Joel Davis 1832 to 1894

Joel Davis was the son of Leonard Davis (Blog Oct, Sept 2013). Family life for the Davis’s family in Killingworth revolved around the large dairy farm owned by his grandparents Azuba Griffin and her husband Henry Davis (Blog March 2013). If his life was any thing akin to the country life that I experienced he was probably a frequent visitor to his grandmother’s kitchen where he was welcomed with a slice of bread and butter. It has been our pattern on the Blog to use original documentation to paint a picture of our subjects. In the case of Joel such documentation is missing. He simply lived in an era where record keeping was at a minimum. His story is told almost exclusively using the census records. Joel’s baptism is recorded in the Union Episcopal Society ledger on July 6, 1834 the son of Leonard Davis. Joel and his wife Emily S. Davis are listed in his father’s will. That information provided a base line for a search of the census records. In the 1850 census for Killingworth we find the 17-year-old Joel H. Davis living with his mother Arta. But unlike almost all of the other members of his extended family Joel’s life was not played out in Killingworth. The 1860 census finds Joel living in Middletown, Connecticut with his wife Sarah E. and his son Franklin age 3. The census notes that Sarah Emily and her son Franklin were both born in New York. Armed with the hint of New York and her maiden name found on her headstone, “Doty”, we went in search of the family history in New York. Much to our good fortune Sarah Emily Doty came from a family that is part of the Mayflower legacy. Emily / Franklin / Dorus / Reuben / Samuel / John / Joseph / Edward Doty who is listed on the Mayflower manifest. As with most of the families with a similar pedigree the Doty family has been well documented. In the Doty family history listed under her father’s family we find the following “Sarah Emily, b Feb 23, 1836, better know as Emily S. Doty; m. July 30, 1855. Joel H. Davis.” The biography for Emily’s father indicated that he moved to Orleans County, New York, near Buffalo, attracted by the activities surrounding the building of the Erie Canal. Apparently the young Joel Davis had made the same decision. Joel is back in Connecticut by 1860. In 1863 he is found in the draft records in Hamden. The 1870 ( document ) census shows the family living in Hamden, New Haven County, Emily S. age 34 and three children: Franklin age 13, Enna D. age 9 and Mary A. one month old. By 1880 the family is living in Watertown, Litchfield, Connecticut. Joel is listed as a farmer the only child left at home is Mary. The 1890 census was lost but in the 1900 census we find Emily as part of the household of her daughter Mary and her husband Frank Taylor in Washington, Litchfield, Connecticut. The historical record for the family ends in the Evergreen Cemetery in Watertown. Take from the Hale Collection is the following “Davis J. Hobart, born Sept. 2, 1832, died Oct. 11, 1894. ____Davis, Emily S. Doty, wife of J. H., born 1836, died 1902. _____Taylor, Mary A. Davis, wife of F. D., born 1869. _____Taylor Frank D., born 1854. ____ Davis, Franklin D., born 1855. ____Davis, Catherine Whalen, wife of F. D., born 1870, died 1927.” _________ Joel’s brother Henry assumed control of the hereditary farm in Killingworth. With few prospects available to him in Killingworth Joel sought his fortune in the biggest public works project of the era the Erie Canal. The area around Buffalo, New York was a particular hot spot with the construction of large sophisticated locks etc. In New York he met and married Emily S. Doty in 1855. In the 1860 census he is living in Middletown, Connecticut. Hints from the census records indicate that we was working on the waterways at that location. By 1870 he is living in Hamden, Connecticut he had returned to his roots and was farming. He was baptized July 6, 1834. Death records indicate a date of birth on September 2 or 21, 1832. His death is recorded in the Watertown city records “Joel Hobart Davis 1894.” The Hale Collection lists his date of death as October 11, 1894. ______ Sarah Emily Doty was born in Albion/Barre, Orleans, New York on February 23, 1836. Her father Franklin was among other things a ships carpenter engaged in building canal boats. She went by Emily S. for most of her lifetime. Emily was living with her daughter Mary in Washington, Litchfield, Connecticut at the time of her death in 1902. ______ Franklin D. Davis was named after his maternal grandfather. In 1880 Frank is living in Waterbury working as a teamster. The 1900 census contains more information than almost any other census. The 1900 Census lists Frank D. Davis living in Waterbury, Connecticut. It lists his date of birth as December 1857 his occupation that of a Hack Driver. His wife is listed as Kate age 38 daughter of Irish immigrants. It notes that they had been married for two years. The last record we have for Franklin is in the 1930 census. At that time he was part of the household of Catherine’s sister Alice still living in Waterbury. ______ The only record we have of Enna D. Davis is the 1870 census. She is listed as age 9 born in Connecticut. By the time of the 1880 census she must have been married. Since she is not buried in the family plot with the rest of her family it is my assumption that she is buried else where with her husband. ______ Mary A. Davis was born in November of 1870 according to the 1900 Census. Mary married Frank D. Taylor in 1886. In 1900 they were living in Washington, Connecticut. The 1910, 1920, and 1930 census places them in Southington, Hartford, Connecticut. They had two children together Rosalind and Frank. ______ Joel / Leonard / Azuba / Samuel / Samuel Griffin.