When Jefferson Davis was born on 11 February 1821, in Arkansas, United States, his father, Ralph Davis, was 42 and his mother, Jane, was 32. He married Catherine Kate Standlee on 6 February 1842, in Carroll, Arkansas, United States. They were the parents of at least 5 sons and 5 daughters. He lived in Polo, Carroll, Arkansas, United States in 1880 and Charlestown, Sullivan, New Hampshire, United States for about 10 years. He died on 22 January 1896, in Berryville, Carroll, Arkansas, United States, at the age of 74, and was buried in Bunch Cemetery, Berryville, Carroll, Arkansas, United States.
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1821–1896 Male
1824–1895 Female
1844–1909 Male
1846–1928 Male
1849–1927 Male
1850–1933 Female
1853–1881 Female
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1780–1836 Male
1790–1859 Female
1821–1896 Male
1824–1890 Male
English and Welsh: patronymic meaning ‘Dafydd's (son)’, equivalent to Welsh ap Dafydd, the Welsh form of David . The spelling Davis is more typical in southwestern England northwards as far as Lancashire, where the frequency of the surname largely reflects Welsh migration, but may sometimes represent a native English surname based on Davy (compare Davies ). Davis (including in the sense 2 below) is the eighth most frequent surname in the US. It is also very common among African Americans.
Irish and Scottish: adopted for Gaelic Mac Daibhéid ‘son of David’; see McDevitt . Compare Davies .
History: John Davis or Davys (c. 1550–1605) was an English navigator who searched for the Northwest Passage. — By the 18th century there were numerous persons named Davis in America, including the jurist John Davis, born in 1761 in Plymouth, MA, and Henry Davis, a clergyman and college president, who was born in 1771 in East Hampton, NY. — Jefferson Davis, born in 1808 in KY, was president of the Confederate States of America from 1861 to 1865.
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
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