Elizabeth Davis

Ancestors of Elizabeth Maxson Davis:

Rev. WILLIAM DAVIS OF GLAMORGANSHIRE, WALES (1663-1745) emigrated to Penn's Colongy.

Within the first year, young William Davis found a wife. In his lifetime, William Davis married twice and possibly had ten children. Both wives were named "Elizabeth" (BRISLEY & PAVIOR); 

William Davis' first marriage to Elizabeth BRISLEY took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1685. In her book, Davis - Settlers of Salem, West Virginia, Susie Davis Nicholson, considered to be the authority of this complicated Davis family genealogy, attributes the following four children to William and Elizabeth (Brisley) Davis:

1. Martha Davis

2. William Davis (possibly) m. 1739-40 Sarah ALLEN at Westerly, R.I. ''' 3. John Davis (1692-1754 Shrewsbury) m. 1715 Elizabeth MAXSON (1695-1751 Westerly''')

4. Mary Davis

alt death: 30 JUN 1700 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia Co., Pa.

Note:

   REFN: 3589

   [williamDavis.FTW]

   Page 4, "Seventh Day Baptists in West Virginia":

   On October 12, 1710, William Davis and Elisabeth Brisley, his wife,

   applied

   for membership in the Westerly, afterward the First Hopkinton (Rhode

   Island)

   Church which had been organized some two years previously. His wife was

   immediately received into membership, but the Church deferred final action

   upon his membership.

Compiled by Robert Edward Davis and Ruth Pittenger Davis

Generation No. 1

1. William1 Davis was born 1640 in Llanstephen, County Radnor, Glamorganshire, Wales.

Generation No. 2

2. William2 Davis (William1) was born 1663 in Llanstephen, County Radnor, Glamorganshire, Wales, and died 1745 in Squam, New Jersey. He married Elizabeth Brisley 1685, daughter of Luke Brisley.

Children of William Davis and Elizabeth Brisley are: i. John3 Davis, born 1692 in Philadelphia. ii. Martha Davis.

iii. Mary Davis.

iv. William Davis. The first American of the Davis family was William2 Davis. Four brothers by the name of Davis were members of the Baptist church of Penyfay in the County of Glamorgan. One of the brothers was Sheriff; another Deputy Sheriff; a third, a Recorder of the County of Glamorgan; and the fourth a Chaplain to the Judge of Cardiff. It is believed that William Davis was the son of one of these brothers. While at Oxford studying for the Ministry, William became acquainted with the teachings of George Fox, the founder of the Quakers, and was soon one himself. As a result, he was expelled from Oxford and, in 1684, joined William Penn’s Quaker colony in Pennsylvania to preach the Gospel. After seven years, he and others separated from William Penn and became a follower of George Keith, a Baptist Quaker. He became a member of the Seventh Day Baptist Church. In 1706, William moved to Rhode Island. During a part of time there, he was under discipline for heresy, and a part of the time he was one of the regularly accredited preachers of the church.

From 1717 to 1734, he again lived in Pennsylvania. In 1734, he moved to Stonington, Connecticut, near Westerly, and became identified with the Westerly Church. He moved from Stonington, probably in 1744, to Monmouth County, New Jersey where the most of his family had settled, and where a Seventh Day Baptist Church was organized. Here he died in 1745, at 82 years of age.

His life was active and turbulent. He was a powerful preacher who had strong likes and dislike. Such a man could not fail to meet opposition and suffer the assaults of enemies and antagonists. Yet with all the tempestuous experiences of his life, he was spiritual and devout, and particularly in his later years, sought peace and reconciliation with his brethren whom he had so often grieved.