen A Davis, age 47, male, born NY, married, resident of NYC for 30 years, working in an iron fondry, native, (2) Martha C Davis, age 41, female, wife, born NY, married, living in NYC 20 years, native, (3) Mary B Davis, age 15, female, dau, born NY, livng in NYC 15 yrs, native, (4) Sarah B Davis, age 12, female, dau, born NY, living in NYC 12 yrs, native, (5) Laura M Davis, age 10, female, dau, born NY, living in NYC 10 yrs, native, (6) Clara I Davis, age 1, female, dau, born NY, living in NYC 1 yr, native, (7) Ann Riley, age 18, female, servant, born Ireland, living in NYC 1 yr, naturalized alien. Note: The election district's boundaries were given as 35th Street and the Hudson River to 40th Street and 8th Avenue (Manhattan), an area to the east of the current location of Penn Station.

Find a Grave Memorial 63332046 for Sarah Bethia Davis (b 1842) . Note: Curiously, the Long Island Surnames genealogy referenced below and other family histories on Ancestry report that Sarah died in Rock Island, Illinois. I find that surprising and have seen no reference to a source for that fact.

1860 US Census, Household of Rinaldo Sammis (b 1831): Citation: Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Year: 1860; Census Place: Huntington, Suffolk, New York; Roll M653_864; Page: 232; Image: 237; Family History Library Film: 803864. Content: The 1860 US Census of Huntington Township (Post Office: Northport), Suffolk County, New York on 05 Jul 1860 lists dwelling (501/508) with a household composed of (1) Rinaldo Sammis, age 23, male, farmer, (real: $10,000; pers: $1500), born New York, (2) Mary Sammis, age 21, female, born New York, (3) Mary Jane Sammis, age 1, female, born New York, (4) Stephen A Davis, age 52, male, farm laborer, born New York, (5) Martha C Davis, age 44, female, born New York, (6) Laura M Davis, age 15, female, born New York, (7) Charity J Davis, age 6, female, born New York, (8) Stephen A Davis Jr, age 2, male, born New York, (9) Jonathan ?White?, age 45, male, no occupation given, born New York.

1870 US Census, Household of Rinaldo Sammis (b 1831): Citation: Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Year: 1870; Census Place: Huntington, Suffolk, New York; Roll: M593_1100; Page: 533B. Content: The 1870 US Census of Huntington (Post Office: Huntington), Suffolk County, New York on 23 Jul 1870 lists dwelling (951/1002) with a household composed of (1) Rinaldo Sammis, age 39, male, farmer, (real: $13,000; pers: $2,000), born New York, eligible to vote, (2) Mary B Sammis, age 31, female, keeping house, born New York, (3) Mary J Sammis, age 11, female, at school, born New York, (4) Sarah A Sammis, age 8, female, at school, born New York, (5) Clarinda D Sammis, age 4, female, born New York, (6) Stephen A Davis, age 63, male, no occupation, born Connecticut, eligible to vote, (7) Martha C Davis, age 56, female, keeping house, born New York, (8) Henry Conklin, age 18, male, farm laborer, born New York.

Find a Grave Memorial 63331755 for Stephen Arthur Davis (b 1807) .