Re: children of President Samuel Davies, 1723-1761 ???
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In reply to:
Re: children of President Samuel Davies, 1723-1761 ???
Dallas Lacy 9/05/07
In my Davies family genforum entry #2635 (September 05, 2007), I wrote one of the sentences about 10 days too quickly without the information I now have.Specifically, I wish I had not written a part of one of the sentence in the previous entry, the part that reads, "I'm thinking that Martha (the oldest surviving daughter of Pres. Davies) married Rev. Joseph Alexander, born March 15, 1735, in Cecil County, Maryland; died July 30, 1809, in York County, South Carolina . . . ."Though in early September I was confident that my ancestor, Rev. Joseph Alexander, had married the daughter of Samuel Davies, the famous Virginian preacher and Princeton president, today my confidence has disappeared.
There are several reasons for my new-found doubt:
On page 2 of an article entitled "Rev. Joseph Alexander, D. D." by Jerry L. West (in "The Quarterly," a publication of the York County Genealogical and Historical Society, December, 1990), Mr. West writes, "Rev. Alexander married Esther Davis, the daughter of Samuel Davis, on November 12, 1767 in Charlotte County, Virginia.Her father, who had signed the marriage bond, later became a supporter of the American forces during the Revolutionary War by supplying materials to the army.Through the research of Mr. Elmer Parker of Columbia, South Carolina, we learn that Alexander's father-in-law was not the Rev. Samuel Davies who became the president of Nassau Hall . . . .Esther's father died in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina in 1815.His will, now lost, was contested by his grandchildren, the children of his 'only child, Esther deceased'.Esther Davis Alexander preceded her father in death by twelve years, having died in 1803."
If a GenWeb cemetery listing for Esther Alexander (the wife of Joseph Alexander) is correct, then this "Esther Alexander" could not be the daughter of the famous Virginian minister and Princeton president.According to the cemetery information that I copied from an internet listing from the Bullocks Creek Presbyterian Church cemetery (from the GenWeb project of York County, South Carolina, cemeteries), there is this information:
Alexander, Rev. Jos D.D.First Pastor of Buoock Creek, died July 30, 1809, Age 74
Alexander, Esther (Mrs. Rev. Joseph), died Oct. 13, 1803, age 58
If the ages shown above are correct, Rev. Joseph Alexander was born abt. 1735 and Esther abt. 1745.If Esther were born in 1745, she would have been too old to be a daughter of Samuel Davies, the Princeton president.Both of Samuel Davies's marriages came after 1745.George William Pilcher, a biographer of Samuel Davies, writes that Martha, the oldest surviving daughter of Samuel Davies and Jane Holt, was born in 1755 (the other surviving daughter was Margaret).
In the George William Pilcher biography of Samuel Davies [entitled "Samuel Davies: Apostle of Dissent in Colonial Virginia"], the oldest daughter of Samuel is identified as "Martha."The name of Rev. Joseph Alexander's wife (according to the GenWeb informaion from the Bullocks Creek Presbyterian Church cemetery, York Co., SC) is "Esther."Martha is a "Davies" while Esther, according to the Jerry West article in "The Quarterly," is a "Davis."
If the above birthdates (Esther Davis was born in 1745 and Martha Davies in 1755) are correct, then to me "Esther Davis" seems more logical than "Martha Davies" to be the wife of Joseph Alexander.Joseph apparently married November 12, 1767.Esther's age of 22 at the time of this marriage seems, at least to me, more logical than Martha's age of 12 at the time of the marriage (particularly so since Joseph's age probably would have been 32).[Unfortunately for the argument I am making in this genforum entry, the name of the daughter that Joseph Alexander and his wife had in 1768 (date given by Jerry West) was "Martha."]
I realize that this current genforum response to my own genforum entry (#2635) is a long-winded explanation of why I think I mispoke in "thinking Martha (the oldest surviving daughter of Pres. Davies) married Rev. Joseph Alexander"As a result of the information that I've cited above, I am now not so confident (and, in fact, I am doubtful) that Joseph Alexander married the daughter of the Princeton president, Samuel Davies.Mea culpa.Dallas Lacy
More Replies:
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Re: children of President Samuel Davies, 1723-1761 ???
Pat Hamner 3/29/08
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Re: children of President Samuel Davies, 1723-1761 ???
Dallas Lacy 3/29/08
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Re: children of President Samuel Davies, 1723-1761 ???
Pat Hamner 3/30/08
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Re: children of President Samuel Davies, 1723-1761 ???
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Re: children of President Samuel Davies, 1723-1761 ???