John Davis
was born April 2, 1815 in Morgantown, Monongalla County, West Virginia,
and died September 17, 1900 in Lometa, Lampasas County, Texas. He
married Clarissa Louisa Farnsworth June 20, 1847 in Buckhannon, West Virginia, daughter of Thomas Farnsworth and Catherine Simons.
She was born February 10, 1825 in Buckhannon, Upshur County, West
Virginia, and died June 4, 1906 in Burnet County, Texas. [photo of John and Clarissa Davis] Notes for John Davis: John grew up and married in Buchannan, WV. He married Clarissa Farnsworth in 1847. Three children, Catherine, Philip, and George, were born to them before they left West Virginia for Missouri. The twins, Clara Louise and John G. Davis, were
born in Moniteau County, Missouri in 1858. Catherine is not
listed in the 1860 census and it is believed she passed away either
before leaving for Missouri or on the way to Missouri. By 1860
they are in Grundy County, Missouri. He and his family are listed in the 1860 Grundy County, Missouri census along with his wife's parents, Thomas and Catharine Farnsworth.
This census indicates he was a brickmaker. In the 1860s in Grundy
County, Missouri, there was a brick factory and pottery factory.
The red clay found near Marion Township was excellent for bricks and
pottery. To make the bricks, you would need a blacksmith to fire
the kilns. Besides
Marion Township being a German community, it is believed John and his
family went to Grundy County to find work at the brick factory.
John and his family were probably on their way west, getting cought up
in the Civil War. Family records also indicate John Davis had Southern convictions and was in some sort of a scrimmage with the Union Soldiers around this time. John Davis
was a Mason, Robert E. Lee Lodge, Shady Grove, [Burnet County]
Texas. He was a Blacksmith at Shady Grove for many years.
Family records say he arrived in the Spring of 1866, first in precinct
#3 at Oatmeal, and later in 1880 he was in precinct #2 at Shady
Grove. Land deeds indicate he came to Burnet County around 1866
or 1867. Another child was born to John and Clarissa in Burnet County. Allie B. Davis was born June 6, 1870. She married G. F. Wilson
and they had a baby daughter who was born and died on August 2,
1907. Allie died in December of the same year. It is not
known if they had other children. John Davis was living with his son, Philip,
in Lometa, Lampasas County, Texas, when he passed away on September 17,
1900. His body was taken to Briggs-Gamel funeral home in Lampasas
and moved on to Burnet County by train. He was buried at Shady
Grove, Texas. [Transcriber's note: The Davis Family listed in Shady Grove Cemetery, from Burnet County Cemetery Records, 1852-1982: |
