Rev. William Davis

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/LB92-F8S

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/83149652/william-davis

WILLIAM DAVIS - WELSH IMMIGRANT OF 1684

The progenitor of many Davis families in New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia was the ever controversial Rev. William Davis of Glamorganshire, Wales who arrived at Penn's colony in America as a Quaker convert in 1684. Inspired by William Penn and George Fox while a ministerial student at Oxford, he left school before graduating in order to join Quaker brothers and sisters in Philadelphia two years after Penn had founded the "city of brotherly love".

Penn's colony "Pennsylvania" provided a safe haven for the Society of Friends, nicknamed "Quakers", who were being persecuted by the Puritans throughout New England.

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); our family is descended from both wives.

His first marriage to Elizabeth Brisley took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1685. The fol.owing children are attributed to this marriage:

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

 As a member of the Society of Friends in the new city of Philadelphia, a young, exuberant William Davis soon rose as a speaker on doctrinal issues. His subsequent views, however, were not well received as he and others became dissatisfied with the Quaker leadership. In 1691,  William Davis, became a follower of George Keith, who had come to Philadelphia in 1689, to serve as headmaster at a Quaker school. Keith soon felt the Quakers had strayed from orthodox Christianity and formed a "short-lived group called the Christian Quakers", of which William Davis likely was a part. However, within a couple of years, William and George also parted ways - again - because of doctrinal issues. Keith returned to England, hoping to gain support, but found his views rebuked by the Quaker leadership there as well. Before the decade's end, George Keith was an ordained Anglican priest . 

Banished by the Baptists

Still seeking his denominational niche, about 1696, William Davis "accepted many principles of the Baptists after coming in contact with Rev. Thomas KILLINGSWORTH" and was baptized by him. Davis joined the Pennepek Baptist Church near Philadelphia, where he later became pastor. It may have been here that he met and took his second wife, Elizabeth PAVIOR. William's first wife, Elizabeth BRISLEY Davis, likely died in the 1690s to early 1700s. Her cause of death is unknown, but epidemics were rampant during this period.

Children attributed to William and Elizabeth (Pavior) Davis were (continuing the birth order of his children):

Thomas Davis (d. 1786) m. 1737 Bethia MAXSON (1716-1754) (res: PA & Middletown NJ); whose son, Joseph was captured by the British, Battle of Middletown, imprisoned 1777 NY.(6) Joseph Davis m. 1st. 1749 Anna BABCOCK (1729-1750 Westerly); m. 2nd Mary BABCOCK (res. Middletown NJ); Joseph came from PA to Shrewsbury, NJ (1747), & to Westerly, RI (1752) Edward Davis m. 1744 Sarah BOWEN in Gloucester, Rhode Island Lydia Davis m. Hope COVEY James Davis (1720-1778) m. 1740 Judith MAXSON at Westerly, RI; British burned his shipyard; he was killed by stray bullet as he rode out to watch the Battle of Monmouth. Elisabeth Davis m. Joseph MAXSON of Stonington, Connecticut

In 1698, William Davis was "banished from the Pennepek Baptist Church for expressing a heretical view of the person of Christ ." Two years later, he published his controversial book called "Jesus Christ, the Crucifyed Man - the Eternal Son of God " in which he describes Christ both human and divine in nature , a theory, by today's standards, considered centuries ahead of its time.

Rev. William Davis took his "heretical views" to Rhode Island, a new colony founded on freedom of religious tolerance. A year later, in 1699, he "returned to Pennepek and organized a Seventh Day Baptist church as a branch of the Providence (Rhode Island) Church ". Seventh Day Baptist history mentions "a third group of churches (which) came out of the Keithian split from Quakerism in the Philadelphia area about 1700".

Seven years later, in 1706, he and his wife returned to Rhode Island and applied for membership into the Newport Seventh Day Baptist Church, and three years later, he was called to be their pastor.

Fifty years prior, in the 1660s, this church had splintered away from the First Baptist Church of Newport, when a few members "became convinced that the Ten Commandments should be obeyed literally and began to observe the Sabbath on Saturday, the seventh day of the week.(12) "

This group was likely inspired by a movement occurring simultaneously in London, where the Seventh Day Baptists attribute their origin. In 1671, the small Newport group of less than a dozen people, officially withdrew from the First Baptist Church of Newport to form what later would become known as the Newport Seventh Day Baptist Church.(13) " - the FIRST Seventh Day Baptist Church in America(14) . At least two of the five founders are ancestors of the Davises of Salem WV - Samuel and Tacy (COOPER) HUBBARD.

Religious persecution is likely what brought Samuel Hubbard (1610-1689) to America in 1633. It is believed that his grandfather, Thomas Hubbard, was a religious martyr, burned at the stake in Essex, England. Samuel's father, James of Mendelsham, "was a suspect who escaped persecution." After disembarking from the James Grant, Samuel Hubbard first settled in a Massachusetts village called SALEM.

Rev. William Davis was not ordained as a Seventh Day Baptist minister until 1710, in Westerly, Rhode Island, where the denomination flourished. Years later, Seventh Day Baptists fled to Westerly to avoid British occupation(15) . The extended Davis family was likely among them.

On March 1, 1714, following his father's death in Wales, William Davis, then in his 40s, applied for membership to a church in England, with plans to claim his portion of his father's estate. William was said to have been born in the Shire of Radnor in South Wales, and his father, William Davies of Llanstephen(16) . But as he was about to return to his homeland, family and friends changed his mind(17) .

In the spring of 1717, William and Elizabeth returned to Pennsylvania where they remained for the next seven years, during which time a fire to caused them a "severe loss"(18) . From here, they moved between Stonington, Connecticut and Westerly, Rhode Island (by 1734) - villages only a few miles apart along the Atlantic coast, most likely abiding in homes of their children.

Circa 1740, when a Seventh Day Baptist group organized in Monmouth County, New Jersey - William and Elizabeth Davis, now elderly, moved for the last time to settle with family between the Manasquan and Shark Rivers. Although William's son, John, was called by the SDB elders to pastor this new congregation, he declined. Instead, he (apparently) stepped aside out of respect for his father. In 1745, the Shrewsbury Seventh Day Baptist Church was formally organized with Rev. William Davis as minister. The first congregation consisted of "five men and eight women, all having come from Stonington, Connecticut"(19) . That same year, William Davis of Wales died. He was 82 years old. Fifteen years later, his wife, Elizabeth died in Middletown, Monmouth , NJ.

Escaping the devastation and horrors that came with the Revolutionary War, in 1789, some of the extended Davis family left New Jersey as part of the congregation of Shrewsbury Seventh Day Baptist Church. Others fought in the Revolution (David Davis).

No place had suffered the ravages of war as much as Monmouth County, New Jersey. The Davis family was no exception to loss. As farmers, shipbuilders, and proprietors of salt producing businesses, their boats carried salt and farm products to New York City from their settlements near the mouths of the Manasquan and Shark Rivers near Shrewsbury(23). Some Davises were Loyalists at the beginning of the war until their businesses were burned by the British; these, then, joined the Revolutionaries.

Sabbatarians felt restricted by the Blue Laws of the state. Petitions have been discovered submitted to the state of New Jersey in 1786-87, requesting that they be exempt from the Blue Law and be allowed to work on Sunday, which, for Sabbatarians, was the first day of their work week. Otherwise, they had to refrain from doing any work for two full days. Their petition was denied. It was after this they left.

The author notes: The church group left New Jersey in two waves; the first in 1789, and the second group trickled in somewhere between 1792 and 1807.

Related families:

Allen, Babcock/Badcock, Bowen, Bradford, Bramhall, Brand, Brandstetter, Brisley, Cooper, Covey, Cowen, Davis, Davises, Ewing, Fitz Randolph, Fox, Gifford, Harvey, Hubbard, Johnson, Keith, Kelso, Killingsworth, Langfitt, Maxson, Parks, Pavior, Penn, Randolph, Sprouse, Thorn, Thorp(e), Tyndale.

Many Davis and allied family descendants are found having settled in both West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Western New York State.

Sources: Sharon Sprouse Bramhall http://www.wvhcgs.com/davisorigins.htm

http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~davisfam/Index.htm John C. Thorn, Early Quaker History; http://thorn.pair.com/earlyq.htm

Davis, Settlers of Salem, WV, Susie Davis Nicholson Wikipedia. George Keith ordained as Anglican priest, March of 1704.

Davis, Settlers of Salem, WV. Susie Davis Nicholson; Source: New Jersey Historical Society

"Entering Into Covenant: The History of Seventh Day Baptists in Newport", Don A. Sanford, archivist for the SDB in Monmouth County NJ, (with whom S. Bramhall once corresponded.) Richard Brandstetter shared this quote with Sharon Bramhall, 1999. 

It is said that the original book is housed at the Philadelphia Historical Society. - ssb  Langfitt and Davis, British and Colonial Ancestry, Margaret Parks Ewing

Davis, Settlers of Salem WV, Susie Davis Nicholson Baptists Around the World, Albert W. Wardin, Jr., ed., Broadman & Hohman Pub.1995; also see Reformed Reader, SDB Thumbnail Sketch

Entering Into Covenant: The History of Seventh Day Baptists in Newport," by Don A. Sanford, Newport History: the Quarterly Journal of the Newport Historical Society, vol. 66, part 1, no. 226, Summer 1994.

Obid. Newport Historical Society website http://www.newporthistorical.org/sites_sdbmh.htm

Benedict Arnold, first governor of Rhode Island Colony and grandson of R.I. founder Roger Williams, was a member of the Newport Seventh Day Baptist Church. - Dorothy Davis, Sojourners Day, Clarksburg Telegram, 1989.

"Entering Into Covenant: The History of Seventh Day Baptists in Newport," by Don A. Sanford

http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~davisfam/Index.htm, Glenna Maria Davis-Johnson, Huma, AZ

Davis, Settlers of Salem, West Virginia, Susie Davis Nicholson

Davis, Settlers of Salem, WV. Susie Davis Nicholson.

Sojourners Day, Clarksburg Telegram, Dorothy Davis, 1989 Youngest daughter, Elizabeth Maxson, prob. wife of John, lived in Middletown, NJ

Entering Into Covenant: The History of Seventh Day Baptists in Newport, Don A. Sanford

There once had been a death penalty attached to the translation of the Bible; the New Testament had only been available to the common Englishman since William Tyndale's publication 

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=mjohnson&...

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"Ancestors of Justin Tanner KNULL"

Rev. William DAVIS1 was born in 1663 in Lanstephan Co., Radnor/Glamorganshire, Wales.1 He emigrated in 1684 from From Glamorganshire, Wales. He died in 1745 in Monmouth Co. Shrewsbury, N.J. close of the year(Sachse).1 He is reference number 387. Willaim Davis, son of William of Lanstephan, County Radnor, Wales, pleb.St. Mary's Hall, (Oxford University), who matriculated (registered as a student) June 30, 1682, age. 18.

He came to America in 1684 and settled in William Penn's Colony of Philadelphia, Pa.

William arrived in Philadelphia in 1684 according to his own writing, thus he had spent 2 years at the University. He was a recognized preacher of the Society of Friends when he arrived, but left it with George Keith and 46 others in 1691. In 1697 he joined the Pennepek Baptist Church from which he was expelled Feb. 17, 1698/99 for heresy.

At this time he wrote a book, JESUS THE CRUCIFIED MAN, which was printed by Reynier Jansen in 1700. One copy of this book is still existence today. The introduction is most significant as it details the philosophies of Keith, and of the Quakers. It also tells us that William Davis was brought up in the Church of England, and why he left them for the Quakers.

The following passage is carefully copied from his book: "Through grace from my Youth, my studies have bent that way, viz, to seek after truth, since that time that God in his infinite Love was pleased to refrain mefrom my youthful vanities, several sorts of which I was naturally prone unto, being by nature a Child of wrath as well as others. But these in great measure God gave me Victory over when I about 18 or 20 years of age. Having formerly had my Conversation in the CHURCH OF ENGLAND, being former trained up according to the rules of the same, And being a diligent hearer of their Ministers, having

at that time but a weak capacity of judge in matters of Doctrine, whether or no in that case they were right or wrong; I observed the looseness and profanity both of Priests and People too general amongst them. This drove me from them. And the QUAKERS in that time, that exceeded in lite and Conversation, being much more civilized, and given to Sobriety; this their good Conversation, prevailed upon me wherefore I joined myself with them, And having walked with them in the way about 13 or 14 years, in which space of time I did consider of some Principles in Religion...Now then when it pleased God to cast my lot here in PENNSYLVANIA, which was the year 1684.. I having met with some help from George Keith, I farther (wordmissing) the QUAKERS were in the wrong concerning fundamental Principles, on which grounds I left them again, and became a hearer of G. Keith..."

• Please note that our Ancestor chose the Quaker Religion while at Oxford, thus depriving himself of the privilege of graduation. Perhaps he later regretted this decision, as he wrote in his introduction to his book, JESUS THE CRUCIFIED MAN, "Having at that time a weak capacity to judge in matters of Doctrine," Thus, we do not find his name among the list of graduated from Oxford University. In 1699 William Davis became a Seventh Day Baptist and organized a congregation at Frankfort, Pa, In 1706 he applied for membership to the Newport, Rhode Island Seventh Day Baptist Church. On October 12, 1710 William Davis and wife Elizabeth applied at Westerly, Rhode Island for membership in that Church. They were received into the Westerly Church July 14, 1711, and he was invited to preach there in 1713. On March 1, 1714 he requested a letter to a church in England, but was persuaded by his friends to remain in America.

Soon after May 16, 1717 he left Westerly and settled in Pennsylvania, where in 1724, he suffered severe loss by fire.

From his home in Stonington, Connecticut, Oct. 21, 1734, William again requested membership in the Westerly Church, which was granted Dec. 16,1734. Soon after 1740 a settlement of Seventh Day Baptists was formed in Monmouth Co. New Jersey, near Manasquan River. Joseph Maxson and his family of Stonington, Conn. had sailed for the mouth of the Manaquan River in the fall of 1742, but due to storms and ice, they did not reach their destination until the spring of 1743, having spent the winter on Long Island. The Seventh Day Baptist Church at Shrewsbury, New Jersey was formally organized in 1745 with William Davis as Minister. William Davis died there late in the year 1745.

Ref: Jesus the Crucified Man, by William Davis, 1700

Issues of the American Press in Pennsylvania, 1700

Seventh Day Baptist in West Virginia, by Corliss Randolp, 1905

Rev. William DAVIS and Elizabeth PAVIOR were married in 1710 in Philadelphia, PA.1

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http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jonsaunders&id=I4920

ID: I4920

Name: William DAVIS

Given Name: William

Surname: Davis 1

Sex: M

Change Date: 20 AUG 2007

Birth: 1663 in Glamorganshire, Wales

Death: 1745 in Shrewsbury, Monmouth, Squam, New Jersey

Religion: Seventh-day Baptist

Note: Attended Oxford University William Davis, s/o William of Lanstephen, County Radnor, Wales, pleb. St. Mary's Hall, (Oxford University), who matriculated 30 June 1682, aged 18. (Note: According to the dictionary, Matriculate means to enroll in a body or society, as a college or university, by entering the name in a register. In other words he was registered there as a student on that date.) Note: Rev. William Davis d 1745 in his 82nd year, thus he had not yet celebrated his 82nd birthday. Had he done that he would have been in his 83rd year. He entered Oxford 30 June 1682 aged 18, thus his birthdate was after 'late in the year', and before 30 June the following year. This places his year of birth as 1664. William arrived in Phila. PA in 1684, according to his own writing, thus he had spent 2 years at Oxford. He was a recognized preacher of The Society of Friends when he arrived, but left it with George Keith and 46 others in 1691. In 1697 he joined the Pennepek Baptist Church from which he was expelled 17 Feb. 1698/9 for heresy. At this time he wrote a book, 'Jesus the Crucified Man', which was printed by Reynier Jansen in 1700. One copy of this book is still existant today. The introduction is most significant as it details the philosophies of Keith, and of the Quakers. It also tells us that William Davis was brought up in the Church Of England, and why he left them for the Quakers. Please note that he chose the Quaker religon while at Oxford, thus depriving himself of the privelege of graduation. Perhaps he later regretted this decision, as he wrote in his introduction to his book 'Jesus the Crucified Man', 'Having at that time a weak capacty to judge in matters of doctrine.' Thus, we do not find his name among the list of graduates from Oxford. In 1699 William Davis became a Seventh Day Baptist and organized a congreagation at Frankfort, PA. In 1706 he applied for a membership to the Newport, RI S.D.B. Church. On October 12 1710 William and his wife Elizabeth applied to Westerly, RI for membership in that Church. They were recieved into Westerly Church 14 July 1711, and he was invited to preach there in 1713. On 1 March 1714 he requested a letter to a church in England, but was persuaded by his friends to remain in America. Soon after 16 May 1717 he left Westerly and settled in PA, where in 1724, he suffered severe loss by fire. From his home in Stonington, Connecticut, 21 Oct. 1734, William again requested membership in the Westerly Church, which was granted 16 Dec 1734. Soon after 1740 a settlement of 7th day Baptists was formed in Monmouth Co. NJ, near the Manasquan River. Joseph Maxson and his family of Stonington, CT sailed for the mouth of the Manasquan River in the fall of 1742, but due to storms and ice, they did not reach their destination until the spring of 1743, having spent the winter on Long Island. The S.D.B.C. at Shrewsbury, NJ was formally organized in 1745 with William Davis as minister. William Davis died there late in the year 1745. On 6 Jun 1700 when William was 37, he married Elizabeth PAVIOR

Marriage 1 Elizabeth BRISLEY b: 1670 in Westerly, Kings Co., Rhode Island

Married: 1687

Children

John DAVIS b: 05 MAY 1692 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Marriage 2 Elizabeth PAVIOR

Married: BET 1700 AND 1710

Children

William DAVIS b: AFT 1700

Thomas DAVIS b: 1712
Edward DAVIS b: BET 1704 AND 1716
Lydia DAVIS b: BET 1709 AND 1718 in Stonington, New London Co., Connecticut
James DAVIS b: 1720 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Elizabeth DAVIS b: 1723
Joseph DAVIS b: ABT 1726
Sources:

Title: Davis, The Settlers of Salem, West Virginia

Author: Susie Davis Nicholson

Publication: Salem Seventh Day Baptist Church, 1992

Page: 3

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http://www.wvhcgs.com/davisorigins.htm

Origins of the Davis Family of Salem, West Virginia

by Sharon Sprouse Bramhall © 2007

FIRST GENERATION - WILLIAM DAVIS - WELSH IMMIGRANT OF 1684

     The progenitor of the Davis families of Salem, Harrison County, West Virginia, was the ever-controversial Rev. WILLIAM DAVIS OF GLAMORGANSHIRE, WALES (1663-1745), who arrived at Penn's colony in America as a passionate 21-year-old Quaker convert in 1684. Inspired by William PENN and George FOX (1) while a ministerial student at Oxford University in England, he left school before graduating (2) in order to join like-minded Quaker brothers and sisters in Philadelphia two years after Penn had founded the "city of brotherly love".

Penn's colony "Pennsylvania" provided a safe haven for the Society of Friends, nicknamed "Quakers", who were being persecuted by the Puritans throughout New England. Quakers were branded with an "H" (heretic), their ears cut off, tongues bored, or banished to an offshore island(3). Although Puritans had come to America seeking religious freedom, having fled persecution in England, oddly enough, they had absolutely no tolerance for the religion of others.
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); our family is descended from both wives.
His 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

Follower of George Keith

     As a member of the Society of Friends in the new city of Philadelphia, a young, exuberant William Davis soon rose as a speaker on doctrinal issues. His subsequent views, however, were not well received as he and others became dissatisfied with the Quaker leadership. In 1691, then in his late twenties, William Davis, became a follower of George KEITH(4), who had come to Philadelphia in 1689, to serve as headmaster at a Quaker school. Keith soon felt the Quakers had strayed from orthodox Christianity and formed a "short-lived group called the Christian Quakers", of which William Davis likely was a part. However, within a couple of years, William and George also parted ways - again - because of doctrinal issues. Keith returned to England, hoping to gain support, but found his views rebuked by the Quaker leadership there as well. Before the decade's end, George Keith was an ordained Anglican priest(5) . 

Banished by the Baptists

     Still seeking his denominational niche, about 1696, William Davis "accepted many principles of the Baptists after coming in contact with Rev. Thomas KILLINGSWORTH" and was baptized by him. Davis joined the Pennepek Baptist Church near Philadelphia, where he later became pastor. It may have been here that he met and took his second wife, Elizabeth PAVIOR. William's first wife, Elizabeth BRISLEY Davis, likely died in the 1690s to early 1700s. Her cause of death is unknown, but epidemics were rampant during this period.

Children attributed to William and Elizabeth (Pavior) Davis were (continuing the birth order of his children):

5. Thomas Davis (d. 1786) m. 1737 Bethia MAXSON (1716-1754) (res: PA & Middletown NJ); whose son, Joseph was captured by the British, Battle of Middletown, imprisoned 1777 NY.(6)

6. Joseph Davis m. 1st. 1749 Anna BABCOCK (1729-1750 Westerly); m. 2nd Mary BABCOCK (res. Middletown NJ); Joseph came from PA to Shrewsbury, NJ (1747), & to Westerly, RI (1752)

7. Edward Davis m. 1744 Sarah BOWEN in Gloucester, Rhode Island

8. Lydia Davis m. Hope COVEY

9. James Davis (1720-1778) m. 1740 Judith MAXSON at Westerly, RI; British burned his shipyard; he was killed by stray bullet as he rode out to watch the Battle of Monmouth.

10. Elisabeth Davis m. Joseph MAXSON of Stonington, Connecticut

     In 1698, William Davis was "banished from the Pennepek Baptist Church for expressing a heretical view of the person of Christ(7) ."   Two years later, he published his controversial book called "Jesus Christ, the Crucifyed Man - the Eternal Son of God(8) " in which he describes Christ both human and divine in nature(9) ,  a theory, by today's standards, considered centuries ahead of its time.

EARLY PHILADELPHIA PUBLISHERS

1685-1719

     "Quaker printer, William BRADFORD worked as the lone printer in Philadelphia from 1685 to 1693. Due to a piece which criticized Quaker leadership, however, he was forced to move his press to New York (Weigley 31). His son Andrew Bradford returned to Philadelphia in 1713, and opened up an independent press. He established Philadelphia's first newspaper, the American Weekly Mercury, which was first issued December 22, 1719 (Weigley 64)." - Cheryl Harvey

Printing and Publishing in Philadelphia 1685-1776, Cheryl Harvey.

Poor Will's Almanac

William Davis and the Seventh Day Baptists

     Rev. William Davis took his "heretical views" to Rhode Island, a new colony founded on freedom of religious tolerance. A year later, in 1699, he "returned to Pennepek and organized a Seventh Day Baptist church as a branch of the Providence (Rhode Island) Church.(10) ". Seventh Day Baptist history mentions "a third group of churches (which) came out of the Keithian split from Quakerism in the Philadelphia area about 1700"(11) . 

Seven years later, in 1706, he and his wife returned to Rhode Island and applied for membership into the Newport Seventh Day Baptist Church, and three years later, he was called to be their pastor.
Fifty years prior, in the 1660s, this church had splintered away from the First Baptist Church of Newport, when a few members "became convinced that the Ten Commandments should be obeyed literally and began to observe the Sabbath on Saturday, the seventh day of the week.(12) "
[photo]

Seventh Day Meeting House NHS P1580

Now the Newport Historical Society

The denomination was formed in 1671

     This group was likely inspired by a movement occurring simultaneously in London, where the Seventh Day Baptists attribute their origin. In 1671, the small Newport group of less than a dozen people, officially withdrew from the First Baptist Church of Newport to form what later would become known as the Newport Seventh Day Baptist Church.(13) " - the FIRST Seventh Day Baptist Church in America(14) . At least two of the five founders are ancestors of the Davises of Salem WV - Samuel and Tacy (COOPER) HUBBARD.

Religious persecution is likely what brought Samuel Hubbard (1610-1689) to America in 1633. It is believed that his grandfather, Thomas Hubbard, was a religious martyr, burned at the stake in Essex, England. Samuel's father, James of Mendelsham, "was a suspect who escaped persecution." After disembarking from the James Grant, Samuel Hubbard first settled in a Massachusetts village called SALEM.
Although he had served as pastor of other churches, Rev. William Davis was not ordained as a Seventh Day Baptist minister until 1710, in Westerly, Rhode Island, where the denomination flourished. Years later, Seventh Day Baptists fled to Westerly to avoid British occupation(15) . The extended Davis family was likely among them. To this day, Westerly, Rhode Island is the home of the SDBC General Conference offices.
On March 1, 1714, following his father's death in Wales, William Davis, then in his 40s, applied for membership to a church in England, with plans to claim his portion of his father's estate. William was said to have been born in the Shire of Radnor in South Wales, and his father, William Davies of Llanstephen(16) . But as he was about to return to his homeland, family and friends changed his mind(17) .
In the spring of 1717, William and Elizabeth returned to Pennsylvania where they remained for the next seven years, during which time a fire to caused them a "severe loss"(18) . From here, they moved between Stonington, Connecticut and Westerly, Rhode Island (by 1734) - villages only a few miles apart along the Atlantic coast, most likely abiding in homes of their children.
Circa 1740, when a Seventh Day Baptist group organized in Monmouth County, New Jersey - William and Elizabeth Davis, now elderly, moved for the last time to settle with family between the Manasquan and Shark Rivers. Although William's son, John, was called by the SDB elders to pastor this new congregation, he declined. Instead, he (apparently) stepped aside out of respect for his father. In 1745, the Shrewsbury Seventh Day Baptist Church was formally organized with Rev. William Davis as minister. The first congregation consisted of "five men and eight women, all having come from Stonington, Connecticut"(19) . That same year, William Davis of Wales died. He was 82 years old. Fifteen years later, his wife, Elizabeth died in Middletown(20) , a community on the north coast of Monmouth County, New Jersey.
Of William Davis of Wales, Seventh Day Baptist historian Don Sanford writes: "His loyalty to the denomination has never been questioned, although both his temperament and certain unorthodox views caused considerable controversy not only among the Pennsylvania churches, but in Rhode Island and New Jersey as well... his descendants provided the nucleus, nearly a century later, for a migration into what is now West Virginia.(21) "
Although admonished in his own time for his rebellious nature - in today's world, William Davis would have likely received our respect, not only for his forward thinking, but for taking a courageous, non-violent stance against hierarchy in order to voice his personal convictions. At a time in world history when new religious viewpoints and denominations were just beginning to find wings(22) , in every instance, William Davis of Wales took a proactive leadership role and exhibited the qualities of an intelligent, truth-seeking, pioneering spirit. He was able to withstand peer pressure and "think outside the envelope". Throughout his lifetime, he held close to his heart the principle upon which the colony of Rhode Island was founded - a principle adopted by our Constitution - the freedom of religion.
From New Jersey to Salem, West Virginia

     Escaping the devastation and horrors that came with the Revolutionary War, in 1789, the extended DAVIS family (which included the MAXSON, BABCOCK, and THORPE families)  left New Jersey as part of the congregation of Shrewsbury Seventh Day Baptist Church.

No place had suffered the ravages of war as much as Monmouth County, New Jersey. The Davis family was no exception to loss. As farmers, shipbuilders, and proprietors of salt producing businesses, their boats carried salt and farm products to New York City from their settlements near the mouths of the Manasquan and Shark Rivers near Shrewsbury(23). Some Davises were Loyalists at the beginning of the war until their businesses were burned by the British; these, then, joined the Revolutionaries.
Another theory regarding what caused the sudden uprooting of this Shrewsbury congregation was developed by Richard Brandstetter of Shrewsbury, New Jersey(24), who felt these Sabbatarians felt restricted by the Blue Laws of the state. He discovered petitions they had submitted to the state of New Jersey in 1786-87, requesting that they be exempt from the Blue Law and be allowed to work on Sunday, which, for Sabbatarians, was the first day of their work week. Otherwise, they had to refrain from doing any work for two full days. Their petition was denied, and two years later, the entire church pulled up stakes!
After selling their lands and a fairly new church building, four months later they embarked on their long journey, following an Indian trail westward in order to reach "Virginey" to begin life anew. The aforementioned Jesse Davis (Absolom's father), Bottom Billy, Joshua, Greenbrier Billy and his son, Peter Davis, were among these war-weary Monmouth County families. Most were ancestors of mine. The church group left New Jersey in two waves; the first in 1789, and the second group trickled in somewhere between 1792 and 1807.
The church record, carried from New Jersey to West Virginia, stated that the first migrant group which set out from Shrewsbury on September 6, 1789, was comprised of "Elder Jacob Davis with his famely (sic), William Davis, Senior, John Davis, Ephraim Maxson, Thomas Badcock, and Zebulon Maxson and Benjamin Thorp, with all their famelys(25)" (sic).
The remainder of the 1789 group departed on September 13th of the same year: "Simeon Maxson, William Davis, Juner and William Maxson with all their famelys" (sic). These were likely among them:
T. William DAVIS, Sr. (s/o John & Eliz. Maxson Davis) and his wife Tacy CRANDALL Davis. All of their children migrated with the first group except Nathan Davis<26>, who came later.

William "Greenbrier Billy" Davis (27)(s/o T.Wm & Tacy) and his wife, Elizabeth JOHNSTON Davis

(and likely children, Mary, Peter, Benjamin, David)

Jacob Davis, Rev. (s/o James Sr. son of William Davis of Wales) and his wife, Mary (Davis) Davis (d/o William & Tacy).

John Davis, Rev.(28)(s/o Wm. & Tacy) and his wife, Marvel Maxson Davis, and daughters, Amy and Jane.

Ephraim MAXSON and his wife Elizabeth (Davis) Maxson (d/o William & Tacy) and possibly children Amy, Sally, Prudence, Jesse, Piety, Charity. Ephraim died in 1795.

Thomas BABCOCK(29) and his wife Martha (Davis) BABCOCK (d/o William & Tacy) (Thomas was a nephew of William & Tacy, the son of Thos. Sr. & Judith Davis Babcock.)

Zebulon MAXSON. Jr., Rev.(30) (s/o Experience Davis Maxson - T. Wm. Davis Sr.'s sister) nephew of T. William Davis; Zebulon later married Mary, d/o Nathan Davis

Benjamin THORP and his wife Elizabeth (Maxson) THORP (sister of Zebulon, above)

Simeon MAXSON and his wife Mary Babcock Maxson (step-daughter of Judith Davis Babcock who was a sister to T. William Davis, Sr.)

William "Bottom Billy" Davis (son of James Sr.) and his wife, Elizabeth (HAVENS) Davis, and possibly eight children, James, John, Jonathan, Joel, David, George Anna, and Jesse.

Rev. Jacob Davis (son of James Sr.) and his wife, Mary (Davis) Davis (d/o Wm. & Tacy)

James Davis Jr.(32) (s/o James, son of William Davis of Wales) and his wife, Rebecca (BRAND) Davis(33) It is believed that it was their son, Joseph Davis, who was received into New Salem Church in 1794.

     The Indian trail took the New Jersey pioneers to southwestern Pennsylvania, where they may have either camped for almost two years near the residence of Samuel FITZ RANDOLPH and/or just across the Virginia border in Monongalia County at White Day Creek (between Morgantown & Fairmont, WV). While in Pennsylvania, Rev. Jacob Davis helped found the Woodbridgetown Seventh Day Baptist Church.

During the time the New Jersey settlers lived in White Day Creek, the eldest of the group died in July of 1791 - ancestor Thomas William Davis, Sr. (1719-1791), son of John and grandson of immigrant William of Wales. Soon after this, the group, unhappy with the land they had purchased, decided to move on to Harrison County, after being a deed by Samuel Fitz Randolph to settle on land he owned at the headwaters of the Monongahela.
Arriving in the spring of 1792, the settlers built a blockhouse (fort) and community of log houses they called New Salem - now known as Salem, West Virginia. Isaac Fitz Randolph, grandson of William "Greenbrier Billy" Davis, said there "were about forty families who established the town(34)". Later, Samuel Fitz Randolph, whose family married into the Davis family, joined the settlers and helped charter the village.
Rev. Jacob Davis, who had served as a chaplain in the Revolution(35>, was the first minister at the New Salem settlement, but upon returning to the Woodbridgetown church on a missionary trip in 1793, he met his death(36).
Just west of Salem, in 1807, West Union was founded by one of the New Jersey Davises. Capt. Nathan Davis, later a Harrison County sheriff (1843-44), and his brothers, William and Joseph, purchased all the land upon which the town was built. The name of the town was changed from Lewisport to West Union with the establishment of Doddridge County in 1845; the first county court was held at the residence of Nathan Davis, now the site of the Doddridge County Courthouse(37).
1. Founder of the Society of Friends (Quaker movement).

2. http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~davisfam/Index.htm

3. John C. Thorn, Early Quaker History; http://thorn.pair.com/earlyq.htm

4. Davis, Settlers of Salem, WV, Susie Davis Nicholson

5. Wikipedia. George Keith ordained as Anglican priest, March of 1704.

6. Davis, Settlers of Salem, WV. Susie Davis Nicholson; Source: New Jersey Historical Society

7. "Entering Into Covenant: The History of Seventh Day Baptists in Newport", Don A. Sanford, archivist for the SDB in Monmouth County NJ, (with whom S. Bramhall once corresponded.) Richard Brandstetter shared this quote with Sharon Bramhall, 1999.

8. It is said that the original book is housed at the Philadelphia Historical Society. - ssb

9.Langfitt and Davis, British and Colonial Ancestry, Margaret Parks Ewing

10. Davis, Settlers of Salem WV, Susie Davis Nicholson

11. Baptists Around the World, Albert W. Wardin, Jr., ed., Broadman & Hohman Pub.1995; also see Reformed Reader, SDB Thumbnail Sketch

12. Entering Into Covenant: The History of Seventh Day Baptists in Newport," by Don A. Sanford, Newport History: the Quarterly Journal of the Newport Historical Society, vol. 66, part 1, no. 226, Summer 1994.

13. Obid. Newport Historical Society website http://www.newporthistorical.org/sites_sdbmh.htm

14. Benedict Arnold, first governor of Rhode Island Colony and grandson of R.I. founder Roger Williams, was a member of the Newport Seventh Day Baptist Church. - Dorothy Davis, Sojourners Day, Clarksburg Telegram, 1989.

15. "Entering Into Covenant: The History of Seventh Day Baptists in Newport," by Don A. Sanford

16, http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~davisfam/Index.htm, Glenna Maria Davis-Johnson, Huma, AZ

17. Davis, Settlers of Salem, West Virginia, Susie Davis Nicholson

18. Davis, Settlers of Salem, WV. Susie Davis Nicholson.

19. Sojourners Day, Clarksburg Telegram, Dorothy Davis, 1989

20. Youngest daughter, Elizabeth Maxson, prob. wife of John, lived in Middletown, NJ

21. Entering Into Covenant: The History of Seventh Day Baptists in Newport, Don A. Sanford

22. There once had been a death penalty attached to the translation of the Bible; the New Testament had only been available to the common Englishman since William Tyndale's publication of

23. Sojourners Day, Clarksburg Telegram, Dorothy Davis, 1989.

24. See "Genealogist's Answer to Fantasy Baseball" by Sharon Bramhall, HCGS 2007

25. Davis - Settlers of Salem, WV, Susie Davis Nicholson, quoting the original church record.

26. Rev. War soldier. Wife-Ann Gifford. Believed to be in WV by 1795.

27. Rev. War soldier. Due to Indian attacks, he moved his family to Greenbrier Run. A community center in Salem is named for him.

28.Rev. War soldier. Married 2nd Margaret Kelso. Buried Broad Run Baptist Cemetery, Lewis County WV.

29. Thomas Babcock, with Samuel & Jacob Davis, moved to Greene Co. Ohio in 1806.

30. Zebulon was a 7th Day Bapt. minister, basket & broom maker. His father, Zebulon Maxson, Sr., deeded the land upon which Shrewsbury 7th Day Baptist was built.

31. Died in Shelby Co., Ohio; some children went to Garwin, Iowa,br> 32. Trustee for newly chartered town of New Salem, (W) VA, 1794. Appraiser for estate of his brother Jacob Davis in New Salem (W)Va. 1793.

33. It is not certain if James and Rebecca (Brand) Davis came with the first or second group to Salem.

34. Davis, The Settlers of Salem, West Virginia, Susie Davis Nicholson

35. Obid,. 36. Obid 37. Obid

---

May 2007 - ssb

Surnames mentioned within this article:

Allen, Babcock/Badcock, Bowen, Bradford, Bramhall, Brand, Brandstetter, Brisley, Cooper, Covey, Cowen, Davis, Davises, Ewing, Fitz Randolph, Fox, Gifford, Harvey, Hubbard, Johnson, Keith, Kelso, Killingsworth, Langfitt, Maxson, Parks, Pavior, Penn, Randolph, Sprouse, Thorn, Thorp(e), Tyndale,

_________

birthplace also given as: Radnor, Lanstephan, Glamorganshire, Wales

---

1. Immigration: 1684 1
2. Event: Migration Unknown 1716 Hopkinton, Washington Co., NY 1
3. Event: Migration Unknown Abt. 1734 moved to Monmouth, New Jersey 1
4. Event: Migration Unknown 1734 Returned to Stonington, Connecticut, near Westerley, Rhode Island 1
5. ORDN: 1696 Became a Baptist minister 1
6. Residence: Bet. 1717 - 1734 Philadelphia, Philadelphia Co., PA 1
7. Note:

   REFN: 3588

[williamDavis.FTW]
Came to America in 1684. William Davis Founder of Shrewsbury
He may have been the son of a David Davis, one of 4 bros. who were
members of the Penfay church, a branch of the Baptist Church of Swansea
(Wales?)
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.
names mentioned in connection w/ Shrewsbury:
John Wilbert Davis (this article states that the first William Davis was
born in Glamorganshire, Wales
Leonard Davis family--mentions that on the trek to WV, they stopped at
Woddbridgetown Pa and Monongalia Va/WV( where William Davis died (there
were both a Jr and a Sr) then finally settled in Harrison Co VA/WV
Sanford and Jesse Davis---states that William Davis was born in 1663 in
Glamorganshire, wales....he followed William Penn and immigrated to
America
in 1684 originally settling w/ the quakers...he had a son John who 's son
William was born in RI) ......Nathan Davis, William's son served in the
Continental army in Sheburn's reg.....History of Doddridge County West
Virgina 1979
He was Quaker in Penn's colony at Philadelphia. In 1696 he joined the
Penepek Baptist Church and became is pastor. About 1698 he acepted the
doctorine of the Sabbath and helped organize a church in the Philadelphia
area, the second SDB Church in America. His descendents formed the
nucleus of the Shrewsbury, NJ SDB Church, which, after the Revoltiionary
War, migrated to Salem, WV. (From "Newport Seventh Day Baptist Trilogy"
by Ilou & Don Sanford, 1998)
From Beth Wills page: http://www.kvi.net/~bethw/d982.htm#P8972
William Davis, s/o William of Llanstephen, County Radnor, Wales, pleb.
St. Mary's Hall, (Oxford University), who matriculated 30 June 1682, aged
18. (Note: According to the dictionary, Matriculate means to enroll in a
body or society, as a college or university, by entering the name in a
register. In other words he was registered there as a student on that
date.)
Note: Rev. William Davis d 1745 in his 82nd year, thus he had not yet
celebrated his 82nd birthday. Had he done that he would have been in his
83rd year. He entered Oxford 30 June 1682 aged 18, thus his birth date
was after "late in the year", and before 30 June the following year. This
places his year of birth as 1664. William arrived in Phila. PA in 1684,
according to his own writing, thus he had spent 2 years at Oxford. He was
a recognized preacher of The Society of Friends when he arrived, but left
it with George Keith and 46 others in 1691. In 1697 he joined the
Pennepek Baptist Church from which he was expelled 17 Feb. 1698/9 for
heresy. At this time he wrote a book, "Jesus the Crucified Man", which
was printed by Reynier Jansen in 1700. One copy of this book is still
existence today. The introduction is most significant as it details the
philosophies of Keith, and of the Quakers. It also tells us that William
Davis was brought up in the Church Of England, and why he left them for
the Quakers. ( Paragraph Omitted)
Please note that our ancestor chose the Quaker religion while at Oxford,
thus depriving himself of the privilege of graduation. Perhaps he later
regretted this decision, as he wrote in his introduction to his book
"Jesus the Crucified Man","Having at that time a weak capacity to judge
in matters of doctrine." Thus, we do not find his name among the list of
graduates from Oxford.
In 1699 William Davis became a Seventh Day Baptist and organized a
congregation at Frankfort, PA. In 1706 he applied for a membership to the
Newport,RI S.D. Church. On October 12 1710 William and his wife Elizabeth
applied
_________

WILLIAM DAVIS OF WALES, so the record runs,

was born of respectable parentage

in Glamorganshire, Wales, in the

year 1663. While conclusive proof

is wanting to that effect, it is more

than probable that his father was

one of four brothers, all of whom

were members of the aristocratic

Penyfay Church in the county of

Glamorgan, a branch of the Baptist

church of Swansea. One of these brothers was high

sheriff ; another, deputy sheriff; a third, recorder of the county

of Glamorgan ; and the fourth brother, chaplain to the judge

in the county town of Cardiff.1

William Davis was educated at Oxford University, his

parents intending that he should become a clergyman. While

at Oxford, he became interested in the doctrines of George

Fox, the Quaker, and joined that church. He now left the

university, and became a public speaker among the Quakers.

He soon afterward sailed for America, with a company of

Quakers, to join William Penn's Pennsylvania colony.

He arrived in America in 1684, and seven years afterward,

in 1691, he was one of forty-eight persons who separated

from William Penn and became followers of George Keith,

who was what may be termed a Baptist-Quaker. Some five

years later, he again changed his views, and was baptized by

Rev. Thomas Killingworth, the pastor of the Baptist Church

in Cohansey (now Roadstown), New Jersey, and soon afterward

joined the Pennepek Baptist Church, near Philadelphia,

of which he was made pastor.1

February 17, 1698, he was banished from the Pennepek

Church, on account of his un-orthodox views concerning the

person of Christ. William Davis maintained that Christ was

neither human nor divine, but of a blended nature, like "wine

and water in a glass."

He at once went to Upper Providence near Philadelphia

upon the invitation of Abel Noble, and learned from him the

doctrine of the supremacy of the moral law and the binding

force in perpetuity of all its precepts, and the consequent

inevitable conclusion that the Seventh Day of the week, the

Sabbath of the fourth commandment, was the Sabbath enjoined

upon all Christians. He now joined the Seventh Day

Baptist organisation in Pennsylvania.

The following year he published a book, entitled "Jesus

the Crucified Man, the Eternal Son of God," etc., in vindication

of the doctrine for which he was expelled from Pennepek.2

This provoked a spirited reply from Rev. John Watts, pastor of

the Pennepek Church in a book entitled "Davis Disabled.""

In the latter part of 1699, William Davis returned to

Pennepek and there organised a Seventh Day Baptist church

from among former Keithians and others in the vicinity, as

the first branch of the Providence (Pennsylvania) Church.

Thomas Graves gave the church a lot of ground on which they

erected a log meeting house. In the year 1700, William Davis

baptized six persons in the Pennepek.

In 1702, George Keith, who had returned to England

some time before, again came back to Philadelphia as a full-

fledged priest of the Church of England, whose Society for

the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts," but lately

organised in London, had sent him as a missionary to the

New World.

His return was the signal for a fierce struggle between

Keith and Evan Evans on the one hand: and on the other,

Thomas Killingworth, who besides being the ablest Baptist

clergyman in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, was also judge of

the court at Salem, New Jersey ; and William Davis, the pastor

of the Seventh Day Baptist Church at Pennepek, who

strangely enough now united in common defence.

William Davis published another edition of his book, with

a supplement entitled "George Keith Disabled."

Keith was now challenged by Killingworth to a joint

debate in public, which resulted in a drawn battle.

Evan Evans, who was a former enemy of William Davis,

made war upon him with such success that Thomas Graves

again joined the Episcopalian Church, and deeded to that

church the lot on which stood the meeting house of the Seventh

Day Baptists, who had never had a deed for the lot. Deprived

of their house of worship the church continued to hold

meetings in the houses of the members, but they were badly

demoralised and disheartened by their reverses, and little

progress was made.

In 1706, William Davis applied for membership in the

Seventh Day Baptist Church at Newport, Rhode Island, but

complaint from his Pennsylvania brethren preceded him, and

his request was denied. The cause of his difference with his

fellow church members was due to his eccentric ecclesiastical

views, similar in a measure to his views already cited touching

the person of Christ, and which, however real and fundamental

they appeared to him, were in their last analysis, nothing

more than mere differences in the definitions of terms.

wife was immediately received into membership, but the

church deferred final action upon his application.

At a church meeting held June 22, 17n, the Westerly

Church decided that William Davis had complied with "

the rule of Christ," and was therefore eligible to membership

in that church. In order, however, to satisfy a group of

doubting members, the church presented the case to the Yearly

Meeting, at Westerly, July 14, 17n. The Yearly Meeting approved

the action of the church, and William Davis became a

member of the Westerly Church, in full and regular standing.

This action, however, involved the Westerly Church in an

embroilment with Rev. William Gibson, of the Newport

Church, together with Jonathan Davis and the brethren in

Pennsylvania, which was prolonged until as late as the latter

part of the year 1713.

William Davis was invited by the Westerly Church to

preach, and in the first part of the year 1713 was authorised

by the church to administer the ordinance of baptism.

On March I, 1714, William Davis requested a letter

of recommendation from the church, in order that he might

join one of the Seventh Day Baptist churches in England,

whither he expected to remove. The church granted his request.

His friends, however, were anxious to prevent his going,

and circulated a subscription to raise money to compensate

him for whatever financial loss he might sustain in abandoning

his contemplated removal to England, the object of

which was to claim his share in a large estate left him by the

death of his father, in Wales. He persisted, however, to the

point of going to Newport, ready to embark upon his voyage.

At the last moment, he consented to remain ; whereupon numberless

troubles ensued, some of which found their way into

the courts. These difficulties grew, almost if not quite wholly,

out of the subscriptions made to induce William Davis to remain

in America. The troubles resulted in correspondence on

the part of the Westerly Church, with the churches in

Newport (Rhode Island), and in New Jersey, Pennsylvania,

and London. Some time during the year 1716, after an ineffectual

attempt at reconciliation, the church withdrew its communion

from William Davis, with but four dissenting votes. He now

decided to leave Westerly, and under date of May 16, 1717,

he received a letter signed by twenty-three of his neighbours,

testifying to his Christian character, and exonerating him from

blame in his litigation and church troubles. This letter became

the subject of some spirited correspondence after William

Davis had removed to Pennsylvania.

After his removal from Westerly back to Pennsylvania,

he suffered a severe loss from fire about the year 1724. This

loss, Governor Keith, of the colony of Pennsylvania, ordered

made good; but through the secret interference of some

enemies of William Davis at Westerly, the order was not

carried out.

The whole matter was now dropped, apparently, for a

period of twelve years, when we find William Davis again

making his home within the bounds of the Westerly

Church, in Rhode Island. Under date of October 21,

1734, from his home in Stonington, Connecticut, he wrote

a letter of confession to the church, praying for a

reconciliation. To this letter, the church replied, under

date of November 19, 1734, desiring explanation upon

several points named in the letter written by the church to William

Davis. Under date of December 16, 1734, he replied to

the communication from the church, whereupon he was

requested to attend the next church meeting. There is no record

of his restoration to membership in the Westerly Church,

further than that his name appears as that of a regular attendant

at church. Nevertheless, the reconciliation was undoubtedly

effected, greatly to the satisfaction of all parties concerned,

and to none, doubtless, more than to William Davis himself.

William Davis was married twice. His first wife was

Elisabeth Brisley. By her he had four children; viz., Martha,

William, John, and Mary. His second wife was Elisabeth

Pavior. By her he had seven children ; viz., Thomas, Joseph,

Lydia, Edward, James, Elisabeth, and William, — the William

by his first wife having died.

He sailed from Stonington for the mouth of the Manasquan

River, in the fall of 1742. His vessel was caught in the ice

in Long Island Sound, and he did not reach his destination

until the following spring.

In the fall of 1744, a party of German Sabbath-keepers,

consisting of Israel Eckerling, Samuel Eckerling, Alexander

Mack, and Rev. Peter Miller, from Ephrata, Pennsylvania,

visited their English-speaking, Sabbath-keeping brethren in

Monmouth County, New Jersey. They reported that they

found there several Sabbath-keepers, who had come to that

place a few years before, from Stonington, Connecticut, and

from Westerly, Rhode Island. There were also several members

of William Davis's family from Pennsylvania. They

found fifteen adults in this group of settlers.

Whether William Davis himself had come to Monmouth

County, New Jersey, at the time of the visit of this delegation

from Ephrata, Pennsylvania, or not, we have no conclusive

evidence. At all events, he had come when the group

organised itself into a church, at a date not later than 1745.

William Davis, however, had come to his new home in

New Jersey, but to die among his children, a large number, if

not nearly all, of whom had settled here. His death occurred before

the close of the year 1745, when he was eighty-two years

of age. His life was a tempestuous one. Its close was peaceful

and uneventful, however. But his works ceased not with

his death. He may fairly be termed the father of the Shrewsbury

Church ; whence his followers and descendants scattered

to the Piscataway and Shiloh churches in New Jersey,

and crowded into the wilderness of Western Virginia, and

into Ohio, and afterwards still further westward across the

Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Slope.

Seventh Day Baptist descendants of William Davis may

be found to-day in the states of Rhode Island, New York, New

Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas,

Arkansas, California, and in all probability, in other states as

well.

source: A History of the Seventh Day Baptists in West Virginia

By Corliss Fitz Randolph

________

From "The Settlers of Salem, West Virginia" (Nicholson)

He came to America in 1684 and settled in William Penn's Colony of Philadelphia, Pa.

He entered Oxford University 30 June 1682, aged 18.

William arrived in Philadelphia in 1684, according to his own writing, thus he had spent two years at the University. He was a recognized preacher of the Society of Friends when he arrived, but left it with George Keith and 46 others in 1691. In 1697 he joined the Pennepek Baptist Church from which he was expelled February 17, 1698/9 for heresy.

At this time he wrote a book, JESUS THE CRUCIFIED MAN, which was printed by by Reynier Jansen in 1700. One copy of this book is still extant today. The introduction is most significant as it details the philosophies of Keith, and of the Quakers. It also tells us that WILLIAM DAIVS was brought up in the CHURCH OF ENGLAND, and why he left them for the QUAKERS.

The following passage is carefully copied from his book: "Through grace from my Youth, my studies have been bent that way, viz. to seek after truth, since that time that God in his infinite Love was pleased to refrain me from my youthful vanities, several sorts of which I was naturally prone unto, being by nature a Child of wrath as well as others. But these in great measure God gave me Victory over when I was about 18 or 20 years of age. Having formerly had my Conversation in the CHURCH OF ENGLAND, being trained up according to the rules of the same, And being a diligent hearer of thiir Ministers, having at that time but a weak capacity to judge in matters of Doctrine, whether or no in htat case they were right or wrong; I observed the looseness and profanity both of Priests and People too general amongst them. This drove me from them. And the QUAKERS in that time, that exceeded in lite and Conversation, being much more civilized, and given to Sobriety; this their good Conversation, prevailed upon me, wherefore I joyned myself with them. And having walked with them in that way about 13 or 14 years, in which space of time I did consider of some Principles in Religion... Now then when it pleased God to cast my lot here in PENNSILVANIA, which was the year 1684. I having met with some help from George Keith, I farther (word missing) the QUAKERS were in the wrong concerning fundamental Principles, on which grounds I left them again, and became a hearer of G. Keith..."

Please note that our Ancestor chose the Quaker Religion while at Oxford, thus depriving himself of the privelege of graduation. Perhaps he later regretted this decision, as he wrote in his introduction to his book, JESUS THE CRUCIFIED MAN, "Having at that time a weak capacity to judge in matters of Doctrine." Thus, we do not find his name among the list of graduates from Oxford University.

In 1699 William Davis became a Seventh Day Baptist and organized a congregation at Frankfort, PA. In 1706 he applied for membership to the Newport, Rhode Island Seventh Day Baptist Church. On October 12, 1710 William Davis and wife Elizabeth applied to Westerly, Rhode Island for membership in that church. They were received into the Westerly Church 14 July 1711, and he was invited to preach there in 1713. On 1 March 1714 he requested a letter to a church in England, but was persuaded by his friends to remain in America.

Soon after May 16, 1717 he left Westerly and settled in Pennsylvania, where in 1724 he suffered severe loss by fire.

From his home in Stonington, Connecticut, 21 Oct. 1734, William again requested membership in the Westerly Church, which was granted 16 Dec. 1734. Soon after 1740 a settlement of Seventh Day Baptists was formed in Monmouth Co. New Jersey, near the Manasquan River. Joseph Maxson and his family of Stonington, CT had sailed for the mouth of the Manasquan River in the fall of 1742, but due to storms and ice, they did not reach their destination until the spring of 1743, having spent the winter on Long Island. The Seventh Day Baptist Church at Shrewsbury, New Jersey was formally organized in 1745 with William Davis as Minister. William Davis died there late in the year 1745.

_________

Note: Attended Oxford University William Davis, s/o William of Lanstephen, County Radnor, Wales, pleb. St. Mary's Hall, (Oxford University), who matriculated 30 June 1682, aged 18. (Note: According to the dictionary, Matriculate means to enroll in a body or society, as a college or university, by entering the name in a register. In other words he was registered there as a student on that date.) Note: Rev. William Davis d 1745 in his 82nd year, thus he had not yet celebrated his 82nd birthday. Had he done that he would have been in his 83rd year. He entered Oxford 30 June 1682 aged 18, thus his birthdate was after 'late in the year', and before 30 June the following year. This places his year of birth as 1664. William arrived in Phila. PA in 1684, according to his own writing, thus he had spent 2 years at Oxford. He was a recognized preacher of The Society of Friends when he arrived, but left it with George Keith and 46 others in 1691. In 1697 he joined the Pennepek Baptist Church from which he was expelled 17 Feb. 1698/9 for heresy. At this time he wrote a book, 'Jesus the Crucified Man', which was printed by Reynier Jansen in 1700. One copy of this book is still existant today. The introduction is most significant as it details the philosophies of Keith, and of the Quakers. It also tells us that William Davis was brought up in the Church Of England, and why he left them for the Quakers. Please note that he chose the Quaker religon while at Oxford, thus depriving himself of the privelege of graduation. Perhaps he later regretted this decision, as he wrote in his introduction to his book 'Jesus the Crucified Man', 'Having at that time a weak capacty to judge in matters of doctrine.' Thus, we do not find his name among the list of graduates from Oxford. In 1699 William Davis became a Seventh Day Baptist and organized a congreagation at Frankfort, PA. In 1706 he applied for a membership to the Newport, RI S.D.B. Church. On October 12 1710 William and his wife Elizabeth applied to Westerly, RI for membership in that Church. They were recieved into Westerly Church 14 July 1711, and he was invited to preach there in 1713. On 1 March 1714 he requested a letter to a church in England, but was persuaded by his friends to remain in America. Soon after 16 May 1717 he left Westerly and settled in PA, where in 1724, he suffered severe loss by fire. From his home in Stonington, Connecticut, 21 Oct. 1734, William again requested membership in the Westerly Church, which was granted 16 Dec 1734. Soon after 1740 a settlement of 7th day Baptists was formed in Monmouth Co. NJ, near the Manasquan River. Joseph Maxson and his family of Stonington, CT sailed for the mouth of the Manasquan River in the fall of 1742, but due to storms and ice, they did not reach their destination until the spring of 1743, having spent the winter on Long Island. The S.D.B.C. at Shrewsbury, NJ was formally organized in 1745 with William Davis as minister. William Davis died there late in the year 1745. On 6 Jun 1700 when William was 37, he married Elizabeth PAVIOR

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•Name: WILLIAM DAVIS , Reverend, Immigrant •Sex: M •Birth: 1663 in Llanstephen, Radnor Co., South Wales •Death: 18 APR 1745 in Shrewsbury, Monmouth Co., NJ •Christening: 14 JUN 1663 •Immigration: 1684 Philadelphia, Philadelphia Co., PA •ORDN: 1696 Baptist minister, Pennypeck Church, Chester Co., PA •Residence: BET 1706 AND 1716 Westerly, Washington Co., RI •Residence: Wm. Penn Colony, Philadelphia, PA •Residence: BET 1699 AND 1702 Lower Dublin Twp., Chester Co., PA •Residence: BET 1702 AND 1710 Chester Co., PA •Residence: BET 1717 AND 1734 Phildelphia, Philadelphia Co., PA •Residence: BET 1734 AND 1744 Stonington, New London Co., CT •Residence: BET 1744 AND 1745 Shrewsbury, Monmouth Co., NJ •Baptism: 1697 Cohansey, Salem Co., NJ By Rev. Killingsworth •Event: Matriculation 30 JUN 1682 Oxford University, England •Event: Published 1700 "Jesus the Crucified Man, The Eternal Son of God" •Event: Fact 1691 Left Quakers w/ George Keith •Event: Fact Arrived in Monmouth Co., NJ •Event: Fact 1696 Adopted views of Baptist Church •Event: Fact 1698 Excommunicated for heresy •Event: Fact BET 1703 AND 1704 Sent to Westerly, RI to settle church problem •Event: Fact 1706 Refused membership at SDB Church, Newport, RI •Event: Fact 1714 Requested letter of recommendation from Westerly to CHurch of Englan d

•Event: Fact 1717 Forced to leave Westerly, returned to Chester Co., PA  •Event: Fact 1724 Home in Chester Co., PA burned  •Event: Fact 1734 Accepted at Westerly SDB Church again  •Event: Fact 1734 Minister @ Stonington, CT SDB Church  •Event: Fact 1740 SDB Church formed at Monmouth Co., NJ  •Event: Fact 1742 He & 9 others moved to NJ  •Event: Fact 1743 Arrived in Monmouth Co., NJ  •Event: Fact 1745 Minister, SDC Church, Shrewsbury, NJ  •Religion: 1692 Baptized by Thomas Killingworth  •Religion: 1699 Joined Seventh Day Baptist Church  •Religion: 1699 Returned to Pennypeck & organized SD church there  •Religion: 1710 Applied for SDB membership @ Westerly, RI  •Religion: 14 JUL 1711 Received SDB memebership @ Westerly, RI  •Religion: 1712 Minister @ Westerly, RI SDB Church  •Education: Clergy study for Church of England @ Oxford Univ.  •_EXCM: 1691 Quaker, Society of Friends  •Event: Member 1691 George Keith, Baptist Quaker  •Burial: Shrewsbury, Monmouth Co., NJ

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William was educated at Oxford University.

William Davis a Quaker came from Glamorganshire Wales to Philadelphia Pa., in 1684. He became a Keithan, or Christian Quaker when George Keith broke with the Quakers in 1691. William Davis became a Seventh Day Baptist in 1698. He located at Westerly, R.I., in 1711, and from there he went to Shrewsbury N.J. in 1744, and he died in 1745

Rev. William Davis (1664-1745) · 8 May 2013 · 0 Comments Reverend William Davis came to America in 1684 and settled in William Penn's colony of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He died late in the year 1745 at Shrewsbury, New Jersey. He married 1st Elizabeth Brisley, probably 1685; he married 2nd Elizabeth Pavior who died in 1760 at Middletown, New Jersey.

Efforts to establish the parentage of William Davis have been futile, however it is thought that he is a descendant of one of four brothers who were members of the aristocratic Penfay Church, a branch of the Baptist Church of Swansea. In his will David Davis of this group included a sermon that was in keeping with the preaching of our Rev. William Davis, but no children are named in said will. Perhaps William was a son of David but was not named because he had gone to America.

According to tradition and to the work of some Seventh Day Baptist writers, while at Oxford University, William Davis espoused the Quaker Religion at the age 21, in the year 1684 with other followers of William Penn, sailed for Philadelphia. In 1691 he with 47 other persons, separated from William Penn and became a follower of George Keith.

Some five years later, William Davis was baptized by Rev. Thomas Killingworth and joined the Pennypek Baptist Church near Philadelphia, of which he was made pastor. He was banished from that Church 17 Feb. 1698 for his unorthodox views and subsequently joined Abel Noble and became a Seventh Day Baptist.

In vindication of the doctrine for which he was expelled from Pennypek, he published a book entitled, "Jesus the Crucified Man, the Eternal Son of God."

Origins of the Davis Family of Salem, West Virginia

by Sharon Sprouse Bramhall © 2007

FIRST GENERATION - WILLIAM DAVIS - WELSH IMMIGRANT OF 1684

     The progenitor of the Davis families of Salem, Harrison County, WestVirginia, was the ever controversial Rev. WILLIAM DAVIS OF GLAMORGANSHIRE, WALES (1663-1745), who arrived at Penn's colony in America as a passionate 21- year old Quaker convert in 1684. Inspiredby William PENN and George FOX(1) while a ministerial student at Oxford University in England, he left school before graduating(2) in order to join like-minded Quaker brothers and sisters in Philadelphia two years after Penn had founded the "city of brotherly love".

Penn's colony "Pennsylvania" provided a safe haven for the Society of Friends, nicknamed "Quakers", who were being persecuted by the Puritans throughout New England. Quakers were branded with an "H" (heretic), their ears cut off, tongues bored, or banished to an offshore island(3). Although Puritans had come to America seeking religious freedom, having fled persecution in England, oddly enough, they had absolutely no tolerance for the religion of others.
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); our family is descended from both wives.
His 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

Follower of George Keith

     As a member of the Society of Friends in the new city of Philadelphia, a young, exuberant William Davis soon rose as a speaker on doctrinal issues. His subsequent views, however, were not well received as he and others became dissatisfied with the Quaker leadership. In 1691, then in his late twenties, William Davis, became a follower of George KEITH(4), who had come to Philadelphia in 1689, to serve as headmaster at a Quaker school. Keith soon felt the Quakers had strayed from orthodox Christianity and formed a "short-lived group called the Christian Quakers", of which William Davis likely was a part. However, within a couple of years, William and George also parted ways - again - because of doctrinal issues. Keith returned to England, hoping to gain support, but found his views rebuked by the Quaker leadership there as well. Before the decade's end, George Keith was an ordained Anglican priest(5) . 

1. Founder of the Society of Friends (Quaker movement). 2. http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~davisfam/Index.htm 3. John C. Thorn, Early Quaker History; http://thorn.pair.com/earlyq.htm 4. Davis, Settlers of Salem, WV, Susie Davis Nicholson 5. Wikipedia. George Keith ordained as Anglican priest, March of 1704.

Banished by the Baptists

     Still seeking his denominational niche, about 1696, William Davis "accepted many principles of the Baptists after coming in contact with Rev. Thomas KILLINGSWORTH" and was baptized by him. Davis joined the Pennepek Baptist Church near Philadelphia, where he later became pastor. It may have been here that he met and took his second wife, Elizabeth PAVIOR. William's first wife, Elizabeth BRISLEY Davis, likely died in the 1690s to early 1700s. Her cause of death is unknown, but epidemics were rampant during this period.

Children attributed to William and Elizabeth (Pavior) Davis were (continuing the birth order of his children):

5. Thomas Davis (d. 1786) m. 1737 Bethia MAXSON (1716-1754) (res: PA & Middletown NJ); whose son, Joseph was captured by the British, Battle of Middletown, imprisoned 1777 NY.(6) 6. Joseph Davis m. 1st. 1749 Anna BABCOCK (1729-1750 Westerly); m. 2nd Mary BABCOCK (res. Middletown NJ); Joseph came from PA to Shrewsbury, NJ (1747), & to Westerly, RI (1752) 7. Edward Davis m. 1744 Sarah BOWEN in Gloucester, Rhode Island 8. Lydia Davis m. Hope COVEY 9. James Davis (1720-1778) m. 1740 Judith MAXSON at Westerly, RI; British burned his shipyard; he was killed by stray bullet as he rode out to watch the Battle of Monmouth. 10. Elisabeth Davis m. Joseph MAXSON of Stonington, Connecticut

     In 1698, William Davis was "banished from the Pennepek Baptist Church for expressing a heretical view of the person of Christ(7) ."   Two years later, he published his controversial book called "Jesus Christ, the Crucifyed Man - the Eternal Son of God(8) " in which he describes Christ both human and divine in nature(9) ,  a theory, by today's standards, considered centuries ahead of its time.

EARLY PHILADELPHIA PUBLISHERS 1685-1719

     "Quaker printer, William BRADFORD worked as the lone printer in Philadelphia from 1685 to 1693. Due to a piece which criticized Quaker leadership, however, he was forced to move his press to New York (Weigley 31). His son Andrew Bradford returned to Philadelphia in 1713, and opened up an independent press. He established Philadelphia's first newspaper, the American Weekly Mercury, which was first issued December 22, 1719 (Weigley 64)." - Cheryl Harvey

Printing and Publishing in Philadelphia 1685-1776, Cheryl Harvey. Poor Will's Almanac

6. Davis, Settlers of Salem, WV. Susie Davis Nicholson; Source: New Jersey Historical Society 7. "Entering Into Covenant: The History of Seventh Day Baptists in Newport", Don A. Sanford, archivist for the SDB in Monmouth County NJ, (with whom S. Bramhall once corresponded.) Richard Brandstetter shared this quote with Sharon Bramhall, 1999. 8. It is said that the original book is housed at the Philadelphia Historical Society. - ssb 9.Langfitt and Davis, British and Colonial Ancestry, Margaret Parks Ewing

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https://books.google.com/books/about/A_History_of_the_Seventh_Day_B...

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William Davis and the Seventh Day Baptists

     Rev. William Davis took his "heretical views" to Rhode Island, a new colony founded on freedom of religious tolerance. A year later, in 1699, he "returned to Pennepek and organized a Seventh Day Baptist church as a branch of the Providence (Rhode Island) Church.(10) ". Seventh Day Baptist history mentions "a third group of churches (which) came out of the Keithian split from Quakerism in the Philadelphia area about 1700"(11) . 

Seven years later, in 1706, he and his wife returned to Rhode Island and applied for membership into the Newport Seventh Day Baptist Church, and three years later, he was called to be their pastor.
Fifty years prior, in the 1660s, this church had splintered away from the First Baptist Church of Newport, when a few members "became convinced that the Ten Commandments should be obeyed literally and began to observe the Sabbath on Saturday, the seventh day of the week.(12) "
Seventh Day Meeting House NHS P1580 Now the Newport Historical Society The denomination was formed in 1671

     This group was likely inspired by a movement occurring simultaneously in London, where the Seventh Day Baptists attribute their origin. In 1671, the small Newport group of less than a dozen people, officially withdrew from the First Baptist Church of Newport to form what later would become known as the Newport Seventh Day Baptist Church.(13) " - the FIRST Seventh Day Baptist Church in America(14) . At least two of the five founders are ancestors of the Davises of Salem WV - Samuel and Tacy (COOPER) HUBBARD.

Religious persecution is likely what brought Samuel Hubbard (1610-1689) to America in 1633. It is believed that his grandfather, Thomas Hubbard, was a religious martyr, burned at the stake in Essex, England. Samuel's father, James of Mendelsham, "was a suspect who escaped persecution." After disembarking from the James Grant, Samuel Hubbard first settled in a Massachusetts village called SALEM.
10. Davis, Settlers of Salem WV, Susie Davis Nicholson 11. Baptists Around the World, Albert W. Wardin, Jr., ed., Broadman & Hohman Pub.1995; also see Reformed Reader, SDB Thumbnail Sketch 12. Entering Into Covenant: The History of Seventh Day Baptists in Newport," by Don A. Sanford, Newport History: the Quarterly Journal of the Newport Historical Society, vol. 66, part 1, no. 226, Summer 1994. 13. Obid. Newport Historical Society website http://www.newporthistorical.org/sites_sdbmh.htm 14. Benedict Arnold, first governor of Rhode Island Colony and grandson of R.I. founder Roger Williams, was a member of the Newport Seventh Day Baptist Church. - Dorothy Davis, Sojourners Day, Clarksburg Telegram, 1989.

     Although he had served as pastor of other churches, Rev. William Davis was not ordained as a Seventh Day Baptist minister until 1710, in Westerly, Rhode Island, where the denomination flourished. Years later, Seventh Day Baptists fled to Westerly to avoid British occupation(15) . The extended Davis family was likely among them. To this day, Westerly, Rhode Island is the home of the SDBC General Conference offices.

On March 1, 1714, following his father's death in Wales, William Davis, then in his 40s, applied for membership to a church in England, with plans to claim his portion of his father's estate. William was said to have been born in the Shire of Radnor in South Wales, and his father, William Davies of Llanstephen(16) . But as he was about to return to his homeland, family and friends changed his mind(17) .
In the spring of 1717, William and Elizabeth returned to Pennsylvania where they remained for the next seven years, during which time a fire to caused them a "severe loss"(18) . From here, they moved between Stonington, Connecticut and Westerly, Rhode Island (by 1734) - villages only a few miles apart along the Atlantic coast, most likely abiding in homes of their children.
Circa 1740, when a Seventh Day Baptist group organized in Monmouth County, New Jersey - William and Elizabeth Davis, now elderly, moved for the last time to settle with family between the Manasquan and Shark Rivers. Although William's son, John, was called by the SDB elders to pastor this new congregation, he declined. Instead, he (apparently) stepped aside out of respect for his father. In 1745, the Shrewsbury Seventh Day Baptist Church was formally organized with Rev. William Davis as minister. The first congregation consisted of "five men and eight women, all having come from Stonington, Connecticut"(19) . That same year, William Davis of Wales died. He was 82 years old. Fifteen years later, his wife, Elizabeth died in Middletown(20) , a community on the north coast of Monmouth County, New Jersey.
Of William Davis of Wales, Seventh Day Baptist historian Don Sanford writes: "His loyalty to the denomination has never been questioned, although both his temperament and certain unorthodox views caused considerable controversy not only among the Pennsylvania churches, but in Rhode Island and New Jersey as well... his descendants provided the nucleus, nearly a century later, for a migration into what is now West Virginia.(21) "
Although admonished in his own time for his rebellious nature - in today's world, William Davis would have likely received our respect, not only for his forward thinking, but for taking a courageous, non-violent stance against hierarchy in order to voice his personal convictions. At a time in world history when new religious viewpoints and denominations were just beginning to find wings(22) , in every instance, William Davis of Wales took a proactive leadership role and exhibited the qualities of an intelligent, truth-seeking, pioneering spirit. He was able to withstand peer pressure and "think outside the envelope". Throughout his lifetime, he held close to his heart the principle upon which the colony of Rhode Island was founded - a principle adopted by our Constitution - the freedom of religion.
15. "Entering Into Covenant: The History of Seventh Day Baptists in Newport," by Don A. Sanford 16, http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~davisfam/Index.htm, Glenna Maria Davis-Johnson, Huma, AZ 17. Davis, Settlers of Salem, West Virginia, Susie Davis Nicholson 18. Davis, Settlers of Salem, WV. Susie Davis Nicholson. 19. Sojourners Day, Clarksburg Telegram, Dorothy Davis, 1989 20. Youngest daughter, Elizabeth Maxson, prob. wife of John, lived in Middletown, NJ 21. Entering Into Covenant: The History of Seventh Day Baptists in Newport, Don A. Sanford 22. There once had been a death penalty attached to the translation of the Bible; the New Testament had only been available to the common Englishman since William Tyndale's publication of From New Jersey to Salem, West Virginia

     Escaping the devastation and horrors that came with the Revolutionary War, in 1789, the extended DAVIS family (which included the MAXSON, BABCOCK, and THORPE families)  left New Jersey as part of the congregation of Shrewsbury Seventh Day Baptist Church.

No place had suffered the ravages of war as much as Monmouth County, New Jersey. The Davis family was no exception to loss. As farmers, shipbuilders, and proprietors of salt producing businesses, their boats carried salt and farm products to New York City from their settlements near the mouths of the Manasquan and Shark Rivers near Shrewsbury(23). Some Davises were Loyalists at the beginning of the war until their businesses were burned by the British; these, then, joined the Revolutionaries.
Another theory regarding what caused the sudden uprooting of this Shrewsbury congregation was developed by Richard Brandstetter of Shrewsbury, New Jersey(24), who felt these Sabbatarians felt restricted by the Blue Laws of the state. He discovered petitions they had submitted to the state of New Jersey in 1786-87, requesting that they be exempt from the Blue Law and be allowed to work on Sunday, which, for Sabbatarians, was the first day of their work week. Otherwise, they had to refrain from doing any work for two full days. Their petition was denied, and two years later, the entire church pulled up stakes!
After selling their lands and a fairly new church building, four months later they embarked on their long journey, following an Indian trail westward in order to reach "Virginey" to begin life anew. The aforementioned Jesse Davis (Absolom's father), Bottom Billy, Joshua, Greenbrier Billy and his son, Peter Davis, were among these war-weary Monmouth County families. Most were ancestors of mine. The church group left New Jersey in two waves; the first in 1789, and the second group trickled in somewhere between 1792 and 1807.
The church record, carried from New Jersey to West Virginia, stated that the first migrant group which set out from Shrewsbury on September 6, 1789, was comprised of "Elder Jacob Davis with his famely (sic), William Davis, Senior, John Davis, Ephraim Maxson, Thomas Badcock, and Zebulon Maxson and Benjamin Thorp, with all their famelys(25)" (sic).
The remainder of the 1789 group departed on September 13th of the same year: "Simeon Maxson, William Davis, Juner and William Maxson with all their famelys" (sic). These were likely among them:
T. William DAVIS, Sr. (s/o John & Eliz. Maxson Davis) and his wife Tacy CRANDALL Davis. All of their children migrated with the first group except Nathan Davis<26>, who came later. William "Greenbrier Billy" Davis (27)(s/o T.Wm & Tacy) and his wife, Elizabeth JOHNSTON Davis (and likely children, Mary, Peter, Benjamin, David) Jacob Davis, Rev. (s/o James Sr. son of William Davis of Wales) and his wife, Mary (Davis) Davis (d/o William & Tacy). John Davis, Rev.(28)(s/o Wm. & Tacy) and his wife, Marvel Maxson Davis, and daughters, Amy and Jane. Ephraim MAXSON and his wife Elizabeth (Davis) Maxson (d/o William & Tacy) and possibly children Amy, Sally, Prudence, Jesse, Piety, Charity. Ephraim died in 1795. Thomas BABCOCK(29) and his wife Martha (Davis) BABCOCK (d/o William & Tacy) (Thomas was a nephew of William & Tacy, the son of Thos. Sr. & Judith Davis Babcock.) Zebulon MAXSON. Jr., Rev.(30) (s/o Experience Davis Maxson - T. Wm. Davis Sr.'s sister) nephew of T. William Davis; Zebulon later married Mary, d/o Nathan Davis Benjamin THORP and his wife Elizabeth (Maxson) THORP (sister of Zebulon, above) Simeon MAXSON and his wife Mary Babcock Maxson (step-daughter of Judith Davis Babcock who was a sister to T. William Davis, Sr.) William "Bottom Billy" Davis (son of James Sr.) and his wife, Elizabeth (HAVENS) Davis, and possibly eight children, James, John, Jonathan, Joel, David, George Anna, and Jesse. Rev. Jacob Davis (son of James Sr.) and his wife, Mary (Davis) Davis (d/o Wm. & Tacy) James Davis Jr.(32) (s/o James, son of William Davis of Wales) and his wife, Rebecca (BRAND) Davis(33) It is believed that it was their son, Joseph Davis, who was received into New Salem Church in 1794.

     The Indian trail took the New Jersey pioneers to southwestern Pennsylvania, where they may have either camped for almost two years near the residence of Samuel FITZ RANDOLPH and/or just across the Virginia border in Monongalia County at White Day Creek (between Morgantown & Fairmont, WV). While in Pennsylvania, Rev. Jacob Davis helped found the Woodbridgetown Seventh Day Baptist Church.

During the time the New Jersey settlers lived in White Day Creek, the eldest of the group died in July of 1791 - ancestor Thomas William Davis, Sr. (1719-1791), son of John and grandson of immigrant William of Wales. Soon after this, the group, unhappy with the land they had purchased, decided to move on to Harrison County, after being a deed by Samuel Fitz Randolph to settle on land he owned at the headwaters of the Monongahela.
Arriving in the spring of 1792, the settlers built a blockhouse (fort) and community of log houses they called New Salem - now known as Salem, West Virginia. Isaac Fitz Randolph, grandson of William "Greenbrier Billy" Davis, said there "were about forty families who established the town(34)". Later, Samuel Fitz Randolph, whose family married into the Davis family, joined the settlers and helped charter the village.
Rev. Jacob Davis, who had served as a chaplain in the Revolution(35>, was the first minister at the New Salem settlement, but upon returning to the Woodbridgetown church on a missionary trip in 1793, he met his death(36).
Just west of Salem, in 1807, West Union was founded by one of the New Jersey Davises. Capt. Nathan Davis, later a Harrison County sheriff (1843-44), and his brothers, William and Joseph, purchased all the land upon which the town was built. The name of the town was changed from Lewisport to West Union with the establishment of Doddridge County in 1845; the first county court was held at the residence of Nathan Davis, now the site of the Doddridge County Courthouse(37).
23. Sojourners Day, Clarksburg Telegram, Dorothy Davis, 1989. 24. See "Genealogist's Answer to Fantasy Baseball" by Sharon Bramhall, HCGS 2007 25. Davis - Settlers of Salem, WV, Susie Davis Nicholson, quoting the original church record. 26. Rev. War soldier. Wife-Ann Gifford. Believed to be in WV by 1795. 27. Rev. War soldier. Due to Indian attacks, he moved his family to Greenbrier Run. A community center in Salem is named for him. 28.Rev. War soldier. Married 2nd Margaret Kelso. Buried Broad Run Baptist Cemetery, Lewis County WV. 29. Thomas Babcock, with Samuel & Jacob Davis, moved to Greene Co. Ohio in 1806. 30. Zebulon was a 7th Day Bapt. minister, basket & broom maker. His father, Zebulon Maxson, Sr., deeded the land upon which Shrewsbury 7th Day Baptist was built. 31. Died in Shelby Co., Ohio; some children went to Garwin, Iowa,br> 32. Trustee for newly chartered town of New Salem, (W) VA, 1794. Appraiser for estate of his brother Jacob Davis in New Salem (W)Va. 1793. 33. It is not certain if James and Rebecca (Brand) Davis came with the first or second group to Salem. 34. Davis, The Settlers of Salem, West Virginia, Susie Davis Nicholson 35. Obid,br>. 36. Obid 37. Obid

May 2007 - ssb

Surnames mentioned within this article:

Allen, Babcock/Badcock, Bowen, Bradford, Bramhall, Brand, Brandstetter, Brisley, Cooper, Covey, Cowen, Davis, Davises, Ewing, Fitz Randolph, Fox, Gifford, Harvey, Hubbard, Johnson, Keith, Kelso, Killingsworth, Langfitt, Maxson, Parks, Pavior, Penn, Randolph, Sprouse, Thorn, Thorp(e), Tyndale,

Birth: 1664, Wales Death: 1745 Shrewsbury (Allentown) Monmouth County New Jersey, USA

WILLIAM DAVIS, s/o William of Lanstephan, County Radnor, Wales, pleb. St. Mary's Hall, (Oxford University), who matriculated 30 June 1682, aged 18... William arrived in Philadelphia in 1684, according to his own writing, thus he had spent two years at the University. He was a recognized preacher of the Society of Friends when he arrived, but left with George Keith and 46 others in 1691. In 1697 he joined the Pennepek Baptist Church from which he was expelled February 17, 1698/9 for heresy. At this time he wrote a book, JESUS THE CRUCIFIED MAN, which was printed by Reynier Jansen in 1700. One copy of this book is still extant today. The introduction is most significant as it details the philosophies of Keith, and of the Quakers. It also tells us that WILLIAM DAVIS was brought up in the CHURCH OF ENGLAND, and why he left them for the QUAKERS. The following passage is carefully copied from his book: 'Through grace from my Youth, my studies have been bent that way, viz. to seek after truth, since that time that God in his infinite Love was pleased to refrain me from my youthful vanities, several sorts of which I was naturally prone unto, being by nature a Child of wrath as well as others. But these in great measure God gave me Victory over when I was about 18 or 20 years of age. Having formerly had my Conversation in the CHURCH OF ENGLAND, being trained up according to the rules of the same, And being a diligent hearer of their Ministers, having at that time but a weak capacity to judge in matters of Doctrine, whether or no in that case they were right or wrong; I observed the looseness and profanity both of Priests and People too general amonst them. This drove me from them. And the QUAKERS in that time, that exceeded in lite and Conversation, being much more civilized, and given to Sobriety; this their good Conversation, prevailed upon me, wherefore I joyned myself with them. And having walked with them in that way about 13 or 14 years, in which space of time I did consider of some Principles in Religion...Now then when it pleased God to cast my lot here in PENNSILVANIA, which was the year 1684. I having met with some help from George Keith, I farther (word missing) the QUAKERS were in the wrong concerning fundamental Principles, on which grounds I left them again, and became a hearere of G. Keith...' Please note that our Ancestor chose the Quaker Religion while at Oxford, thus depriving himself of the privilege of graduation. Perhaps he later regretted this decision, as he wrote in his introduction to his book, JESUS THE CRUCIFIED MAN, 'Having at that time a weak capacity to judge in matters of Doctrine.' Thus, we do not find his name among the list of graduates from Oxford University. In 1699 William Davis became a Seventh Day Baptist and organized a congregation at Frankfort, PA. In 1706 he applied for membership to the Newport, Rhode Island Seventh Day Baptist Church. On October 12, 1710, William Davis and wife Elizabeth applied to Westerly, Rhode Island for membership in that Church. They were received into the Wasterly Church 14 July 1711, and he was invited to preach there in 1713. On 1 March 1714 he requested a letter to a church in England, but was persuaded by his friends to remain in America. Soon after May 16, 1717 he left Westerly and settled in Pennsylvania, where in 1724, he suffered severe loss by fire. From his home in Stonington, Connecticut, 21 Oct. 1734, William again requested membership in Monmouth Co. New Jersey, near the Manasquan River. Joseph Maxson and his family of Stonington, CT had sailed for the mouth of the Manasquan River in the fall of 1742, but due to storms and ice, they did not reach their destination until the spring of 1743, having spent the winter on Long Island. The Seventh Day Baptist Church at Shrewsbury, New Jersey was formally organized in 1745 with William Davis as Minister. William Davis died there late in the year 1745. Ref: JESUS THE CRUCIFIED MAN, by William Davis, 1700. ISSUES OF THE AMERICAN PRESS IN PENNSYLVANIA, 1700. SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS IN WEST VIRGINIA, by Corliss Randolph, 1905. Data about Brinley & Pavior is credited to Margaret Ewing. Sincere thanks and appreciation goes to Deborah Davis Swingle and her father Carl H. Davis for providing us a copy of Rev. William Davis's book, JESUS THE CRUCIFIED MAN, and to Deborah and her sister for her research in Wales and at Oxford University, which provided us with the true identity of our ancestor, Rev. William Davis. [Davis--The Settlers of Salem, West Virginia; Susie Davis Nicholson]

Family links:

Spouses:

 Elizabeth Pavior Davis (____ - 1762)*

 Elizabeth Brisley Davis (____ - 1700)*

Children:

 John Davis (1692 - 1754)*

 James Davis (1720 - 1778)*

*Calculated relationship

Burial: Non-Cemetery Burial

Created by: Juli Record added: Jan 08, 2012 Find A Grave Memorial# 83149652

My 7th Great Grandfather. - Pamela Davis Ragan

Added: Aug. 6, 2015 My 7th Great grandfather. What an adventure this has been finding my past! - Terri Mumley 

Added: Mar. 31, 2015

- Jean Jorgensen

Added: Mar. 28, 2014

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Matriculated Oxford University June 30, 1682 at age 18 to study theology. Documentstion from the Bodleian Library at Oxford University archives suggest his father was William Davies of Llanstephen. While studying at Oxford he became interested in the doctrines of the Quaker Society. He left not finishing school, and immigrated to Philadelphia in 1684 living amonst William Penn and others of the Society. In 1685 he met and married Elizabeth Brinley (Brisley).

In 1696 he adopted the philosophies of the Baptist Church and was baptized in 1697. He became the ministrant of the Pennepek Church near Philadelphia in 1698 but was ostracized for his beliefs. As quoted in the book Langfitt and Davis, British and Colonial Ancestry by Margaret Parks Ewing, "He maintained that the human and divine nature were blended in the person of Christ - like wine and water in a glass". He was a century and a half ahead of his time in thinking. In his defense, he wrote a book in 1700 entitled Jesus the Crucifyed Man, The Eternal Son of God. The original is purportedly in the Philadelphia Historical Society Library.

Following the birth of his son, the Reverend John DAVIS, I (1692-1750), William removed to Westerly, Washington Co., Rhode Island. He was not readily accepted there because of his radical religious thinking. In 1710 he attempted to return to England but was coerced by many friends into staying. His woes continued with the church and he moved on to Stonington, CT where he remained without incident until 1745. He then removed to Shrewsbury, Monmouth Co., NJ, with son John and wife Elizabeth MAXSON and several of his children, and helped establish the church there. He died peacefully later that year.

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William Davis, came from England about 1685, and preached to the Seventh Day Baptist Church in Westerly, now Hopkinton—the first Seventh Day Baptist Church in America, except the one at Newport, R. I., which was constituted some time previous. The Church in Hopkinton was constituted in 1661. He preached for this Church a year or two, then made arrangements to go back to England, and went to Newport and engaged a passage; but before the ship sailed, the Church sent a Committee and persuaded him not to go; so he returned to Hopkinton and preached for them until some of the Church fell out with him, because he preached the doctrine of the Trinity. —Whereupon he left them and went to Pennsylvania, and preached some of the time in Pennsylvania, and some of the time in New Jersey, and died somewhere out in that country.

Source: Miscellaneous Compositions of Poetry and Prose, by William Stillman, published 1852 by F. H. Bacon, New London, CT, p. 3

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Rev. William Davis came to America in 1684 and first settled in William Penn Colony of Philadelphia.

His first wife, whom he married probably in 1685, was Elizabeth Brisley. No children.

With his second wife Elizabeth Pavior, they had nine children: John, Mary, Thomas, Joseph, Edward, Lydia, James, Elizabeth, and William.