Advice or help with Ephraim Davis (B. 1835 D. 1868) Pennsylvania

Question

Hi all,

This is my first time posting, and I am still learning how to use the site so please bear with me!

I've hit a brick wall with my 3rd great-grandfather Ephraim Davis. I've been stuck on him for so long, and I'm pretty much out of ideas. I even received his complete pension record which was 127 pages. It had some really good information but nothing as to where he was born or where he came from.

I know he was born around 1835. I know he died on January 5 1868 in Connellsville, Fayette County, Pennsylvania. I think he was probably born in Pennsylvania but I'm only assuming that because all of the records I have found are from Pennsylvania.

I know he married Hannah Mary George in 1859 and they had 3 kids (Deleon Davis, George Miller Davis, and James Aubrey Davis).

I know him and Hannah were living in Indiana, Pennsylvania in 1860 with 3 children (Edward Davis, William J Davis, and Jane E Davis) that I'm assuming are of some sort of relation to him but not his children.

I've tried working tracing these 3 possible relatives, but they're names are so common that I haven't had much luck. Also, they were all under the age of 10 so I am unable to find them before 1860. The only one I was able to find after 1860 is William J Davis who was living with James W George in 1870 Indiana County, PA. (James W George is a brother of Hannah Mary George.) I haven't been able to find anything else on him.

On Ancestry, there were only 4 Ephraim Davis's in Pennsylvania in 1850. I ruled out one and tried researching the other 3 but couldn't find anything connecting them to my Ephraim.

I then looked to see if there were any other Davis's living in the same neighborhood as Ephraim in 1860. I found 2 Davis families and tried to see if they were related to Ephraim but again couldn't find any connection.

I don't really know where to go from here, and I'm all out of ideas.

So if anyone has any advice or suggestions on anything else I can try, please let me know!

Answer 1

It's possible he went by a different name (like his middle name) on the 1850 census - which of course makes him hard to find. I believe that Edward, William J. Davis and Jane E. Davis are his younger siblings. It's possible his parents died leaving him to care for his younger siblings. In 1870, you find two of his children with Hannah, Deleon and George, in an orphanage, which is strange as their mother was still alive and had remarried. Have you done your DNA? One thing I do on Ancestry is test a family out by putting them in my tree with a caution sign. If I don't get any cousin matches, I move on to the next until I find a family with matches. Then I dig into the research once I confirm DNA.

Comments

I was also thinking Edward, William J, and Jane were possible siblings. Unfortunately with a name like William Davis, I haven't had much luck in tracing them after 1860.

It is still odd to me that Hannah didn't take all 3 of the children in after Ephraim died. But she did take in the youngest, James Aubrey, and they were living together in the 1870 census with her new husband. In his pension record it even states that they're her children and have been placed with a guardian.

I also found the probate record in which the court appointed Josiah Kurtz as the guardian of the children. It stated that the children were under 14 and unable to care for themselves and Hannah signed it. So yeah, I don't understand why she didn't keep them either. Also, I don't really understand how a court-appointed guardian would work back then. But it's weird to me that they ended up in an orphanage in 1870 when a year prior they had a guardian appointed to them. They were also to receive payments from their father's pension but if they were in an orphanage I wonder if they actually received the money.

I have done my DNA on Ancestry and 23 and Me. I also uploaded it to FTDNA and MyHeritage. The only issue is that my paternal side doesn't have a lot of matches. I've trying using my DNA matches to help but am unsure the best way to go about it.

Can you explain how you do the matches? So, if I am testing a family out, I would put them in my tree. What exactly do you mean by if you don't find any cousin matches you move on to the next?

And thank you for the help by the way!

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So I had a brick wall that was at my 4th great grandparent level. There were three sisters who married three brothers. We knew the parents of the brothers, but not the sisters. And over the years, these sisters would get stuck with one of three families that we had no DNA matches to.

I start by searching Thru Lines on Ancestry. It is where you see your DNA matches grouped under a common ancestor. Now Thru Lines is only a starting point and should not be taken as 100% proof as the results are only as good as what people have put in their trees. You'll need research to back it up. But once you at least find a common ancestor, the research gets easier.

So I start by putting a potential ancestor(s) in my tree (connected to the person I want them connected to). I put a caution emoji sticker in the Suffix box so people know this is research in progress. I then wait 24-48 hours for Thru Lines to re-calculate my newly added or changed ancestor to see if I get matches. If I only see myself, I know that I need to move onto the next possibility. But if I get a few matches from other siblings, then I do the research to determine if in fact I have the right family or that I'm at least on the right track. So it's a process of elimination.

As for the three sisters mentioned above, I asked two older cousins I had met on Ancestry to allow me to collaborate on their DNA to run the test. They were a generation older than me and would have stronger cousin match results since this was my 4th great grandmother and their 3rd. Once I found the right family, I was also able to use their DNA to test the upper generation (my 6th - their 5th) to see if we had cousin matches at one more generation up. This, plus records, solidified my research and got these three sisters connected to the right family.

I'm hoping you are able to track down your family.