Part II: Nine Generations of the Davis Family (The Family of John and Lydia (Lyon) Davis)

The Family of John and Lydia (Lyon) Davis

(adapted from A Cloud of Witnesses—see asterisk note at bottom of this entry)

“Our branch of the family came to Alabama from North Carolina. John and Lydia Davis moved to Alabama probably about 1834. They were both born in N.C. John Davis is believed to have been the son of William Davis, who married in 1782 probably in N.C. and he served as a Private in the N.C. cavalry in the American Revolution. William came to Alabama in 1833 and lived in Greene County. He was 73 years old.

John Davis married “Lydday” Lyon in Granville District, N.C., December 26, 1812. The marriage was recorded as Bond No. 3861 with Zach Lyon, Lydia’s brother, acting as Bondsman. According to records of Rev. F. S. Moseley, Eutaw, Alabama, her parents were John and Lydia Lyon of Granville District, N. C. and her brothers and sisters were Elkanah, John M. Clement, Zachariah, William, James, and Sarah.

John Davis was born about 1784 and his wife Lydia Lyon was born about 1793. Their oldest child is believed to have been named William and was born about 1814. The family appears in the 1840 census of Perry County, Alabama…

John and Lydia Davis settled in Alabama in the northwest corner of Perry County in what we have chosen to call “Perry’s Township 23.” In later years it seems he moved southward to the Liberty Community in Township 22 where many of his descendants later lived. He and his wife had a fairly large family, and many of their children had large families. Thus, their descendants are quite numerous.”* (pages 65 and 66)

One of the sons of John and Lydia Davis was Edward W. Davis. “Edward W. Davis was born in North Carolina in the year 1829. He married Julia Ann Lawson of Havana, Alabama. Julia was born about 1832 in Georgia. Confederate military records show that Edward W. Davis enlisted in the C.S.A. army at Havana, Alabama on March 28, 1862. He served as a Private…Military records reported that Edward was 5ft. 11 ½ in. tall, had fair complexion, blue eyes and black hair. He became ill in the service and was allowed to go home. He died just before he reached home or soon afterward. His widow filed a death claim with the C.S.A. Treasury on Feb. 10, 1863. Some thought he was buried at Liberty Church in Hale County, Alabama; others thought he was buried at Havana. The grave is unmarked.”* (page 79)

Andrew Russell Davis was the son of Edward W. Davis and Julia Ann Lawson. Andrew Russell Davis was born in 1857 and died in 1942. He was around six years old when his father Edward W. Davis died as a result of illness contracted during his military service for the C.S.A. Illness was a major factor for deaths among soldiers during the American Civil War. Andrew Russell Davis or “Pa Davis,” as my father called his grandfather, was a medical doctor. He was said to have delivered every baby in Hale County, Alabama during the tenure of his practice. I’m sure there was hyperbole in the statement, but people a half a generation older than I could attest to a “heap of chil’lun” being brought into this world by Doctor Davis. Dr. Davis married Josephine Ryan who was the daughter of John B. Ryan and Cynthia Wilson Ryan. Josephine was born in 1859 and died in 1942. Both Andrew and Josephine were buried in the cemetery on the hill about ½ mile south of Moundville, Alabama (Oakhill Cemetery?). Six of their seven children survived into adulthood. This included three sons and three daughters. A seventh child died as an infant. (Next entry: Six Davis Children, The Legacy of Dr. Andrew Russell Davis and Josephine Ryan Davis.)

*A Cloud of Witnesses by Herman Floyd Johnston, published 1973