Azuba Griffin and Henry Davis of Killingworth

Azuba/Samuel/ Samuel------Azuba Griffin married Henry Davis on December 22, 1785 the marriage is recorded in the town records. The Griffin and Davis families were well established in the Killingworth Second Society. Their baptisms and the baptism of their children are recorded in the Second Society records and the notebook of the Deacon Abraham Pierson. Did Azuba and Henry first get to know each other during the 3 or 4 hours spent at church each Sunday? In the town records we find the family of Samuel Griffin and his wife Marah Griffin. Azuba’s date of birth is noted on April 9, 1765. The Second Society records note that she was baptized a few days later on April 14, 1765. Azuba joined a family of two girls, Lois (Stephen Kelsey) and Polly (Reuben Doud), on the home lot on Roast Meat Hill. Life changed quickly for her when her mother died in August. Her father took care of the three girls until the next spring when he married his neighbor’s daughter Mercy Nettleton. Being less than a year old when Mercy came into the home she in all likelihood developed her maternal bond with Mercy. That bond was broken a short few years later on the death of Mercy Nettleton and about the age of five she gained a third mother when Samuel married Mercy Bailey. Whatever home keeping skills and mindset she took to her marriage with Henry were in all likelihood learned at the apron strings of Mercy Bailey. With the addition of Mercy Nettleton’s 2 boys and Mercy Bailey’s 6 children life was probably a little crowded in the Griffin house. Although before the six boys grew into full rowdy Azuba and her two sisters were married and living in their own homes. Her chores probably centered on the large fireplace that dominated the main room in the house. Given the hints of apples, cherries and mincemeat I wonder which pie was her specialty. With her father producing cloth with his loom did the Griffin girls make their “egg” money sewing? Her son Leonard left a collection of books in his will did his first reading lessons come from his mother? As we proposed in the article based on Leonard’s probate I think Azuba and Henry made their living with a dairy herd. A dairy operation implies fields to produce hay and grain for the milk cows. 200 plus acres will grow a lot of hay. Most households also had a cottage industry it appears the Davis family produced cider. Azuba lived to her 78th year. I hope they were good years. I know I could be quite happy in a house with milk, cream, butter, cheese and good bread. ------ Azuba and Henry are associated with the so-called “stone house” mentioned in Leonard’s will. In a town made up almost entirely of wood frame houses a masonry house probably stood out. It must have been something of a land mark for they are buried in the Stone House Cemetery a small cemetery, that is no longer used, located in the north end of Killingworth. To those visiting Killingworth it is my assumption that it marks the location of Henry and Azuba’s property. Henry Davis was born in Killingworth November 17, 1763 one of 8 children born to Samuel Davis and Elizabeth Hull. The 1790 Census records him living in Killingworth with 1 male child under the age of 16 and 4 females. The 4 females included Azuba and supposedly 3 daughters. Birth records only accounts for 2 daughters. Was the third female a child, sister or mother? Who was the male born before 1790? Henry and Azuba are buried in a family plot that includes: A marble pillar with the name Henry Davis. ------Headstones that read, In memory of Henry Davis, who died June 21, 1835, aged 71. ------In memory of Azuba, wife of Henry Davis, who died Oct. 8, 1843, aged 78. ------In memory of Leonard Davis, who died July 20, 1840, aged 49. ------Davis, Arta, wife of Leonard, died Jan 5 1867, age 77 yrs.( Arta Hill) ------Son of Leonard and Arta Davis, aged 2 years, and an unmarked fieldstone. There are two other plots of interest for us in Stone House. The first is for Azuba’s daughter Rebina. The headstones reads, Rebina, wife of Joseph Porter Lane, Died Dec 31, 1875, age 79 yrs. and Joseph Porter Lane, Died Sept 27, 1875, age 84 yrs. The second plot is that of Azuba’s sister Lois. In Memory of Lois, wife of Stephen Kelsey, died March 22, 1844, age 83 yrs. and several headstone for her husband one from the family one by the veterans organizations of his day that state Stephen Kelsey, Rev War, Capt. Baldwin’s Co, died Mar 22, 1833, age 76 yrs., Veteran. ------ Azuba and Henry had 6 children. We have detailed birth and baptismal records for them but strangely very little else. From the cemetery records we have death and marriage information for Leonard and Rebina. But for the 4 girls, Chloe, Clarinda, Achsah and Elizabeth we do not have any additional verifiable information. Another anomaly for the Davis children is the gap in time between their birth and their baptism. The interval is quite long by Killingworth standards. The oldest child was Chloe. From the family record in the town records we have a date of birth “June ye 11th 1786. The Second Society Records document her baptism on October 8, 1786. The second child Clarinda was born November 2, 1787 and baptized April 13, 1788. Leonard was born April 23, 1791 and baptized July 10, 1791 the notation simple states “son of Henry Davis”. Leonard died July 20, 1840; Ashsah was born September 11, 1792 and baptized November 11, 1792. Elizabeth was born March 16, 1794 and baptized July 6, 1794. Rabina was born June 14, 1796 and baptized September 25, 1796. Her Headstone notes her death on December 31, 1875. -------For documents we have the marriage of Henry and Azuba as recorded in the Second Society records. We also have the record of them being granted Full Communion as a couple. There is a brief notation on Henry’s death. From the town records we have the concise little record of their family, which, is the source for the birth dates in Barbour. From the Second Society records we have the entries for the baptism of each of their children. We have also added a few cemetery records. The first is a picture of the Stone House Cemetery. In the cemetery we find the headstone for Rebina and her husband Joseph Lane. Also we have the headstones for Lois and Stephen Kelsey.------ Since finishing the essay on Azuba we have come across a marriage record hidden in the Killingworth records."Chloe Davis married Nathan Fowler of Guilford January 5, 1801". There is a death record in Durham that reads Nathan Fowler d. 31 Dec 1834 age 53. Also, Wife of Nathan Fowler d. Oct 22, 1843 age 57. Someone had hand written in the note "Chloe" If you do the math the date of birth would be 1786 a perfect match for Chloe. Yet unverified family histories suggest that they named a daughter Jane Azuba.