Jemima Davis

Not the daughter of Colonel Peter Jefferson. Seen as daughter of Alice Ainsley Jefferson

Jemima was a widow Collins when she married John Davis. Said to have died in Albemarle in 1765, but children are listed born after that date.

Family

John Davis was born ABT. 1725 - 1732 in Goochland Co., Colony of Virginia, British America, and died AFT. 1770 in Pittsylvania Co. or Augusta Co., Virginia.

He married Jemima Jefferson ABT. 1753 in Albemarle Co. or Augusta Co., Colony of Virginia, British America, “perhaps” a daughter of Thomas Jefferson , II, Captain and Identity Unknown. She was born ABT. 1730 in Goochland Co., Colony of Virginia, British America, and died AFT. 1770 in Pittsylvania Co. or Augusta Co., Virginia

From https://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=REG&db=davismuncyroyalt&...

Children of John Davis and Jemima Jefferson are:

• + 2 i. Robert S Davis , Sr. was born 18 APR 1754 in Albemarle Co. or Augusta Co., Colony of Virginia, British America, and died 22 MAR 1843 in Clinton Co., KY.
• + 3 ii. Thomas Davis was born ABT. 1755 in Albemarle Co. or Augusta Co., Colony of Virginia, British America, and died 1825 in Logan Co., VA.
• + 4 iii. William Davis was born ABT. 1756 in Albemarle Co. or Augusta Co., Colony of Virginia, British America, and died 13 MAY 1842 in Pike Co., KY.
• + 5 iv. John Davis II was born 12 DEC 1758 in Albemarle Co. or Augusta Co., Colony of Virginia, British America, and died 30 SEP 1841 in Clinton Co., KY.
• 6 v. Jemima Davis was born ABT. 1760 in Albemarle Co. or Augusta Co., Colony of Virginia, British America, and died UNKNOWN in Unknown.
• 7 vi. Mary Davis was born ABT. 1760 in Albemarle Co. or Augusta Co., Colony of Virginia, British America.
• 8. vii. James Davis was born 1760 in Albemarle Co. or Augusta Co., Colony of Virginia, British America, and died ABT. 1831 in Wayne Co., KY.
• + 9 viii. Mildred Esther Davis was born ABT. 1768 in Augusta Co., Colony of Virginia, British America, and died AFT. 1830 in Logan Co., VA (WV).
• + 10 ix. Elizabeth "Betty" Davis was born ABT. 1770 in Botetourt Co., Colony of Virginia, British America, and died AFT. 1870 in Logan Co., VA (WV)

Biography

From https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Jefferson-717

John Davis a resident of Virginia, married Mrs. Jemima Collins, whose maiden name was Jefferson, a relative of Thomas Jefferson. John Davis's children were; Robert, Thomas, William, James, John, Mary and Jemima.

Robert's (eldest child of John and Jemima) maternal grandson Constant Elisha Watson Davis, stated in his manuscript "The Davis Family", written in 1892, that Robert's mother, Jemima (Jefferson) Collins Davis was related to President Thomas Jefferson. This claim is later confirmed by the previously mentioned source "History of Logan County, West Virginia", which was written in 1896.

Origins

Speculated as an out of wedlock daughter of Thomas Jefferson , II, Captain (1677 - 1731)

Discussions

• https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/jefferson/247/
• https://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=davismuncyroyalt&...
• https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/721685/agree-jemima-possibly-daughter-...
• Descendants Forum
• Pages 139-146 of Jack Ferguson's book Early TImes in Clinton County, Kentucky Vol. 1 has a bit of information on John Davis and family. Not all Jack Ferguson's information is correct, but it is fairly well researched on his end. Pvt. John Wyatt Davis, Sr., of Clinton County settled in the Cumberland county in 1799 according to tax lists. His parents were from Wales. His mother was a Jefferson and was related to President Thomas Jefferson. from 'The Davis Family' C.E.W. Davis -8/25/1892. ... See more at https://www.geni.com/discussions/189551?msg=1261388

Citations

• https://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=davismuncyroyalt&...
• Source Information Yates Publishing. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. Original data: This unique collection of records was extracted from a variety of sources including family group shee...Name: Jemima Collins Gender: Female Spouse Name: John Davis Spouse Birth Place: of VA Marriage State: of VA
• http://www.coleskingdom.com/Southeastern_White_County.html
• https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Jemima_Jefferson_%281%29
• featured on “Finding Your Roots” 2012 http://mv.ancestry.com/viewer/5f67e551-131a-4919-86d3-0330085ccb37/...
• from https://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=davismuncyroyalt&... : “many of Jemima's descendants have taken an autosomal DNA test which has revealed many of her descendants are a genetic match to descendants of all the other children of Capt. Thomas Jefferson, II which supports the conclusion Jemima was also a child of the captain”

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1. We know from written SECONDARY sources that three of John and Jemima’s sons, Robert, Thomas and William, claimed to be first cousins of President Thomas Jefferson.

2. In order for them to be first cousins with President Thomas Jefferson, Jemima would need to be a daughter of Peter Jefferson’s (Thomas’ father) father, Thomas Jefferson (the president’s grandfather).

3. In order for them to be first cousins once removed (more likely) she would have to be a first cousin of President Thomas Jefferson and would have to be a daughter of Peter Jefferson’s only brother, Field Jefferson.

4. In order to be first cousins twice removed (actually less likely due to the dates involved) she would have to be a daughter of one of Field Jefferson’s four sons: Thomas (b 1743), Peterfield (b. 1735), George (b ca.1745) or John Jefferson.

5. NONE of these six men are known to have had a legitimate daughter by the name of Jemima.

6. In the FIRST LIST OF TITHABLES OF PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY, YEAR 1767 (an early form of census) on the list of George Jefferson there appears “George Jefferson (Mechkenburg), John Davis, overseer, & Negroes, to-wit: Sam, Chance, Pompey, Phillis, Patt & Lacy”

7. On the same list there appears Daniel, William and Samuel Collins.

Those are all the facts that I have regarding this pair. Given that DNA evidence now proves that a Jefferson fathered at least one child by President Jefferson’s slave Sally Hemings, I find the conjecture that Jemima (b. ca. 1736) was a bastard child of one of the Jeffersons plausible. The best candidate would be the president’s Uncle Field Jefferson (b. 1702, m Mary Robertson 1734, d. 1762) though it is also possible that Field’s father Thomas Jefferson (b. 1679 d. 1735) is her father but this seems unlikely.

If Jemima is Field Jefferson’s illegitimate child it would make the Davis brother’s claim of being first cousins with the president valid (although they would be half first cousins once removed).

And that’s it. It’s possible that somewhere there are records to further support this – but if so I’ve been unable to find them in ten years of searching – including two trips to Virginia State Archives in Richmond.

But I’d love to keep in touch and possible solve this long-standing family mystery. Most family traditions have at least a long-lost and garbled truth to them and I’d love to find this one out too. DNA testing would give evidence of racial background for Descendants and that might be the closest we’ll ever come to knowing more.

In response to Dara on March 31, 2010 at 10:00 am:

   I’ve been having such a difficult time trying to come up with something–anything–to blog about. So today’s post will be about one of my other passions in life–genealogy and history :) Anyway, I don’t remember if I posted this or not, but I did actually apply to be on a TV show. Well, actually I [...]

Thank you, Mr. Davis for clarifying the common misconception that the name Jemima is/was a “black name”. Jemima, is no more associated with persons African blood than any other given name in history. If one digs a little deeper, they find many Jemima’s of European ancestry in history as it was a commonly given name during the 18th century and before. It is mistaken as such due to the long time Aunt Jemima line of food products heroin being black. In response to the female decendent of Jemima Davis Collins that said she had no African blood based on her DNA test, that does not mean anything about one’s actual pedigree. DNA is a very complex thing as we all are aware. True, she may not share the proper markers to indicate African ancestry but that could be because she didn’t inherit those particular genes from the African ancestor. A gene pool is comparable to that of a lottery. If we all inherited the same exact genetic makeup, then all our siblings would be identical. There are cases where one sibling shows a different DNA test than another. In fact, they always do when both are tested. I read a few speculative comments about Jemima being a Jefferson. There is no documentation of any substance that indicates her last name was Jefferson. That name was added by some very amateur historians to put it mildly in the last 15 years. Jemima’s surname was Collins. There is no documentation as much as I would like to believe that indicates otherwise. If she was by blood a Jefferson, I can promise that surname was never used by her in her lifetime. The birth dates included in that “story” are incompatible with any known timeline. Based on my research and knowledge of 18th century culture, she was most likely a mulatto in the most liberal usage of the word. As Collins was her surname it can be easily connected to the Melungeon culture that many servants and lower class persons were descended from during that time. If you don’t know what a Melungeon person is, I would recommend checking that out before making any more conclusions regarding this person’s ethnicity. Finally, there is no evidence anywhere to suggest Jemima Collins was a daughter of Sally Hemmings. Sally had children who were considered mulatto, but there is no evidence to indicate Jemima was one of them. Sally was mulatto as were most of the free people of color who held the rank just above slave in those days. Jemima was most likely a daughter of a female servant at Monticello who had the surname Collins. I am a descendent as well as most of you, but with no documentation to back this up, I’m afraid we will never know the truth.

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Jemima Jefferson was supposedly a near-relative of President Thomas Jefferson and sources suggest she was the President's aunt. According to the source "The History of Logan Co., WV" written in 1896 by Henry Ragland, her children claimed to be first cousins of President Thomas Jefferson, which suggests she had to be the President's aunt which means she was the daughter of the President's grandfather Capt. Thomas Jefferson, II by an unknown spouse or consort. His second wife died when he was only about 47 years old. Since he was still in the prime of his life following the death of his second wife, it is possible he may have married again or at least had a companion who was his consort and together they had Jemima and he was only about fifty years old at the time of Jemima's birth. Before 1745 Jemima married a Mr. Collins and had children with him prior to her 2nd marriage to John Davis before 1750. When Jemima married Mr. Collins and began having children by her first husband, she had to be of child bearing age or about 15 years old at the time of her first marriage about 1745 which means she was born about 1730. Jemima's second marriage was to John Davis about 1750 who was of supposed Welsh ancestry and who is said to have lived in a part of Goochland County, Virginia which became Albemarle County in 1744 and later became Amherst County in 1761. According to the manuscript "The Davis Family" written by Constant Elisha Watson Davis in 1892, Jemima and John's son Robert Davis was born in 1754 in the area that became Amherst Co., VA. Jemima died after 1770 since her last child Elizabeth who was also known as "Betty" was born in 1770. Betty married Adam Runyon(s) and according to the 1870 Logan Co., WV census, she was listed as "Elizabeth Runyans" and was 100 years old indicating she was born in 1770. So, her mother Jemima had to die after 1770. As mentioned, one of the sources that identified Jemima (Jefferson) Collins-Davis included a manuscript "The Davis Family" written by Constant Elisha Watson Davis in 1892. This source specifically stated his grandfather Robert's mother was Jemima (Jefferson) Collins-Davis and was related to President Thomas Jefferson. However, unlike Mr. Ragland's source, this resource did not specify exactly how Jemima was related to the family of President Thomas Jefferson. An article on C. E. W. Davis' work was also published in August 25, 1892 in the Albany Banner. C. E. W. Davis' father was Reverend Absalom Davis who was a minister for the last twenty five years of his life. Absalom was 46 years old when his father Robert died. Consequently, Absalom obviously knew who his Davis grandparents were and passed that knowledge along to his son C. E. W. Davis. Another source "The History of Logan Co., WV" written four years later in 1896 by Henry Ragland also stated that William Davis and his brother Thomas Davis came from Albemarle County and claimed to be first cousins of President Thomas Jefferson. Robert Davis had a daughter named Jemima. Robert's brother Thomas Davis also had a daughter named Jemima, who was also known as "Mimy" who married Daniel Hensley. Since both brothers named their daughters the same name, they were obviously named after their grandmother Jemima (Jefferson). Additional research and records are necessary.

▼References ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ancestry.com. Public Member Trees: (Note: not considered a reliable primary source). http://person.ancestry.com/tree/26036504/person/1806929426/facts

The Mysterious Jefferson Connection

Family legend has said that a great grandmother from Virginia, named Jemima Jefferson Collins Davis, was a first cousin of Thomas Jefferson himself.

Unfortunately, no one has been able to find out the truth about Jemima and if she really was a Jefferson. Dozens of family historians on various family branches have tried, to no avail. There is no record of a Jemima in official Jefferson genealogy. Which leads to much speculation, of course.

Was she truly a Jefferson or was it something that was added on generations later? Records have her children stating that she said she was a first cousin of Thomas Jefferson. If so, why isn’t there any record of it anywhere?

Perhaps she lived nearby the Jefferson plantation in Virginia. It is doubtful she was a slave, as the man she married was John Davis, a man of Caucasian descent, laws then prohibited such a union.

And then of course, maybe there’s some sort of dramatic twist. Perhaps she was a Jefferson and fell in love with the wrong person, and she was subsequently disowned and erased from record.

http://mv.ancestry.com/viewer/5f67e551-131a-4919-86d3-0330085ccb37/...

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• Reference: FamilySearch Genealogy - SmartCopy: May 28 2022, 20:48:56 UTC

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Not the same as Jane Jefferson