Davis Davenport

(c1660? – bef1735)

 

Davis Davenport was named as the father of Martin Davenport in Martin’s will, but we know little about him.  This is mainly due to the destruction of nearly all colonial records in King and Queen County, and later King William County, Virginia.  In fact, there are only two records for him other than Martin Davenport’s will.  All three of these records give his name as “Davis”, certainly a suggestion that there may be a Davis somewhere in the family tree.  (I find it curious, though, that the name was not passed on to any succeeding generation.)

 

The first evidence of Davis Davenport is a survey made in 1696 for Major John Waller, laying off almost 1,000 acres on the Mattaponi River in Pamunkey Neck (then part of King & Queen County) that Waller had bought from Elias Downes.  “Davenport's plantation” was shown on the survey as bounding Waller's purchase on the upriver side, and "below Davis Davenport's landing on Mattaponi" was cited in the survey notes as the beginning point of the survey.[1]  A William Davis was shown on the survey as an adjoining landowner diagonally across Waller's land from Davis Davenport.  (Apparently the same William Davis and his son John Davis later owned land in Spotsylvania County in the same neighborhood as did John Waller, who moved there in 1722.)  

 

In 1667, when Elias Downes originally acquired the land he later sold to Waller, Davis Davenport was not mentioned as an adjoining landowner.  So we can be certain only that he arrived in the Pamunkey Neck sometime between 1667 and 1696. 

 

We next find Davis Davenport, with his son Martin, in the 1704 quit rent roll of King William County, Virginia.  Davis Davenport was listed with 200 acres and Martin Davenport with 100 acres.  How he The last mention of him is in his son Martin’s will.  Martin Davenport’s will, dated 24 May 1735 and recorded 2 October 1735 in Hanover County, Virginia, leaves “to my son, William Davenport, 20 acres of land in King William County, it being part of 100 acres left me by my father, Davis Deavenport.” [2]  His parents are unknown.  There were several Davenports who are candidates, but the destruction of most early records of eastern Virginia make it unlikely we will ever identify them.

 

[See the HENDRICK pages for a more detailed description of Pamunkey Neck and its history.]

 

His wife is unknown.  Of his children, only Martin is provable.  Five others are identifiable by their early proximity to his land in King William County, and by their relationships with one another.

 

1.      Martin Davenport (c1680? – 1735)  He named his father as Davis Davenport in his own will.  See separate page.

 

2.      Thomas Davenport (c1680s – 1775)  He was surely another son, being closely associated with the children of Martin Davenport.  On 23 December 1714, Thomas “Devenport” recorded a patent of 311 acres on the north side of the Pamunkey River in St. John’s Parish, King William County.[3]  This tract was quite near Martin and Davis Davenport, and seems to have adjoined the later patent by Richard Davenport. In 1740 he patented land on Little Guinea Creek in Goochland (later Cumberland) County[4] and renewed it with additional land added in 1746.[5]  He remained in Cumberland County until his death, appearing in numerous records.  His wife is thought to have been Grace Terry.  A will dated 16 July 1773 was proved on 27 March 1775 in Cumberland County, Virginia.[6]  A subsequent will dated 29 September 1774 was later proved, replacing the first.[7]  The children named in the wills were sons Thomas Jr., James, Henry, William, Stephen, and Julius. His son Stephen, who predeceased him, was the first husband of Molly Slaughter, who later married David Davenport.  Three of Stephen’s children were named in the second will” William, Stephen, and Molly.  Only one daughter ws mentioned, Drusilla, the wife of Gideon Glenn.

 

3.      John Davenport  A John Davenport “of King William County” he purchased 230 acres in Henrico County on 10 October 1736.  He sold this land in 1740 and disappeared.  There is some possibility that he went to North Carolina.

 

4.      Richard Davenport (c1704 – 1776)  He patented land in Caroline County on 15 September 1752 that adjoined the “land of Davenport”, apparently referring to the 1714 patent by Thomas Davenport.[8]   He died in Caroline County, Virginia.

 

5.      Elias Davenport (c1700? – c1765)  This is very tentative.  On 27 July 1733 an Elias Davenport witnessed (by mark) a deed for land in Spotsylvania County located quite near the land Martin Davenport had owned through 1721.[9]  Both the buyer and seller were neighbors of Martin Davenport.  There are no other Virginia records mentioning him, an Elias Davenport who seems to be about the same age appeared twenty years later in Bertie County, North Carolina.  He appears on the 1757 Bertie tax list with two tithables, and again on the 1759 tax list.  He is last in Bertie County in 1762.  He had at least two sons, Dorrel and John, who seem to have been born in the early 1730s. Whether he is a son or grandson of Davis Davenport (or of some other Davenport entirely) is unknown.

6.      Ann Davenport (c1696 – 1782) married Thomas Graves and died in Spotsylvania County.