I believe my Great Great Great Grandfather, John Davis, was born in Merthyr Tydfil, at one time called the iron metropolis of Wales. The town is said to owe its name to Tydvil, the daughter of Brychan, the King of the district and very devout old man, who was murdered in 420 by a party of marauding Saxons, or, variously, Irish Picts, together with her father and brother. A church was erected on the spot to her memory and named after her, MerthyrTydvil, or Tydvil the Martyr. Tydvil is not an uncommon feminine name in Wales to this day.

I believe Martha Davis, maiden name Jefferies, was born in Aberstruth (identified as "abertstwith" in the 1851 census). It might have been Aberystwyth, but that community is nearly 90 miles away from John's birthplace in Merthyr Tydfil.

In 1851, the John Davis Family is living in Trevethin, just over 8 miles from where they were living in 1841 in the village of Llanover Upper. In between 1841 and 1851 we find an interesting mystery with the Davis family.

My great great great grandfather, John Davis, had a daughter named Mary. I always assumed that she was born in Wales with the rest of her brothers and sisters. But upon closer examination, I discovered that the census gatherers in 1851 recorded that Mary was born in the English town of Dudley, Worcestershire county, in 1846. Dudley is almost 90 miles north of the Welsh town of Llanover Upper where the Davis family was living in 1841 and where young George was born in 1842.

When I looked at the 1861 census document, Mary is reported as being born in "Berbehard" in the county of Shropshire. Now, since the distance from Dudley to the Shropshire/Worcestershire border is quite short -- less than ten miles I believe -- they could have been living near the border. However, I've found no town named "Berbehard" anywhere in the vicinity.

From what I've read on the web, Dudley was not the nicest place to live during the 1840s. Back then, this area was referred to as the "Black Country" for the dense clouds of smoke belched continuously from thousands of coal-fired hearths and furnaces. These polluted the environment with vast amounts of soot. In addition to highly concentrated manufacturing enterprises, Dudley was associated with the invention of the steam engine (it was first operated near Dudley Castle in 1712) and in 1821 the first iron steamship was built in the Dudley area at the Horseley Ironworks.

By 1851, the Davis family had moved back to Wales and were living in the village of Trevethin, only eight miles from where they were living in 1841. I'm sure it was no easy task in the 1840s to pick up and move 90 miles away to a new city. Certainly, work must have been plentiful in Wales in the 1840s. Wales was the industrial capital of the world back then. So why did they move and almost immediately move back? I would love to find out.

The mystery as to why the Davis family wasn't consistent in reporting Mary's birthplace may, in part, be due to the fact that there were numerous changes to county boundaries over the years. In some cases it was done to tidy up historic anomalies, such as tiny detached pieces of one county being entirely surrounded by another. Such changes have taken place piecemeal over many years, with some such detached areas surviving to as recently as 1974. One notable example is the northern piece of Worcestershire containing the town of Dudley, which was originally entirely surrounded by Staffordshire.

So, maybe the Davis family meant to say Staffordshire when they told the census worker "Shropshire" in 1851. If that were true, then the mystery of Mary's true birthplace could be easily solved.

In 1861, the John Davis family, as well as his son, Thomas' family, show up living in the community of Yarm, near Middlesbrough, Yorkshire County, England. I find this somewhat inexplicable. Why move nine family members 262 miles away from their little town of Trevethin in Wales to the unfamiliar east coast of England? Was it an irresistible opportunity? Or, were they in trouble for some reason? We'll probably never know. We do know that the family had to have moved before 1857, as Thomas' son, George, was born in Middlesbrough in that year. We also know that the family didn't stay long. By 1866 they had moved back to Wales. We know this because Thomas' son and daughter, Thomas Jr. and Mary, died in Glamorgan in 1866, almost certainly from cholera. The third of three great choldera epidemics took place that year.

In 1870, John and Martha Davis and their grandson, George came to America aboard the steamship, Colorado (see above right), arriving on July 12th, 1870. The trio can be found living in Glendon, Pennsylvania at the time of the 1870 census. Glendon, Northhampton County, is about 300 miles east of Pittsburgh on the eastern boundry of Pennsylvania. John lists his occupation as, "Furnace Laborer," possibly at the Glendon Iron Works.

By the time of the 1880 census, great, great, great grandather, John Davis has apparently died (though I haven't located the record as yet) and Martha is living in the city of Blossburg, Tioga County, Pennsylvania as a boarder. Blossburg is 175 miles from Glendon. I have not been able to find grandson (my great grandfather), George Davis (who would be 23 years old and married by 1880) anywhere in the census records.

I tried to find great great great grandfather, John Davis' oldest son, William, but didn't have any luck for the 1881 census in Wales. I did find a William R. Davis of the correct age in Pittsburgh for the 1880 census. This particular William named two of his sons John and David, the same names as my great great Uncle's brothers, so he may be the right guy. No way to tell just yet.

1841 CENSUS FOR LLANOVER UPPER, MONMOUTHSHIRE, WALES
Great, great, great grandfather John Davis Family

1851 CENSUS FOR TREVETHIN, MONMOUTHSHIRE, WALES
Great, great, great grandfather John Davis Family

1861 CENSUS FOR MIDDLESBROUGH, YORKSHIRE, ENGLAND (page 1)
Great, great, great grandfather John Davi(e)s Family

1861 CENSUS FOR MIDDLESBROUGH, YORKSHIRE, ENGLAND (page 2)
Great, great, great grandfather John Davis Family

1870 CENSUS FOR GLENDON, PENNSYLVANIA, USA
Great, great, great grandfather John Davis Family

1880 CENSUS, BLOSSBURG, TIOGA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, USA
Great, great, great grandfather John Davis Family (Martha only)

The EGYPT (foreground) was a 4,670 ton iron vessel built in 1871 for National Steamship Co. Ltd. by the Liverpool Shipbuilding Co, Liverpool, England. She was launched on February 9th, 1871. The ship had accomodations for 120 1st-class and 1,400 steerage-class passengers and was, at the time of her launching, the second largest ship in the world after the GREAT EASTERN. Her maiden voyage from Liverpool to Queenstown, Ireland, and then on to New York took place on November 10, 1871. The Thomas Davies family took passage on the ship not quite a year later, beginning their journey on October 10th, 1872. The family arrived in the Port of New York ten days later, on October 20th, 1872.

It's intersting to note that Thomas and Eliza Davis named their second and third-born children, Thomas and Mary. We already know that there was a Mary Davis living with the John Davis family in 1841 when Thomas was a child. I imagine that Mary was John's widowed mother. "Mother" Mary gives her age as "60" and states that she was born in Glamorgan. This means she was born about 1781. The question is, what was Mary's husband's name? Could it be Thomas? Might that be the reason that Thomas and Eliza named their children Thomas and Mary?

But wait. Upon closer examination we find that Eliza Jane's parents are named Thomas and Mary. Isn't that interesting. It would appear that Thomas and Eliza could have named their second and third-born children after her parents.

First-born son, George Davis appears to be named for his uncle George, fourth son of his grandfather John Davis.

Ordinarily, the first born boy would be named after the father's father. But since George's grandfather is John we're left with a quandry. Could there have been an earlier child born to Thomas and eliza before George -- maybe a John Davis born before George's birthdate of 1857 and who died soon after?

Researching, I found that several children named John Davi(e)s were born in Pontypool, Monmouthshire in 1855 or 1856 and more than one died in that same time period. Maybe Thomas' grandfather -- ie, his John's father -- was named George. There was one George Davis who died in Glamorgan in 1838. And there was a George Davies who died in the Merthyr Tydfil District that same year. Maybe one of these men was John Davis' father. Of course, George could just as easily be named after his maternal grandmother's father. Since we don't know what Martha Davis maiden name was, we can't even guess at her father's name.

For the 1880 census, the Thomas Davis Family is living in Akron, Summit County, Ohio. Thomas is "working in a rolling mill."

For the 1900 census, the Thomas Davis family has moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the state where his parents once lived.

For the 1910 census, Thomas Davis has apparently died and his widow, Eliza Davis is head of a household that includes her daughter Emma who has married a man named Charles Sherman. The Shermans have four children. Also in the Davis household are five Price family members who declare themselves as grand children. The children belong to Eliza's daughter, Martha and husband William Price who were 37 and 46 years old in 1900. At this time it is not known what happened to the Price parents. Also living in the household is Jennie Davis, daughter of Eliza's son George Davis. I have not been able to find George anywhere in the 1910 census.

1871 CENSUS FOR LLANGYNWYD LOWER, GLAMORGAN COUNTY, WALES
Great, great, grandfather Thomas Davi(e)s Family

1880 CENSUS FOR AKRON, SUMMIT COUNTY, OHIO, USA
Great, great, grandfather, Thomas Davis Family

Interesting to note that two other Davis families live right next door to the Thomas Davis family. The ages of the two young married couple roughly correspond to the age of Thomas' oldest child, George. Could these two couples be children of his brothers, William, Joseph, or John?

1900 CENSUS FOR PITTSBURGH WARD 25, ALLEGHENY, PENNSYLVANIA, USA
Great, Great Grandfather Thomas Davis Family

1910 CENSUS FOR PITTSBURGH WARD 16, ALLEGHENY, PENNSYLVANIA, USA
Great, Great, Grandfather Thomas Davis Family

In 1920, George Davis is back living in Akron, Ohio, and this time he's running a confectionary shop. George is remarried. His wife is a German woman named Louise.

By 1930, George has moved to Los Angeles, California, where he lists his occupation as "none." He would be seventy-three years old.

1900 CENSUS FOR AKRON, SUMMIT COUNTY, OHIO
Great grandfather George Davis Family

1920 CENSUS FOR AKRON, SUMMIT COUNTY, OHIO
Great Grandfather George Davis Family

1930 CENSUS FOR LOS ANGELES CITY, LOS ANGELES COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
Great Grandfather George Davis Family (2nd wife)

Grandfather, Thomas Davis joined the U.S. Navy in 1910 and served aboard the U.S.S. Nebraska until 1914. So far, I have not been able to find him on a census document.

After mustering out of the Navy, Thomas and Gwendolain were living at 260 W. Exchange, Akron, Ohio in 1918. We know this because his draft registration card says Thomas registered on June 5th and Thomas was age 30. That means he registered for the draft in 1918 since he would have been 30 years old on August 14th (mom says 19th), 1917. He says he had a wife and child, which means Burton had been born by that point. Thomas lists his occupation as "electrician." In 1920, Thomas and Gwendolain were still living in Akron, Summit County, Ohio, at the time of the census and my father, Robert Thomas Davis, had not yet been born.

In 1926 the Davis family moved to California, I suspect because Thomas had seen the west coast on his tour of duty in the Navy and remembered how beautiful and warm it was there. Therefore, by the time of the census in 1930, the Davis family was living in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California, where they would remain until they moved to El Monte in 1938. By the time I met my grandparents in the early 1950s, they would have been in their late sixties.

1920 CENSUS FOR AKRON, SUMMIT COUNTY, OHIO, USA
Grandfather Thomas Davis Family

Note: This census record was tough to find because all of the names are misspelled. Thomas is spelled "Tomase," Gwendolain is spelled, "Gwendlyn," and son Burton is spelled, "Bairton." They did get the "Davis" part right.

1930 CENSUS FOR GLENDALE, LOS ANGELES COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, USA
Grandfather Thomas Davis Family

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