Brief Life History of James
When James Davis was born on 26 May 1826, in Llanfoist, Monmouthshire, Wales, United Kingdom, his father, James Davies, was 31 and his mother, Elizabeth Sykes, was 28. He married Ann Jones Owens on 5 November 1850, in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States. They were the parents of at least 7 sons and 2 daughters. He immigrated to Utah, United States in 1856. He registered for military service in 1849. He died on 3 August 1865, in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States, at the age of 39, and was buried in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States.
Photos and Memories (14)
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Family Time Line
Sources (44)
- James Davis, "United States Census, 1860"
- James Davies, "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975"
- James Davis, "Utah, Salt Lake County Death Records, 1849-1949"
Spouse and Children
Children (9)
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Parents and Siblings
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World Events (8)
1830
Eclectic Period (Art and Antiques).
1831 · Merthyr Uprising
Sparked by a depression that was going through Wales the previous three years, the Merthyr uprisings were carried out by workers that were in debt. In the process, twenty-four people were killed and twenty-six were arrested. Troops were brought in to stop the protestors.
1839 · The Rebecca Riots Take Place
The Rebecca Riots were a group of protests in west Wales from 1839-1843. The people involved were mostly poor farmers, primarily men dressed as women. The group was called “Rebecca and her daughters”, a title believed to have come the book of Genesis. They mostly fought against the toll-gates. There is only record of one death during the riots: a young Sarah Williams had been warned that the rioters were coming, but upon refusing to leave, was killed.
Name Meaning
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.
Possible Related NamesStory Highlight
James Davis Jr.
James Davis, Jr. (1826-1865) MILITARY SERVICE: Private, Company D Enlisted: 16 July 1846, Council Bluffs, Iowa Territory (age 20) Captain James Brown’s Detachment: Pueblo (Santa Fe), 17 October 18 …
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