WHO WAS D.M.P. Davis?

I love it when I am contacted by family members of the people I feature in this blog.  They often say, "You found out things about my own family that I didn't even know.  Where do you find all of the information you use when writing your stories?"  The answer is very simple:  The Internet.  Specifically I use the following websites (some are free and some are not):

1.  Ancestry.com

2.  FamilySearch.org

3.  Newspapers.com

4.  Findagrave.com

99% of the material I use to write my stories comes from these four sites.  Of course, it's not all there on page one - I have to dig (and sometimes dig and dig and dig) to get the information I need to put the story together.  So as I write this month's article I am also going to tell you where I found each piece of the story.     

Sunday, October 1, 2023 was a beautiful Fall day in Chicago.  Where is the best place to enjoy a beautiful Fall day in Chicago?  Rosehill Cemetery, of course.  I spent Sunday afternoon at Rosehill filling Find a Grave photo requests.  In Section D of Rosehill I was able to locate and fulfill a request to photograph the tombstone of Lena (Lana) Root (1845-1888):

After I took that photo I did what I always do:  look around and see if there are any interesting or unusual tombstones in the immediate vicinity.  Not too far from Lena/Lana Root I spied this tombstone:

This appears to be the tombstone of someone named D.M.P. Davis and Julia A. Davis.  Illegible or unreadable tombstones are always a challenge as we try to recover what time and the elements have worn away.  Davis is a common name which can make finding the correct one difficult, but D.M.P. Davis is just rare enough that I should be able to find him. The first place I looked was Find A Grave.  No D.M.P. Davis or Julia Davis in Rosehill on Find a Grave.

Then I went to Family Search which is a wonderful free site run by the Mormon Church.  We know that Mormons are among the best genealogists because tracing their ancestry is a tenet of their religion in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  First I checked to see if someone had already done a Family Tree for D.M.P. Davis and Julia.  My query returned 3,066,924 records but not a tree I was looking for.

One record did pop up, however that looked interesting:

So I clicked on Daniel M. P. Davis KLRZ-NBG and here is the tree for Daniel Davis and Julia Ann Davis:

Well, that was a big help - not.  You could barely call it a "tree" because it only had Daniel and Julia on it.  But I did have one record:  Daniel M.P. Davis and Julia Ann Hoffman were married in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on January 22, 1840.  I decided to take these "facts" and see if ancestry.com could provide any additional information.

The next thing I did was create a Family Tree on ancestry.com for Daniel M.P. Davis and his wife Julia Ann Hoffman.  I find that plugging people into a tree make them easier to keep track of and then it allows ancestry to put those "shaking leaves" next to the person when they find a possible clue.  Putting these people in a tree also makes it easier to see the relationship of each person in the tree to the others in the tree.  Maybe years ago I could have kept track in my head but those days are long gone.

Right away ancestry told me that there was a "David M. Parker Davis" who was born September 16, 1808 in New Hampshire and who died in Chicago on October 8, 1878.  Let's see if those match up with the portions of the tombstone we can read:

Looks like we have a match for David M. Parker Davis and his wife Julia Ann Hoffman.  So let's see what other information we can "dig up" about them.

Without knowing the names of either David's or Julia's parents, searching for them in census records would be fruitless.  The first "Official" record I found for either David or Julia was their marriage record.  According to the Wisconsin, U.S., Marriage Records, 1820-2004,  Daniel M. P. Davis married Julia Ann Hoffman on January 22, 1840 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin Territory.  (Wisconsin didn't become a state until 1848.)  They were married by a judge, Timothy Wainwright in Milwaukee.  

But I seem to have encountered a problem.  Is the man's name "Daniel M.P. Davis" as the marriage record says or is it "David M. P. Davis" as the ancestry record says?  Let's take a closer look at that marriage record:

Is the first name Daniel or David?  It looks like Daniel to me.  I know they don't teach cursive handwriting in the schools anymore and here is a good example of why that is.  One man's Daniel is another man's David.  

At this point I decided to broaden my search and look for any records for either a Daniel M. P. Davis or David M. P. Davis.  Or could it be possible that there was both a Daniel M.P. Davis and a David M. P. Davis?  Brothers, perhaps?  As we uncover more records hopefully the correct first name will become apparent.

The next record that popped up on ancestry.com was the 1860 US Census.  I have written numerous times in the past about the fallibility of census records.  One could tell the census taker anything they wanted to without having to back anything up with proof.  Census records are useful, but you must always look at them with a jaundiced eye.

The 1860 US Census as presented on ancestry.com finds a Davis family living in Cook County, Illinois, New Trier Township, "Wynetka" Post Office.  The census taker visited the Davis family on July 17, 1860.  The family consisted of:  D. M. Davis (51 years old), Julia (51), and John Chamberlain (19).  D. M. Davis said he was a "Horse Dealer" by trade, no occupation was listed for Julia, and John Chamberlain was a "Laborer."  Davis said he born in Massachusetts, Julia in New York and Chamberlain in Ireland.  Davis said he owned Real Estate worth $10,000,00 ($370,000 in today's funds) and personalty of $2,000.00 ($74,000 in today's funds).

No closer to determining if the one we are looking for was Daniel or David.  Let's see what other records we can find.

I went back to Family Search.  The only family tree record they show for D. M. P. Davis is the two-person family tree referenced above.  Looking at other records, they show an 1840 US Census record for a "David P. M. Davis" in Grafton, Rensselaer County, New York.  The record shows a family of seven people.  Of the males: (1) under the age of 5, (1) between 5 and 10, (2) between 10 and 15, (1) between 30 and 40.  Of the females: (1) between 10 and 15, and (1) between 20 and 30.  Is this "our" Davis family?  Unlikely.  Remember, D. M. P. Davis married Julia Hoffman in 1840 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  The only male of marriageable age in this census is David P. M. Davis and he is presumably already married and the father of five children.  Unfortunately the earlier US Censuses did not go into the details that later censuses did - they were mostly used just to count the number of people.  This 1840 census record was the only record for David M. P. Davis showing up on Family Search, so it's back to ancestry.com to see what they show.

Ancestry.com was able to provide us with additional records that proved useful.  The 1870 US Census finds the Davis family living in Evanston, Cook County, Illinois.  The Census Taker came by on June 14, 1870.  The family consisted of:  David (61 years old),  Julia (60), and Domestic Servant Bridget Bulger (22).  David said he was born In New Hampshire, Julia in New York and Bridget Bulger in  Illinois, although Bridget said both of her parents were "foreign-born."  This time around, David listed his occupation as "Speculator," Julia was "Keeping House" although at first glance I thought it said "Keeping Horses," and Bridget was, as indicated, a "Domestic Servant."  David reported Real Estate assets of $40,000.00 ($937,000 in today's funds) and personalty of $10,000.00 ($244,000 in today's funds).  There was no 1870 record for a Daniel M. P. Davis so I think it is pretty safe to say that Davis' first name was "David."   

Just to confuse matters even more, according to the Chicago Tribune from April 2, 1873. "Parker" Davis was appointed a Justice of the Peace: 

Apparently to his friends he used the name "Parker" instead of "David."

David M. Parker Davis died on October 8, 1878.  Here is his Obituary from the Evanston Index newspaper from October 12, 1878:

As his obituary indicated, David was buried in Rosehill Cemetery.

David M. P. Davis was dead by the time the 1880 US Census took place, but his widow Julia was not.  The 1880 US Census showed Julia Davis living in the "Village of Evanston."  The census taker was the well-known Evanstonian Philo P. Judson, and it took place on June 19, 1880.  Julia was listed as a "Cousin" of the Head of Household who was O. H. Willis.  The family consisted of O.H. Willis (71 years old) a "Retired Merchant," wife Ann Willis (58), sons H. O. Willis (30) a "Merchant Clerk," and Edmond J. (21) a "Clerk."  Also listed were Doti Fitsmorris (19) a "Servant." and Julia A. Davis (69).  There was a space on the census form for "Sick" and Julia indicated she suffered from "Hay Fever."

Ancestry.com has an extensive collection of Evanston Directories - unfortunately they don't start until 1882 so David does not appear.  Julia Davis, however appears in the 1882 Evanston Directory:

Julia A. Davis, the widow of David P. lived in a house on the East Side of Ridge South of Noyes.

She shows up in the 1883 Evanston Directory as the widow of "Parker" Davis:

Mrs. Parker Davis, lives in a house on the East Side of Ridge Avenue at North Leon Avenue.

The last time she appeared was in the 1884 Evanston Directory:

Davis, Julia A, widow of Parker, lives in a house on the East Side of Ridge Avenue North of Foster.

Julia Ann Hoffman Davis died in Rushford, Minnesota on October 29, 1885.  

Here is her Obituary from the Evanston Index from July 29, 1885:

DIED.

     At Rushford, Minn. October 29, 1885.  Mrs. Julia A., wife of the late Parker Davis, of Evanston, Illinois.

     Funeral services to-day at 1 o'clock p.m. at Rose Hill.      

Evanston Index July 29, 1885

Also from the Chicago Inter Ocean October 31,:

She was buried next to her husband in Section D of Rosehill:

Julia A., wife of

D. M. P. DAVIS

Born (Illegible)

Died Oct 29, 1885

That wraps up everything we were able to "dig up" about David M. P. Davis and his wife Julia Ann Hoffman Davis.  Since they did not have any children, and we were not able to uncover any of their other relatives, we were limited in the information we were able to find.  On the positive side, we were able to (mostly) decipher the tombstone and learn a little about two Evanstonians from days gone by.  As mentioned before, the main purpose of this blog is to see that people lost in the mists of time are not forgotten, and we accomplished that for Mr. and Mrs. Davis.

David M. Parker Davis and Julia Ann Hoffman Davis - two of the thousands of occupants of Rosehill Cemetery - may they rest in peace.