Thomas Davis and Elizabeth Smith lived in Healing Springs Township in Davidson County, North Carolina, probably where they were married in the late 1830s. (Davidson County was formed in 1822 from Rowan County, and is located in the central part of the state between Winston-Salem and Charlotte.) Thomas Davis was born there in 1818, a son of Wiatt Davis. (Thomas's mother's name is not known.) Wiatt Davis was born in North Carolina in the 1790s and probably died in Davidson County in the 1840s. He had a large family (at least seven sons and three daughters), of which Thomas was one of the oldest.

Elizabeth Smith's parents are David Smith and Barbara ----, both of whom were born in North Carolina around 1790. The Smiths were close neighbors of the Davises in Healing Springs Township. David Smith died there in the 1870s; Barbara died sometime after 1880. Elizabeth was probably their only child.

Thomas Davis owned 50 acres of land in Healing Springs Township, which he acquired in the 1840s, on which he was a farmer and miller. When his estate was settled (1887), this land was sold by public auction to William Loftin: "land in the County of Davidson . . . adjoining the lands of Jas. Bean, B. F. Davis and others . . . in Jas. Loftin's old line . . . in James Cameron's old line . . . containing 50 acres more or less."

Thomas and Elizabeth had 11 children: six sons (William, Wyatt, David D(aniel?)., Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and James H.) and five daughters (Elizabeth, Barbara, Anna Adaline, Julia Rebecca, and Sarah). William and Wyatt both served in a North Carolina Confederate regiment in the Civil War; William died of disease during the war in Charlottesville, Virginia in December 1862. Nothing further is known about Elizabeth, Anna Adaline, Julia Rebecca, or Sarah. The rest of the children married, had families, and remained in or near Davidson County.

   Davidson County townships

Thomas Davis died in 1884 and was buried in the Lick Creek Baptist Church Cemetery in Healing Springs Township. At the time of the 1900 census, his wife Elizabeth was living in their son David D. Davis's household. This census states that only six of her 11 children were still alive that that time, so the four daughters of whom we know very little had died fairly young (the fifth deceased child being William, who died in the Civil War). Nothing further is known of Thomas's wife Elizabeth after 1900.

Here are listings of descendants (through three generations):

[Note: To view the Adobe Acrobat files, you will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader software. This can be downloaded free from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html. You can download the files to your disk to view them, or use your web browser with the appropriate plug-ins.]

Children of Thomas Davis & Elizabeth Smith (Adobe Acrobat document; 132 KB; 5 Nov 2006)
    Descendants of Wyatt Davis (#2) & Nancy Carroll (Adobe Acrobat document; 175 KB; 5 Nov 2006)
    Descendants of Barbara Davis (#4) & James Monroe Cameron (Adobe Acrobat document; 145 KB; 5 Nov 2006)
    Descendants of David D(aniel?). Davis (#5) & Julia Ann Hearn (Adobe Acrobat document; 149 KB; 5 Nov 2006)
    Descendants of Thomas Jefferson Davis (#8) & Clarinda Skeen (Adobe Acrobat document; 127 KB; 5 Nov 2006)
    Descendants of Benjamin Franklin Davis (#9) & Dora Carroll (Adobe Acrobat document; 144 KB; 5 Nov 2006)
    Descendants of James H. Davis (#B) & Ella Carroll (Adobe Acrobat document; 122 KB; 5 Nov 2006)
    Index of Names (Adobe Acrobat document; 113 KB; 5 Nov 2006)

Explanation of Format of Descendant Listings [See here for explanation of numbering system for descendants.]

1820 US Census Adobe Acrobat document; 85 KB; 5 Nov 2006)
1830 US Census (Adobe Acrobat document; 84 KB; 5 Nov 2006)
1840 US Census (Adobe Acrobat document; 86 KB; 5 Nov 2006)
1850 US Census (Adobe Acrobat document; 92 KB; 5 Nov 2006)
1860 US Census (Adobe Acrobat document; 93 KB; 5 Nov 2006)
1870 US Census (Adobe Acrobat document; 106 KB; 5 Nov 2006)
1880 US Census (Adobe Acrobat document; 97 KB; 5 Nov 2006)
1900 US Census (Adobe Acrobat document; 103 KB; 5 Nov 2006)
1910 US Census (Adobe Acrobat document; 123 KB; 5 Nov 2006)
1920 US Census (Adobe Acrobat document; 128 KB; 5 Nov 2006)
1930 US Census (Adobe Acrobat document; 137 KB; 5 Nov 2006)

Georgia Notes (Adobe Acrobat document; 88 KB; 5 Nov 2006)
North Carolina Notes (Adobe Acrobat document; 253 KB; 5 Nov 2006)

World War 1 Draft Registrations(Adobe Acrobat document; 91 KB; 5 Nov 2006)

If you would like to comment on any information contained within, or wish to correspond with me about this family, please send me an e-mail message at: marslan@nc.rr.com. Additions and corrections are greatly appreciated. I am especially interested in receiving information obtained from primary sources (census listings, Bibles, cemeteries, vital records, probate and land records, etc.) and photographs and digital images relating to the Davis family so that I can incorporate them into this page. Also, I would like to provide links to other pages on the Internet that deal with Davis genealogy.

Mark B. Arslan