Nicholas Davis, Sr.

Son of Timothy Davis (1662 – 1723) and Sarah Perry (1669 – 1723) of Barnstable, Massachusetts.

Nicholas Davis is believed to have had three wives; Mary Summers (1695-1724?); Hannah Wood (1693-1729?); and Ruth Tucker (1701-1744). The first two presumed to have died in childbirth. Nicholas Davis was an early Massachusetts Quaker.

From Find A Grave Memorial# 113268878

Writer located a biography of Davis in the Sandwich, Mass library. The biography is written by Ebenezer Allen, clerk of the Sandwich Meeting in 1761:

"He was something severe against obstinate offenders. But to those under affliction his words were as healing balm and his speech as the dew of heaven on the tender grass. He strove to live in peace with all men, and was generally well beloved by those with whom he was acquainted... He traveled twice into the Westward parts of North America in the service of truth. Once he went so far as North Carolina where he made a general visit among friends."

It goes on to say he passed away while visiting the Oblong in Dutchess County New York, at the home of William Russell. It does not say if he is buried there at the Friends Meeting House on Quaker Hill, Pawling, New York.

Dolor Davis A Sketch of his life with a Record of his Earlier Descendants by Horace Davis Printed 1881 page 36 under the heading of Children of Timothy and Sarah (Perry) Davis. Quoted "Item 1. Nicholas, born October 28, 1690, in Sandwich; a Quaker preacher, lived in Rochester; died October 7, 1775; married First, Mary Summers; 2 children. Married Second, Hannah Wood no children. Married Third, Ruth Tucker: 5 children."

Nicholas Davis was an able and highly esteemed minister. He lived at Rochester, and consequently after 1740 his membership was in Sandwich monthly meeting, to which meeting he belonged at his death in 1755, at Oblong, New York, while travelling with a certificate. Elizabeth Gidley was an able minister, and her death in 1760 appears to have been a loss to the society and the community.
In 1768 Paul Russell and Daniel Cornell were recommended as ministers. Then followed Freeborn Rider in 1774, James Davis (son of Nicholas) and Martha Gifford in 1784, Warren Gifford in 1816, Tabitha Gifford in 1817, Isaac Lawrence in 1819, Hannah Slade in 1830, Mary Davis in 1831, Phebe R. Gifford in 1846, Sarah Potter in 1847, George W. Francis in 1872, Jane G. Fisher in 1881, Henry A. Slocum and Alice C. Winslow in 1894/

see also: http://www.capecodquakers.org/smm_history.html for Sandwich MM
"John Richardson while here (MEETING HOUSE AT APPONEGANSETT) in 1701 speaks of Peleg Slocum as a "public Friend," and the first mention of granting ministers for public service occurs in this year, in the case of Peleg Slocum and Stephen Wilcox. We may enumerate the following: Peleg Slocum, Stephen Wilcox, Nathaniel Howland, John Tucker, Gershom Smith, Nicholas Davis, Adam Mott, William Wood, Jr, Jonathan Wood, Peace Wood, Keziah Wood, Elizabeth Gidley, Anna Gifford, Abiel Gifford, Susanna Gifford, and another Stephen Wilcox, presumably the son of the foregoing. "

~• note: Nicholas Davis is William Wood, Jr.'s brother-in-law (of record.. see screen capture on this profile)
~• note: Jonathan Wood and Peace Wood are husband and wife
~• note: Peace Wood is Peace Wood (Davis) the sister of Nicholas Davis (above)

sources

1)

• Document Type: Book
• All Authors / Contributors: Dartmouth Monthly Meeting (Society of Friends : 1699-1845 : Dartmouth, Mass.)
• OCLC Number: 75972492
• Reproduction Notes: Microfilm of manuscript from the original then at Moses Brown School, Providence. The ms. is now kept in the John Carter Brown Library, Brown University.
• Description: 1 microfilm reel ; 35 mm
• Author: Dartmouth Monthly Meeting (Society of Friends : 1699-1845 : Dartmouth, Mass.)
• Publisher: Salt Lake City : Genealogical Society, 1950.
• Cornell University Library has microfilm
  

2) Dartmouth Quaker Mtg.
Located in South Dartmouth, Mass., the Dartmouth Monthly Meeting is one of the oldest Friends meetings in the United States, having been founded by Quakers seeking a haven from religious persecution in nearby Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth Colonies. Private worship may have begun in area homes as early as the 1660s, with the Dartmouth Monthly Meeting formally established in 1699.
Contains: Dartmouth Monthly: Minutes: copied 1698 Nov.-1770 June