Surname Saturday ~ DAVIS of Watertown, Boston and Chelsea, Massachusetts

DAVIS

I’ve written about the DAVIS family of Cambridge, Concord and Barnstable Massachusetts, begun by the immigrant Dolor Davis (about 1583 – 1672), and I’ve written about James Davis (about 1583 – 1678/9) who settled in Haverhill, Massachusetts.  Today’s blog post is my third DAVIS family, headed by Samuel Davis (about 1615 – 1672), my 9^th great grandfather.

Samuel Davis is my 9^th great grandfather, who married his wife, Anna Norcross, on 20 November 1631 at Allhallows,  London, England [The Registers of All Hallows, Bread Street and St. John the Evangelist, Friday Street, London, England, page 107].  This church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. 

Samuel and Anna settled first at Watertown, and later on 31 May 1646 the Watertown church wrote him a letter to transfer to the Boston church.  He later settled at Rumney Marsh, now Chelsea, north of Boston.  His will is dated 2 May 1672 [Suffolk County Probate Docket 598, Volume VII, page 219 and 236] and was probated 4 July 1672.  It mentions his wife, Anna, daughter Hannah Griggs, daughter Abigail Townsend,  son Gerhom Davis, daughter Mary Townsend (my 8^th great grandmother), daughter Priscilla and grandchild Hannah Griggs. 

Mary Davis married Thomas Townsend on 30 October 1661 at the Old North Church (2^nd Church) in Boston’s North End.  Thomas was described as a “husbandman” (an archaic term for a farmer or small landowner), and left a will proved at Lynn, Massachusetts on 22 July 1700.  They had thirteen children!

Some DAVIS resources:

The Ancestry of Dr. J. P. Guilford, by Joan S. Guilford, Orange, CA: 1990, Volume II, pages 288-293.

An old book but mostly accurate, Davis Families of Early Roxbury and Boston, by Samuel Forbes Rockwell, Boston: Andover Press, 1932.

Dolor Davis (about 1583 – 1672) of Cambridge, Concord and Barnstable, Massachusetts

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/07/surname-saturday-davis-of-cambridge.html 

James Davis (about 1583- 1678/9)  of Haverhill, Massachusetts

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/07/surname-saturday-davis-of-haverhill.html

NORCROSS Surname Saturday blog post

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/02/surname-saturday-norcross-of-cambridge.html

TOWNSEND Surname Saturday blog post

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/05/surname-saturday-townsend-of-lynn.html

My DAVIS genealogy:

Generation 1:  Samuel Davis, born about 1615 in England, died between 2 May and 4 July 1672 in Massachusetts; married on 30 November 1631 at the All Hallows Church in London, England to Anna Norcross, daughter of John Norcross.  Nine children

Generation 2: Mary Davis, baptized on 31 May 1646 in Roxbury, Massachusetts, died after 1700; married on 30 October 1661 in the Second Church (Old North), Boston, Massachusetts to Thomas Townsend, son of Thomas Townsend and Mary Newgate.  He was born about 1636 and died before 22 July 1700 in Lynn, Massachusetts.

Generation 3: Susannah Townsend m. Daniel Hitchings

Generation 4: Daniel Hitchings m. Hannah Ingalls

Generation 5:  Abijah Hitchings m. Mary Gardner

Generation 6:  Abijah Hitchings m. Mary Cloutman

Generation 7: Abijah Hitchings m. Eliza Ann Treadwell

Generation 8:  Abijah Franklin Hitchings m. Hannah Eliza Lewis

Generation 9: Arthur Treadwell Hitchings m. Florence Etta Hoogerzeil

Generation 10: Gertrude Matilda Hitchings m. Stanley Elmer Allen (my grandparents)

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ DAVIS of Watertown, Boston and Chelsea, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted February 18, 2017,  (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/02/surname-saturday-davis-of-watertown.html: accessed [access date]).