Mathew Ryburn Davis
b. 9 December 1825, d. 11 June 1887
Birth | 9 Dec 1825 | Mathew Ryburn Davis was born on 9 Dec 1825 in Washington County, Virginia.1 |
Migration | 1842 | Mathew was seventeen years old when his father died in 1842. Later that year Mathew, along with his mother, joined several of his siblings who had already settled in Carroll County, Illinois.3 |
Cens-1850 | 14 Sep 1850 | Mathew assumed the role of head of the family following the death of his older brother John in 1845. By 1850 he and his mother were living together, along with Mathew's widowed sister Ellen Davis McCoy and her five children.4 |
Cens-1860 | 14 Jun 1860 | Ten years later Mathew's mother was still living with him, as were two of Eleanor's children.5 |
| | During at least some of this time they were most likely living in the log cabin first used by Mathew's sister Mary Jane and her husband Garner when they settled in Carroll County in 1836. An 1850 letter states: "Mathew Davis and his mother and Ellen Maccoy still lives on the old place....Garner Moffett has built a large brick house up on the road." |
Cens-1870 | 4 Aug 1870 | However by 1870 Mathew, though he still listed his occupation as farmer and claimed land worth $10,000 was residing in a hotel in the nearby town of Lanark.6 |
Cens-1880 | 7 Jun 1880 | By 1880 his niece, Mary McCoy was living in Lanark and Mathew was boarding with her. He does not appear to have been employed.7 |
| | Mathew did not marry.8 |
Death | 11 Jun 1887 | Mathew died on 11 Jun 1887 in Coloma, Michigan, at age 61 when he commited suicide.9,10 |
Burial | | He was buried in Section 7, Row 1, Lot 2 at Lanark Cemetery, Lanark, Carroll County, Illinois, with his mother, and brothers William B. and John B. Davis.11 |
Citations
- [S10] "Journal of Mary Jane Beaty (Davis) Moffett", p. 19.
- [S268] William Davis will (recorded 1842), Washington Co., VA Will Book 9: 122. Will was dated 16 April 1842 and recorded 27 June 1842; names wife and children.
- [S10] "Journal of Mary Jane Beaty (Davis) Moffett", p. 28.
- [S1029] Mathew R. Davis household, 1850 U.S. census, Carroll Co., Illinois, pop. sched., Freedom township, p. 700 (added script, dwelling 4, family 4, viewed online at Ancestry.com, Nov. 2004, image 8 of 8. Enumeration records: Mathew R. Davis, 24, farmer; Sarah 5_; Ellen McCoy, 33; rest McCoy: Samuel 15; Wm 13; Mary M. 11; Lavinia A. 9; all prev. persons b. VA; Sarah 7, b. IL.
- [S1030] Mathew Davis household, 1860 U.S. census, Carroll Co., Illinois, pop. sched., Freedom, p. 871 (added script), dwelling 322, family 311, viewed online at Ancestry.com, Nov. 2004, image 13 of 22. Enumeration includes: Mathew Davis, 35, farmer, real estate: $4,800, pers. prop: $1,245, b. VA; Sarah, 72, b. VA; B. Sebastion, 20, farm laborer, b. OH; Sam McKay, 25, farm laborer, b. VA; Lavinia McCay, servant, 19, b. VA.
- [S1031] Mathew Davis household, 1870 U.S. census, Carroll Co., Illinois, pop. sched., Lanark, p. 205b (stamped, dwelling 182, family 181, viewed online at Ancestry.com, Nov. 2004, image 24 of 25. Enumeration records: Mathew Davis, 44, farmer, b. VA, owns real estate of $10,000, living in a hotel.
- [S1032] Mary McCoy household, 1880 U.S. cens., Carroll Co., Illinois, pop sched., Lanark, ED 17, page 544A (stamped), dwelling 156, family 165, viewed online at Ancestry.com, Nov. 2004, image 17 of 46. Enumeration reports: Mary McCoy, 36, sgl, runs boarding hse, b. VA; Venia, 35, sister, b. VA; Mathew Davis, 55, uncle, b. VA, both parents b. VA.
- [S10] "Journal of Mary Jane Beaty (Davis) Moffett", p. 10.
- [S1027] Lanark Cemetery, Sexton's records. Record states: Mathew R. Davis, d. 11 June 1887, cause suicide by hanging, b. Washington Co, CA, Resid Lanark.
- [S10] "Journal of Mary Jane Beaty (Davis) Moffett", p. 48.
- [S1026] Carroll County Genealogical Society, Carroll County, Illinois Tombstone Inscriptions Vol. 3, Stone reported to read: Mathew R. Davis, 11 June 1887 aged 61 yrs, 6 mos, 2 days.
- [S16] Original article shared by Carolyn Ryburn who found it stored among some old family documents.