Eleanor Hays Davis

b. 27 April 1816, d. 17 October 1891
FatherWilliam Davis1,2 b. Apr 1778, d. 24 May 1842
MotherSarah Ryburn1 b. 29 Dec 1788, d. 18 Mar 1873
Birth27 Apr 1816 Eleanor Hays Davis was born on 27 Apr 1816.1,3 
Childhood Eleanor was born and raised in Washington County, Virginia. 
Marriage She married Pleasant McCoy, son of (?) McCoy.4 
Migration Sometime between the birth of daughter Lavinia in early 1841 and the birth of daughter Sarah in late 1842, Eleanor and Pleasant left Virginia and settled in Carroll County, Illinois. 
  They may have traveled with Eleanor's cousin Sarah Davis and her husband Abraham Moffett who married in January 1841 in Smyth County, Virginia and then headed west to Illinois, also settling in Carroll County. Or they may have made the move with Eleanor's mother and siblings who moved to Carroll County following the death of Eleanor's father in Virginia in early 1842. 
WidowedFeb 1845 Pleasant McCoy did not live many years in his new home. His death in 1845 left Eleanor a widow at 28 with 5 young children. Two of her brothers died in Carroll County the same spring. 
Cens-185014 Sep 1850  Eleanor and her children then made their home with her mother and surviving brother in Freedom township.5,6 
  Eleanor's four married sisters also lived nearby. 
Cens-186022 Jun 1860  By 1860 Eleanor was enumerated as the head of her own household. Three of her children were living with her and two were helping their uncle Mathew Davis on the farm.7,8 
Cens-187029 Jul 1870  Ten years later the census enumeration included Eleanor's daughter Sarah who at age twenty-six was single and living at home with her mother. Also enumerated with the family that year was a twenty-two year old man named George Myers who was helping with the farm [four years later he and Sarah would wed].9 
Cens-188024 Jun 1880  As she grew older and her children were married or otherwise employed, Eleanor settled with her oldest son, Samuel, and his wife and three children.10 
Death17 Oct 1891 Eleanor died on 17 Oct 1891 at age 75.3 
Burial She was buried in Lanark Cemetery, Lanark, Carroll County, Illinois, next to her husband and near her mother and brothers.3 

Related Links and Images:

Find Lanark Cemetery on the Carroll County map (also accessible via the Misc. Locations link in the menu bar at the top of any page).
See Mary Jane's Journal for images and text from the journal of Eleanor's sister, Mary Jane (Davis) Moffett

Family

Pleasant McCoy b. abt 1812, d. 25 Feb 1845
Children
ChartsDescendants of Mathew Ryburn and Jane Beattie
Last Edited21 Jun 2011

Citations

  1. [S10] "Journal of Mary Jane Beaty (Davis) Moffett", p. 19.
  2. [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.
  3. [S1026] Carroll County Genealogical Society, Carroll County, Illinois Tombstone Inscriptions Vol. 3, Stone reported to read: Eleanor McCoy d. 17 Oct 1891, aged 75yr, 5m, 20d.
  4. [S10] "Journal of Mary Jane Beaty (Davis) Moffett", p. 10.
  5. [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.
  6. [S1894] Eliza F. Pierce (Plum River, Carroll Co., IL) to Julia Adaline Laird (Linneous, Linn Co., MO), letter, 21 Jul 1850; Laird Family Letters, 1849-1864. 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."
  7. [S1030] Ellen H. McCoy household, 1860 U.S. census, Carroll Co., Illinois, pop. sched., Rock Creek, p. 905 (added script), dwelling 567, family 531, viewed online at Ancestry.com, Nov. 2004, image 1 of 17. Enumeration includes: Ellen H. McCoy, 44, farmer, owns real estate of $3,000, pers prop of $800, b. VA; William, 22, b. VA; Mary 20, b. VA; Sarah, 17, b. IL.
  8. [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.
  9. [S1031] Eleanor H. McCoy household, 1870 U.S. census, Carroll Co., Illinois, pop. sched., Rock Creek township, p. 191 (stamped), dwelling 157, family 157, viewed online at Ancestry.com, Nov. 2004, image 23 of 28. Enumeration includes: Eleanor H. McCoy, 54, b. VA, owns real estate of $16,000; Samuel, 35, farmer, b. VA; Lavinia, 29, b. VA; Sarah, 26, b. IL; Geo W. Myers, 22, farm laborer, b. PA.
  10. [S1032] Samuel P. McCoy household, 1880 U.S. cens., Carroll Co., Illinois, pop sched., Rock Creek township, ED 17, page 556D (stamped), dwelling 139, family 139, viewed online at Ancestry.com, Nov. 2004, image 42 of 46. Enumeration reports: Samuel P. McCoy, 34, marr, farmer, b. VA, parents b. VA; Mary C., 32, wife, keeping house, b. PA, parents b. PA; Frank, 6, son; Esther (?), 4, dau; Anna, 1, dau; all children b. IL; Eleanor, 50, mother, b VA, parents b. VA.