Leonard Davis of Killingworth, Church records

In March of 2013 we posted a collection of documents for the family of Azuba Griffin and her husband Henry Davis. Part of that collection was the baptismal records for their children that are found in the records of the Killingworth Congregational Second Society. The historical evidence suggests that Azuba and Henry were faithful members. Because of their membership the Society clerks added marriage and death notations for their children including the death of their son Leonard. As part of the record of Leonard’s death the clerk added the notation “Episcopalian”. I had reviewed this collection of records many times and that simple notation had escaped my attention. Its discovery led us to expand our search for the family of Leonard Davis. Leonard’s children were born during the 30-year span in which there are almost no surviving records from Killingworth. I had never considered the fact that any of the Griffin clan would stray from allegiance to the Second Society. These two circumstances limited the scope of our previous searches. The recovery of his probate file changed all of that. Armed with a collection of names relating to Leonard’s family we began a new search of the Killingworth records that resulted in our discovery of the Episcopal connection. Much to our delight we found that the Episcopal records from that time frame had survived and were available for our review not only that we found a treasure of information in them for Leonard’s family. The Killingworth Episcopal movement received its start from the Episcopal congregation that started in nearby North Madison in what was termed North Bristol. The Killingworth and North Bristol Episcopalian Societies united as The Union Society in 1800. A prominent feature of the universities of the day was a divinity school. These divinity schools provided a steady supply of ordained ministers for the Congregational Societies. The same was not true for the Episcopalians. Many parishes were instead led by lay readers. Such was the case in Killingworth. The "readers" were chosen by the members at the annual parish meetings. The “readers" assumed the responsibly for religious instruction and preaching normally handled by the university trained clergy. Both Leonard Davis and Austin Kelsey, Julius Kelsey’s son, at times assumed this role. Occasionally a ordained clergyman would visit for the purpose of baptizing the children and administering the Holy Communion. The Reverend David Baldwin, who resided in Guilford, assumed responsibility for the Killingworth Parish and it was he who baptized most of Leonard’s children. Within the Killingworth Society Leonard Davis assumed a leadership role. Several times Leonard was elected as the moderator for the annual meetings. Leonard and his son Henry were both part of the parish as were his 1st cousin Julius Kelsey, son of his aunt Lois Griffin, from the North Bristol Parish. Leonard's wife Arta and Julius's wife Sylvia were sisters.------ Included in the collection of documents we present here are; The baptismal and confirmation records for his children including the two sons he names Joel Hobart (note the previous article on Leonard ), the membership record for Leonard and his wife Arta, several documents that highlight Leonard’s involvement in the parish.------Eleanor February 11, 1816, Orpha July 2, 1820, Joel Hobart April 27, 1823, Henry Dennison April 22, 1827, Joel Hobart July 6, 1834 / Leonard Davis / Azuba Griffin / Samuel-Marah / Samuel Griffin.