Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection open for research.

Use Restrictions

No physical characteristics affect use of correspondence material. Physical characteristics affect use of portraits.

Preferred Citation

Rodney and Elizabeth Davis Papers (M 023), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA.

Acquisition Information

William and Nora Drury, Bluemont, VA

Alternative Form Available

None

Accruals

2006.0114

Biographical Information

Rodney and Elizabeth Davis lived in Lincoln, VA as members of the Religious Society of Friends for most of their married years. Both had Quaker heritage and raised their own family within the bounds of the religious society. Rodney (1808-1891) was one of eleven children born to Gideon (1780-?) and Nancy Hughes Davis (d. 1833) who were married in 1805. Other children born to them were Herephilia (1804-1867), Levi (n.d.), Morgan (d. 1891), Patty (also called Mary) (b.1810), Martha (1817-1835), Susannah (1819-1821), Catherine (b. 1823), John C. (1825-1828), Samuel B. (n.d.) and Arnold (1828-1832). Gideon became a convinced Friend in 1812 and moved with Nancy, who was not originally Quaker, from Goose Creek, VA to Indian Spring, MD in 1814. Eventually Gideon moved his family to Georgetown, where he worked as a machinist and a cabinet maker.

Gideon's correspondence to Rodney is filled with ideas for inventions, business connections, and competitor's plots to undermine his efforts to make and sell his various farming implements. One particular achievement credited to Gideon by Goose Creek locals is his adaptation of a Pennsylvania plow design from moulds into a larger model more durable for Loudoun County's heavy soil. It is reported that Gideon made nearly all the ploughs in the area. After Nancy died in 1833, Gideon's whereabouts are unclear until an 1860 Ohio census shows him married to Easther (or Hester) at 80 years of age. Local history concurs that Gideon moved to Lloydsville, Belmont County, Ohio in 1834-35, marrying Easther on the way.

Rodney moved to Winchester, VA in his late teens and from there helped his father with his plough designs. He moved back to Georgetown in 1835 to marry Elizabeth Boone (1812-1897) who was a close friend of the family. Rodney's wedding attire receipt is in the collection. Elizabeth's grandfather Isaiah Boone (1740-1813) and Daniel Boone (1734-1820) were cousins. Rodney and Elizabeth had nine children: Martha Ann (1836-1839), Henry Franklin (1838-1919), Arnold Boone (1840-1924), Oliver (1842-1890), Edward H. (1844-1922), Charles Gideon (1847-1934), John Morgan (1849-1930), Susanna E. (1852-1862), and Samuel B. (1855-1943).

Goose Creek Friends were given permission to meet in 1744. They gathered first in homes and then moved into the stone meetinghouse in 1765. When it too could no longer accommodate them, a new meetinghouse was built out of brick in 1819, costing four thousand dollars. Rodney was brought to Goose Creek from Georgetown shortly after his marriage in 1835, because the town needed "someone who could mend anything from a steam engine to a bodkin." He was assigned caretaker of the brick meetinghouse and the old stone building has served as the caretaker's home ever since.

In 1860, presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln received nine votes from the Goose Creek area. This was some show of support considering that Lincoln was not on the ballot and Quakers avoided politics. The Goose Creek Friends pulled a political stunt in 1861 when they applied for a Post Office, proposing to name the town Lincoln in hopes of getting prompt approval. It worked, and Rodney Davis became the first Postmaster in April 1861, although he was not officially appointed until 3 July, 1865, on account of the Civil War.

Little is recorded about the lives of Rodney and Elizabeth's children. Henry Franklin built houses in Lincoln in the 1870s. He was also an undertaker and ran a hominy mill and sawmill outside of Lincoln. Charles Gideon was a shoemaker, ran a general store and was postmaster of Lincoln from 1889-1893 and again from 1897-1913. John Morgan moved to Georgia with his wife Betty Wilmarth, who was ill, and young daughter Elsie. John worked on steam engines and cared for Elsie after Betty died in 1892.

Scope and Content

This collection primarily contains handwritten letters to Rodney and Elizabeth from family and friends within the Quaker community, although it does contain a few other items, such as a prescription from Dr. Copeland, one photograph (unidentified), and some receipts. Writers discuss a variety of topics related to family life such as town events, health, weather, business endeavors, recent deaths and marriages, visiting guests, travel or desires to travel, occasionally inserting bible verses or poems to comfort or entertain. Prominent themes in the collection are Gideon Davis' letters to his son Rodney about his plow design, John Morgan's updates to his mother Elizabeth on his wife's declining health, and Herephilia Davis' gossip-filled letters to her brother Rodney.

Notes: Herephilia often signs her name 'H' or "Philia'. In order to avoid using pagan titles for months and days of the week, Quakers employed their own dating system, referring to months and days as 1st or 2nd etc. Thus, 28 May would be the 28th day of the 5th month. Quakers also refused to refer to Friends as Mr. or Mrs. and instead called others 'cousin' or 'brother', leading to some confusion in identifying actual relations. Included is a family tree based primarily off the collection and supported by Quaker genealogies. Stunning charcoal portraits of both Rodney and Elizabeth, unsigned, are stored in oversized item boxes.

Inclusive dates for the collection are 1828-1920, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1831-1844. Undated correspondence addressed to Rodney also comprises a large portion of the collection.

Related Material

Davis Family File 249, Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA.

Adjunct Descriptive Data

Bibliography

Ancestry Library Edition, United States census, marriage records, Social Security death register, http://www.ancestrylibrary.com.

Hinshaw, William Wade. Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1999.

Janney, Asa Moore and Werner. Ye Meetg Hous Smal: A Short Account of Friends in Loudoun County, Virginia 1732-1980. Lincoln, VA, 1980.

_________. The Composition Book: Stories from the Old Days in Lincoln, Virginia. Bethesda, MD: The Sign of the Pied Typer, 1980.

Janney, John Jay. John Jay Janney's Virginia: An American Farm Lad's Life in the Early 19th Century. McLean, VA : EPM Publications, 1978.

Rodney and Elizabeth Davis Papers (M 023), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA.

Scheel, Eugene. Loudoun Discovered: Communities, Corners, and Crossroads. Vol. 4. Quaker County and the Loudoun Valley. Leesburg, VA: The Friends of the Thomas Balch Library, 2002.

Other Finding Aid

None