Ohio History Journal

SKETCHES OF JOHN AND ANN (SIMPSON) DAVIS

THEIR FORBEARS AND DESCENDANTS

BY EVA (SELLS) JAEGER

The History of every Family is a romance --

to those who search its pages a poem.

--Lamartine.

The history of the state of Pennsylvania, from

which came John and Ann Simpson Davis, is unique in

the manner of settlements made there, as it offered an

asylum for all mankind.

To this state came the Swedes, who settled along the

Delaware River; the Dutch from Holland, who, in turn,

drove the Swedes back into the state, now Delaware; the

English, Welsh, Irish; and the French Huguenots, who

had suffered persecution in their own land. All came

seeking a home of refuge and peace in a strange but

chosen land.

The religious sect of Friends, in England, was not

looked upon with much favor by the other religious or-

ganizations rapidly gaining power in England. This

condition led them also to seek refuge in America.

William Penn, a Quaker, or Friend, with a company

of about one hundred others of his faith, set sail from

England, to Pennsylvania, on the ship, Welcome, about

September, 1682.

The captain of this vessel was Robert Greenway, and

his voyage across proved a long and tedious one. Small-

(563)

564     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

pox broke out on board the vessel, and thirty of their

number died. William Penn endeared himself to the

sick by his kindness and help to the sufferers.

They arrived at New Castle, on the Delaware River,

on the 27th of October, 1682.

Of the hundred immigrants who came with Penn,

the heads of families were men of influence and educa-

tion. About one-half of this number made their homes

in Bucks County, one of the three original counties of

Pennsylvania.

History relates that William Penn and his followers

were much indebted to the early Swedes and Hollanders

for sustenance, as they had great farms, which were

cultivated. They were the true pioneers and furnished

food and shelter for the newcomers, the Friends.

Penn's policy was to extinguish the Indian title to

the grants by purchase, thus gaining the good will of

the Indians and securing safety to these settlers. Penn

remained in Pennsylvania for two years and in 1684

set out on his return voyage to England -- leaving an

industrious people, tillers of the soil; and soon Pennsyl-

vania had many, many settlers. This colony gained in

favor and the inhabitants prospered.

One family from the north of Ireland came to Bucks

County and settled in either Buckingham or Solebury

Township. William Simpson, on the 15th day of Janu-

ary, 1766, made application to purchase one hundred

acres of land in Buckingham Township, and the deed

was executed by John Penn, May 23, 1767.

Prior to this time he had married Nancy Hines. Of

this union four children were born: Ann, Mary, John,

and Mathew.

Sketches of John and Ann (Simpson) Davis  565

John Simpson lived and died in Bucks County.

Mathew removed to Ohio, settling near Zanesville. The

history of Mary is unknown. Ann proved herself a

heroine in the Revolutionary War.

William Simpson, the father of Ann, was born in

1732, and died in 1816, in Bucks County. He was a

soldier of the Revolution, serving as a private in Bucks

County Associators, in 1775.1

He was in the battle of Trenton. On one occasion

he came home to visit his family. His house was

searched by Tory neighbors, who failed to find him as

he was in the cellar of his home with a hogshead turned

over him.2

William Simpson lived to see his country free and

independent, dying at the age of 90 years. His wife,

Nancy Hines Simpson, died at the age of 70 years.

Ann Simpson, daughter of William and Nancy

Hines Simpson, was born in the year 1764. In the

Revolutionary War she acted as a spy for George Wash-

ington. At this time she was 14 or 15 years old. She

is said to have carried messages, concealed in a bag of

meal, to the other commanding officers of the American

Army. I have many times heard Grandfather Davis tell

the story of Ann Simpson. He said she was a messenger

between the generals of the army.

In the old Davis burying ground, one mile south of

Dublin, on the east side of the Scioto River, upon the

beautiful double granite monument erected to the mem-

ory of his illustrious mother, by her son Joseph Davis,

are inscribed these words:

1 Lineage Book, Daughters of the American Revolution, Vol. 69, p. 350.

2 William W. Davis, History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, p. 202.

566      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

Ann Davis was a messenger and carried orders from

General Washington to the other Commanders in the

Revolutionary War -- 1779-1780.

Ann Simpson was married after the Revolution, in

the year 1783, to John Davis, of Bucks County.³

The great grandfather of John Davis came from

Wales and settled in Solebury Township, Bucks County,

early in 1700.

John Davis, the subject of this sketch, was born in

1760, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He married Ann

Simpson in 1783. He was a soldier in the Revolution

from Trenton to Yorktown. He first enlisted in the

Flying Camp at the age of sixteen and was known as

an alert rifleman. He was at Brandywine, German-

town, Monmouth, Stony Point and the Cowpens. He

was in Colonel Butler's Pennsylvania Regiment and

Lafayette's Light Infantry. He was an Ensign at the

Battle of the Brandywine and he and Lieutenant Butler

carried Lafayette off the field after he had been

wounded in this battle.4

After this war, John and Ann Simpson Davis re-

moved from Bucks County to Maryland in the year

1795, and to Ohio, in 1816. They took up a land grant

on the east side of the Scioto River, one mile south of

Dublin, Franklin County, Ohio. This grant was for

services in the Revolutionary War.

The inscription on the other side of the monument

already referred to, reads as follows:

3 The children of John and Ann (Simpson) Davis were: Sarah,

William, John, Nancy, Samuel, Joshua, Joseph, Elizabeth. Mrs. Eva

(Sells) Jaeger has prepared in manuscript a list of their descendants.

4 William W. Davis, History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, p. 204.

Sketches of John and Ann (Simpson) Davis  567

Died Jan. 25th, 1832, age 71 yrs. 4 Mo. 18 Da.

John Davis was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. Served

from 1771-1781 in the Pennsylvania Regiment.

On another side of the monument is an oath of

allegiance taken by John Davis, October 18, 1779, such

oath being required by the General Assembly of Penn-

sylvania.

John Davis, son of John and Ann Simpson Davis,

remained in Bucks County, and was appointed by the

State of Pennsylvania to be a military escort to Marquis

De Lafayette on the occasion of his visit to that state,

and served as general in the War with Mexico.

The tour of Lafayette through the county in Sep-

tember, 1824, caused great sensation. His arrival at

New York, as the nation's guest, was hailed with de-

light and his progress through New England and re-

turn was watched with deep interest. His visit to this

county on his way to Philadelphia and the South was

looked forward to as a great event, and the people made

arrangements to give him a fitting reception. A large

meeting of the inhabitants of the neighboring townships

was held at Bristol, September 3, to make the needful

preparations. A similar meeting was held at Tully-

town. On the 4th, the officers of Colonel John Davis'

regiment of volunteers and a number of militia officers

and citizens met at Ann Hinkle's Tavern, Newtown,

and resolved to have a general turnout to welcome

Lafayette to Bucks County. This action was strength-

ened by General Dungan, commanding the brigade, who

ordered the militia to turn out for the occasion. Colonel

Davis' regiment resolved to meet him at Trenton Bridge

and with the Center Rifle Battalion, commanded by Ma-

568     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

jor Stephenson Brock, at Frankford, where they joined

the escort to Philadelphia.

General Lafayette reached Trenton Saturday after-

noon, September 25, and stayed there over Sunday.

That afternoon the Governor of Pennsylvania passed

through Bristol on his way to Morrisville to receive the

distinguished friend. On Monday morning an immense

concourse of people gathered at Morrisville, together

with Colonel Davis' regiment, mounted, six hundred

strong, and several independent companies to act as es-

cort. Here a difficulty presented itself. Philadelphia,

not knowing that Bucks County had made arrange-

ments to receive Lafayette, sent up a cavalry force to

escort him down to the city. Both claimed the right to

receive him at the bridge, as he entered the state, but

it was conceded to Bucks County, in the reception cere-

mony and in the escort through the county. As the pro-

cession entered Bristol the honored guest was received

by the inhabitants of the town and their families drawn

up on the turnpike and he passed under a triumphal arch

erected over the bridge. Here he dined and was intro-

duced to many persons, including Mrs. Bessonett, his

nurse when he was wounded at Brandywine, in 1777.

When Colonel Davis was presented, he said to the Gen-

eral that his father, John Davis, an ensign in the Penn-

sylvania line, and a private soldier, carried him off the

field when wounded at Brandywine. Lafayette replied

that he remembered the circumstance well, and said the

two had handled him like a child. In remembrance he

gave the Colonel a good French hug.

Colonel John Davis' son was Captain William Watts

Hart Davis. He was author of the History of Bucks