Picking up the Davis line

Earlier this year I started to arrange the puzzle pieces of history on the Davis family in Pennsylvania. In February 2014 I wrote about my 5th-great-grandfather Henry Davis, his service in the War of 1812, his move to Vance Township in Vermilion County, Illinois, and using Ohio Tax records to track the family in Guernsey County, Ohio. In March I wrote about several land transfers in Guernsey County for Henry Davis. I have also covered the next generation back in this line, Henry's parents, Azariah Davis and Alice Vanmeter Davis (see my 9 November 2012 post on Azariah Davis - Patriot). There is a lot more information on the Davis family, and with this post I pick up the story on Azariah Davis.

Washington County, Pennsylvania Land Warrant
Azariah Davis served in the Pennsylvania Militia for Washington County during the Revolutionary War. He appears in the Pennsylvania Tax records for 1781 in Cumberland, Washington County with his father William Davis and brother Stephen Davis. I think this is a great record, shows how much land William owned in Cumberland, that he had a still, and that the Davis sons had horses, cattle and sheep.

Source: Pennsylvania Tax and Exoneration, 1768-1801 via Ancestry

On 16 November 1784, Azariah received a land warrant for 400 acres in Washington County, including improvements along the waters of Delong's Run and Azariah's Run.

Looking further in the Pennsylvania Land Warrants, Azariah's father, William Davis, also obtained a land warrant in Washington County the following year, on 25 May 1785. William received 300 acres, including an improvement adjoining Michael Jones and Henry Vanmeter. Henry was the father of Alice Vanmeter, who had married Azariah Davis in 1780.

The land record above is referenced in Howard Leckey's book, The Tenmile Country and its Pioneer Families, page 528. I have inserted a copy of this page below (via Google Books). I am not taking Leckey's research as complete, and will be diving into the details to do my own verification. As an example, Leckey states the wife of William Davis is not known, but other sources have William Davis' wife as Elizabeth Wollison.

I previously featured the Tenmile Country in a Mappy Monday post in November 2012. I will be revisiting Washington, Greene and Chester Counties in Pennsylvania as I look into the Davis and Vanmeter lines.