John Davis (Immortal 32 Gonzales Ranger)

John Davis was a Private and rifleman in the Gonzales Rangers. A John Davis who arrived in the DeWitt Colony in 1830 received title to one quarter sitio as a single men on the west bank of the Lavaca River between subsequent towns of Hallettsville and Petersburg on 28 Oct 1831. Lack of clarity and controversy surrounds the identity of John Davis in DeWitt Colony records of which there were clearly more than one individual. A John Davis was described by author A.J. Sowell in Indian Fighters of Texas as an Indian fighter who left Kentucky and a twin brother as a teen. Alamo defender John Davis has been confused with Alamo defender, John Gaston, whose stepfather was George Washington Davis of Cuero Creek and who may have used the surname Davis at some time. Most researchers believe that the John Davis who died in the Alamo is distinct. Some descendants of DeWitt Colonists Daniel and Elizabeth Davidson Davis and writers have suggested that Alamo defender John Davis was their Tennessee-born son who preceded them to the colony. Others contend that the son John Davis appeared in Harrisburg during the Runaway Scrape, returned to Gonzales and died there in 1848. A John Davis was a voter in the election for delegates from Gonzales to the Texas Consultation of 1835 and also in Capt. Gibson Kuykendall's Company in the rear guard of Houston's Army camped at Harrisburg during the Battle of San Jacinto.

The heirs of the John Davis who was killed in the Alamo received tracts of 1920 and 640 acres in ErathCo for his service.

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The identity of John Davis, son of Daniel and Elizabeth Davis, in later life is unclear and surrounded by controversy among descendants and historians. He is probably the "Jack Davis" referred to in an incident in 1836 in Nichols diary, Now You Hear My Horn. A John Davis was a voter in the election for delegates from Gonzales to the Texas Consultation of 1835, a John Davis was present in Capt. Kuykendall's Company in the rear guard of Houston's Army at San Jacinto and a John Davis was a member of the Gonzales Alamo Relief Force who died in the Alamo. Sister Eliza Jane Davis Guthrie McKinney [also reflected in memoirs of her daughter Johnnie Elizabeth Thornton] insisted to her death that her brother John Davis was the Gonzales Ranger that joined the Alamo Relief force and was killed in the Alamo. Others believe that John Davis went to Harrisburg during the Runaway Scrape, held power of attorney over John's estate and sold his land in Lavaca County to Oran and Eliza Jane Davis Guthrie in 1848.

Source: http://www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/davisfam.htm#johndavis

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Texas General Land Office Land Grant Search

County: Erath

Abstract Number: 217

District/Class: Milam Donation

File Number: 000779

Original Grantee: Davis, John

Patentee: Davis, John (Heirs)

Title Date:

Patent Date: 11 Nov 1858

Patent No: 638

Patent Vol: 2

Certificate: 339

Part Section:

Survey/Blk/Tsp:

Acres: 640

Adj Acres:

Remarks:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonzales_Ranging_Company_of_Mounted_Vo...