THE TWO WIVES, BOTH NAMED MARY, AND TEN CHILDREN OF JUNIUS DAVIS: MARY, TOM, JUNIUS, GEORGE, PLATT, LOU, ALICE, BOB, LIZA, & EMILY
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Junius Davis had ten children born over a quarter of a century, from 1874 to 1900, from two wives. The oldest and youngest were girls, but he had more boys -- six sons and four daughters. His sixth child (and fifth son) was my grandfather. His first wife, Mary Orme Walker (1847-1888), was the mother of the first seven children, five sons and two daughters. Five years after she died, Junius married a first cousin of his first wife, also named Mary, Mary Walker Cowan (1859-1930), and they had three children, a son and two daughters.
To the left is a photo, taken about 1897, of Junius's six sons. Unfortunately, I have no photos of his daughters or of either of his wives.
Junius's first wife, my great-grandmother, was the oldest child (out of five) of Thomas Owen Davis Walker (1822-1865) and Mary Vance Dickinson Walker (1821-1900). Like her husband, she was born (on January 19, 1847) and grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina. The Walkers were originally from Northumberland, England, and had been in the Cape Fear region for several generations, with her grandfather having fought in the War of 1812. Her father's mother was Eliza Morehead Davis Walker, from a completely different Davis family (which took me a long time to figure out); her 4th-great-grandfather, Samuel Davis, arrived in Jamestown, Virginia in July 1635 aboard the Paul. He and several generations of his descendants settled in the Isle of Wight area of Virginia, south of the James River, until they migrated to North Carolina. Mary's mother side was slightly different, although both her parents were born and brought up in Wilmington, her grandfather, Platt Ketchum Dickinson, came from Long Island, New York, and was instrumental in the development of the railroad in the Wilmington area.
That's about her family, but what about her? Like with a number of the members of the distaff side of the family, there is little we know about her. She grew up in Wilmington, got married at age 27 (on her birthday, actually) -- a little old for the time period, it would be interesting to know why -- had seven children, all of whom lived to adulthood, over 14 years, and then died, too young, at the age of 41. What did she die of? I have not been able to find mention of the cause of death, or whether she had an illness for awhile. She died the same year that her youngest child was born, but it was nine months later, so it does not seem to be related. She is buried in Oakdale Cemetery in Wilmington.
Junius's second wife, Mary Walker Cowan, was a first cousin of Mary Orme Walker -- despite them both having Walker in their names, that's not how they were related; their mothers, maiden name Vance, were sisters. She was born on September 8, 1859, and was therefore, significantly younger than her husband, 14 years younger. But like her husband and his first wife, she and both her parents were born and raised in Wilimington. She was the fourth child (out of five) of Colonel Robert Haughey Cowan and Elizabeth Jane "Eliza" Dickinson Cowan. Robert Cowan was a Colonel in the CSA 18th Regiment, North Carolina, and he was severely wounded in the "Seven Days' Battle" in the summer of 1862 around Richmond, and this wound forced him to leave the Army and left him disabled.
Again, what do we know about Mary Cowan Davis herself? She didn't get married until she was 34, practically ancient by the standards of the time, to a widower 14 years her senior with seven kids ranging in age from 5 years old to 19, and then had three children. She was widowed at age 57, when her youngest was still a teenager. She lived until age 71, dying on November 20, 1930. The one tidbit of information I have about her is that my father and Uncle George told me that my grandfather, who lost his mother before he turned five and was 9 years old when his father remarried, really loved her and thought she was very kind.
To the left is a photo, taken about 1897, of Junius's six sons. Unfortunately, I have no photos of his daughters or of either of his wives.
Junius's first wife, my great-grandmother, was the oldest child (out of five) of Thomas Owen Davis Walker (1822-1865) and Mary Vance Dickinson Walker (1821-1900). Like her husband, she was born (on January 19, 1847) and grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina. The Walkers were originally from Northumberland, England, and had been in the Cape Fear region for several generations, with her grandfather having fought in the War of 1812. Her father's mother was Eliza Morehead Davis Walker, from a completely different Davis family (which took me a long time to figure out); her 4th-great-grandfather, Samuel Davis, arrived in Jamestown, Virginia in July 1635 aboard the Paul. He and several generations of his descendants settled in the Isle of Wight area of Virginia, south of the James River, until they migrated to North Carolina. Mary's mother side was slightly different, although both her parents were born and brought up in Wilmington, her grandfather, Platt Ketchum Dickinson, came from Long Island, New York, and was instrumental in the development of the railroad in the Wilmington area.
That's about her family, but what about her? Like with a number of the members of the distaff side of the family, there is little we know about her. She grew up in Wilmington, got married at age 27 (on her birthday, actually) -- a little old for the time period, it would be interesting to know why -- had seven children, all of whom lived to adulthood, over 14 years, and then died, too young, at the age of 41. What did she die of? I have not been able to find mention of the cause of death, or whether she had an illness for awhile. She died the same year that her youngest child was born, but it was nine months later, so it does not seem to be related. She is buried in Oakdale Cemetery in Wilmington.
Junius's second wife, Mary Walker Cowan, was a first cousin of Mary Orme Walker -- despite them both having Walker in their names, that's not how they were related; their mothers, maiden name Vance, were sisters. She was born on September 8, 1859, and was therefore, significantly younger than her husband, 14 years younger. But like her husband and his first wife, she and both her parents were born and raised in Wilimington. She was the fourth child (out of five) of Colonel Robert Haughey Cowan and Elizabeth Jane "Eliza" Dickinson Cowan. Robert Cowan was a Colonel in the CSA 18th Regiment, North Carolina, and he was severely wounded in the "Seven Days' Battle" in the summer of 1862 around Richmond, and this wound forced him to leave the Army and left him disabled.
Again, what do we know about Mary Cowan Davis herself? She didn't get married until she was 34, practically ancient by the standards of the time, to a widower 14 years her senior with seven kids ranging in age from 5 years old to 19, and then had three children. She was widowed at age 57, when her youngest was still a teenager. She lived until age 71, dying on November 20, 1930. The one tidbit of information I have about her is that my father and Uncle George told me that my grandfather, who lost his mother before he turned five and was 9 years old when his father remarried, really loved her and thought she was very kind.
THOMAS WALKER DAVIS (1876-1951)
JUNIUS DAVIS, JR. (1878-1956)
Less than two years later, on March 2, 1878, Junius and Mary's third child (and second son) was born, whom they named Junius, Jr. He studied engineering and later worked for the railroad. He never married. The familiy story is that he volunteered to serve in World War I -- he was 40 years old in 1918 -- and served with the U.S. Army in Europe, and that he was among the many thousands of World War I soldiers who were gassed, an experience from which he never fully recovered, either mentally or physically. He spent most of the rest of his life at the Veterans' Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, and died there October 14, 1956 at the age of 78. However, I have not been able to find any record of Junius having served in World War I, so his mental breakdown was not connected with that. In those years, people didn't talk about mental illness much, and certainly not with their children. My father and his brothers have a vague memory of their parents going to visit Uncle June in the hospital in Atlanta, but they never knew what was wrong with him and they were never taken to visit him. I have seen a reference to his mental state in a 1921 letter from his brother, Platt, to my grandfather, saying that he had just seen June and "there appeared to be nothing wrong with him", just some stress at work.
GEORGE DAVIS (1880-1937)
Again, less than two years later, Junius and Mary had a fourth child (and third son), George, who was born in Wilmington on February 13, 1880. He worked for the railroad and was stationed for a while in Charleston, South Carolina. He also spent some time working in Panama on the construction of the Panama Canal in the railroad section. He married Sadie Horton, who was born (on December 29, 1879) and raised in Wilmington. Sadie was a widow of Samuel Person "Percy" Cowan. Percy was 27 years older than his young wife; he died in 1918 at the age of 66. Sadie was 39, and she and Percy had no children. Interestingly, and a little strange, Percy was the brother of Junius's second wife; in other words, George married his stepmother's sister-in-law! I do not have the date of George and Sadie's marriage, and they had no children. George died on the young side, at the age of 57, on March 6, 1937. Sadie lived another 15 years, and died on April 17, 1952, in Wilmington.
PLATT WALKER DAVIS (1882-1938)
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A little more than two years after George was born, on April 9, 1882, a fourth son was born to Junius and Mary, whom they named Platt Walker Davis. The only thing I know about this childhood is that he lost an eye, although I do not know how. He didn't get married until he was 35 years old, on April 25, 1917, to Mary McLaughlin Wiggins, who was also 35. Mary was born and brought up in Wilmington, and she was the daughter of Octavius Augustus Wiggins and Anna Maria Parsley. Platt and Mary had one child, a son, Platt Walker Davis, Jr., born July 1, 1918, in Wilmington. Even though Platt Sr. was the fifth child of Junius, this was Junius's first grandchild, but sadly, Junius had already passed away two years earlier.
Platt Sr. owned a paint and hardware store in Wilmington, called the Davis-Moore Paint Co. He was the brother closest in age to my grandfather, who was just 20 months younger than Platt, and I think they might have been close -- my grandfather was the Best Man at Platt and Mary's wedding, and I've found one letter from Platt to Gramp that indicated a high degree of friendliness. (My grandfather also married soon after his brother Platt, and his oldest child, my dad, was just a year younger than Platt Jr.) Platt died young, on April 1, 1938, just a few weeks before he turned 56. Mary Wiggins Davis lived more than 20 years longer -- she died on December 30, 1959 in Wilmington. She never remarried. Platt Jr. grew up an only child, in Wilmington. He started law school at UNC but after a year (his son speculates that this was due perhaps to financial hardship), he was decided to leave school to work in a family friend’s car dealership. Once World War II started, Platt worked in the shipyards in Wilmington (disqualified from serving in the Army because of his very poor eyesight); he never returned to law school. He married Janet Grissim Houstoun, of Houston (and a first cousin of oil billionaire Howard Hughes) on June 17, 1942, in Houston, then spent the first years of their married life in Wilmington. After the war, the young family (oldest child, Platt III, having been born in 1943) moved to Houston where Platt was involved in sales and manufacturing until his death in 1979. Platt and Janet had two more children, Richard (called "Dick") and Martha. Platt III is the oldest of our generation of Davises. Each of the three has two children each. Platt Jr., like his father, died on the young side, at only age 60, on January 27, 1979 in Houston. My father was very fond of his cousin, and I had a chance to meet him just once, about a year before he died, at my grandfather's funeral in February 1978 in Washington. |
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LOUIS POISSON DAVIS (1883-1978)
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Just 20 months after Platt was born, Junius and Mary's fifth son was born on December 8, 1883 -- my grandfather, Louis Poisson Davis. The family now had six children under the age of 10! For more information on Lou Davis, please click here.
ALICE DAVIS (1888-1972)
A longer interval between babies was next, and another change was the appearance of a baby girl, after five boys. Alice was born on January 15, 1888. Her mother was 41 when baby Alice was born, and she did not survive the year. Alice was five years old when her father remarried. Alice married William Murdoch "Willy" Peck (1885-1950), a younger brother of Coy Peck, wife of Alice's older brother, Tom. They had one child, a son, William Jr., also called Willy, born on August 21, 1915. Parents and son lived in Wilmington their whole lives. The one thing I heard about Alice is that she had a very strong personality, in fact, so much so, that "Aunt Alice" became a byword in our family as the height of bossiness. My father enjoyed telling the story -- or family lore, at any rate -- how Aunt Alice accompanied her son to a job interview and did all his talking for him. This story was used as an example of why Willy Peck, Jr. never had a real job. Anyway, Willy Peck Sr. died in 1950 at the age of 65. Alice lived for another 22 years, and died on August 13, 1972 at age 84. Willy Peck Jr. never married or had children, and he only survived his mother by less than four years; he died on January 20, 1976 in Wilmington.
ROBERT COWAN DAVIS (1894-1938)
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After five years of widowhood, Junius married Mary Walker Cowan, first cousin of his first wife, on November 6, 1893. Eleven months later, their first child, a son, Robert Cowan Davis, was born, on October 9, 1894. He was called Bob. He moved to Texas as a young man and married Catherine Carter Wortham (born in 1900 in Mexia, Texas), who was called "Cad", on November 27, 1923 in Houston. The couple soon moved to Greenville, South Carolina, where they had two daughters. First came Fanny, who was born in January 1925, and then June, born less than two years later, in October 1926. Bob Davis died young, at age 43, of tuberculosis, in Memphis, Tennessee, on March 13, 1938. Cad died thirty years later, in 1968, in Houston. Fanny had four children, and June had five (these children are in my generation).
ELIZA DICKINSON DAVIS (1896-1974)
Less than two years after Bob was born, a baby girl, named Eliza Dickinson Davis, came along to Junius and Mary, on August 22, 1896. They called her "Liza". When she grew up, she married Cleves Montgomery Symmes, who was born in 1885 in Brunswick, Georgia. They had three children, all born and brought up in Wilimington, and they in turn produced four children. Cleves died at age 51 in February 1937, and Liza lived more than 35 years longer; she died on December 19, 1974 in Wilmington.
EMILY POLK DAVIS (1899-1978)
Three years after Eliza's birth, the last of Junius's ten children was born, a baby girl, named Emily Polk Davis, on July 16, 1899. Emily was educated at St. Mary's School in Raleigh, and then at Hannah More Academy in Baltimore. She was described in her engagement announcement in the Wilmington Morning Star as a "handsome brunette". She married Charles Bailey Parmele, a Wilmington native born in 1889, on December 29, 1920. They had no children. Both Emily and Charlie were reputed to be very charming and entertaining, and Emily was tall. Charlie Parmele once said about the Davises that although they had strong personalities, "they wear well"! He was a great raconteur, and he and Emily were popular with their relatives. In business, Charles Parmele started out in insurance, and then later managed a Pontiac car dealership and was very successful. He is described as having a magnetic personality that people were drawn to, and his wife was said to be devoted to him. The engagement announcement cited above said about him, "The possessor of a genial personality, he numbers his friends by the score." He served in World War I -- he was a first lieutenant -- and he was part of a battalion which was gassed; this may have contributed to later health problems and his early death of cancer. Charlie Parmele died in March 1948, at the age of 57. Emily died thirty years later, on December 5, 1978.