Gasham Davis was the eldest son and fourth child of Jesse Davis and Charity Hunt. He and sister Lucy Davis were twins, according to the Davis family Bible, and were the first children born in Kentucky after the family moved from Rowan County, North Carolina. The name of Gasham (or Gershom) is one that was passed down over many generations in Charity Hunt’s family; one of her own great-grandfathers was Gasham Moore, who was living on Long Island in the then-Dutch colony of New Amsterdam by 1652.
According to family tradition, Gasham and Permelia Whitaker eloped as teenagers, taking a river packet across into Indiana to be married. After Permelia’s parents died and left her an orphan at the age of 10, she was bound out in Muhlenberg County to James Wood, who had married Gasham’s aunt, Margaret Hunt. Judging from the age of their first child, Gasham and Permelia would have married about 1831, but no marriage record for them has been located either in Kentucky or Indiana.
The young couple settled in southeastern Muhlenberg County, along the Mud River dividing Muhlenberg from Butler County and in the same area where many of their relatives lived.
Gasham first appeared in his own right in the 1830 census, when he is listed as the 15/20-year-old head of a household that apparently included his widowed mother Charity (listed as a female, age 40-49), as well as apparently four of his siblings (two sisters, two brothers).
The following year, Gasham purchased 150 acres of land from his widowed sister, Mary Davis Fleming on 17 June; the property is described as “joining Charity Davis’s land on the north” and on the west side of Muddy River. Gasham also appeared for the first time as a separate household in the 1831 tax list, where he was identified as being under the age of 21. The land purchase plus the tax list further reinforce the hypothesis that Gasham and Permelia married and set up their own household in 1831.
It’s possible that by this time Gasham had also begun operating his ferry across Muddy River near the modern-day Forgy Mill Road (in both Muhlenberg and Butler Counties); court order books for 1826-1829 are missing, making it hard to determine exactly when the ferry started.
Gasham and Permelia appear for the first (and only) time together in the census in 1840, when they are enumerated with their four children, including three under the age of 5. By the time Gasham passed away in April 1847, three more children had been added to the family, leaving the widowed Permelia with seven children to raise. It’s interesting that she chose not to remarry but to care for her family and her farm by herself, with the probable assistance of male family members and neighbors. In this, she was similar to her mother-in-law, Charity Hunt Davis, who also remained a widow and in control of her own affairs after her husband’s death.
Gasham died without a will about April 1847, when Permelia Davis and Enos Hunt appear in court to close out his estate, with Permelia declining to assume administration and requesting that Hunt be appointed administrator. She also requested that Gasham’s ferry across Mud River be discontinued.
Even though Gasham’s estate sale had brought in $42.75, it apparently did not cover all the debts he left behind, and his 150 acres had to be sold to pay creditors. Muhlenberg County 1851 deed records include a lengthy entry describing the sale by order of the circuit court, subject to widow’s dower. At some point (it’s a little unclear when), H.B. Gardner acquired the property and conveyed to Permelia her 45-acre widow’s dower for $1.00, with the provision that if Permelia did not sell the land, it would be held in trust for her two youngest children, Squire Harper and Lydia Margaret, with Enos Hunt as the trustee.
For the rest of her life, Permelia continued to live in southeastern Muhlenberg County amidst her Hunt and Davis relatives by marriage. In 1850, she was enumerated with her five youngest children in the census; her occupation was listed as farmer, and she had $100 in property. Her mother-in-law, Charity Hunt Davis, and Permelia’s own recently married daughter, Charity Davis Hall, lived close by.
The 1860 census taker described Permelia as “widow and farmer,” with $200 in real estate and $300 in personal property; her children Ransom, Squire, and Lydia all lived at home, while her son John resided with his older sister Nancy Davis Hunt and married daughter Charity Davis Hall living nearby.
In both 1870 and 1880, Permelia’s youngest child, Lydia, was enumerated in the same household, each time with an infant daughter; it’s unclear why, though given that Lydia died in 1881 when her daughter was about 18 months old, it’s possible that she had a difficult time recovering from childbirth and wanted to be near her own mother. In the absence of any family diaries or journals, we just don’t know.
The last record of Permelia is in the 1890 county deed book, when she sells back John E. Gardner the 45 acres she bought from his (presumed) father three decades earlier; the deed includes the stipulation that Permelia may continue to live on the property as long as she wishes. The deed was not recorded until 1891, suggesting that Permelia had passed away that year.
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Gasham Davis (b. 21 Mar 1811, Muhlenberg, KY — d. ca. April 1847, Muhlenberg, KY)
m. ca. 1831, Kentucky or Indiana
Permelia Whitaker (b. 1815, IN — d. ca. 1892, probably Muhlenberg, KY)
Children:
i. Nancy J. Davis (b. 1832, Muhlenberg, KY — d. 10 May 1863, Muhlenberg, KY); m. Jonathan Hunt, 13 Jun 1848, Muhlenberg, KY
ii. Charity A. Davis (b. 1835, Muhlenberg, KY — d. ca. 1872, Muhlenburg, KY); m. Andrew Jackson Hall, 21 Mar 1850, Muhlenberg, KY
iii. John P. Davis (b. 1838, Muhlenberg, KY — d. by 1900, probably Muhlenberg, KY); m. Cynthia Harriet Hall, 20 Mar 1862, Muhlenberg, KY
iv. Ransom Davis (b. 1840, Muhlenberg, KY — d. bet 1888/1896, Muhlenberg, KY); m. Sarah A.E. Pitman, 16 Jun 1861, Muhlenberg, KY
v. Enos Davis (b. 1842, Muhlenberg, KY — d. 5 Aug 1855, Muhlenberg, KY); never married
vi. Squire Harper Davis (b. 2x May 1845, Muhlenberg, KY — d. 18 Nov 1924, Muhlenberg, KY); m. Mary Ann Smith, 9 Apr 1866, Muhlenberg, KY
vii. Lydia Margaret Davis (b. 1847, Muhlenberg, KY — d. ca. 1881, Muhlenberg, KY); m. David Harper, 4 Feb 1866, Muhlenberg, KY
Sources:
- “Davis Family Bible,” Kentucky Society of the DAR, Vol. I, 1961-1962; transcribed by Edward M. Manley, Los Angeles CA, for the Russellville Chapter, DAR, reprinted by “Digging for Davis” newsletter, Vol. II, #4, 929.27305 D29d.
- Permelia Whitaker, orphan of John Whitaker dec’d, Muhlenberg Co, KY, County Court Records, 1825, p 281 (image 185) and p 288 (image 189).
- “The Descendants of Jesse and Charity Hunt Davis,” The Leader-News, Greenville KY, 21 Feb 1990, page not given, Bobby Anderson.
- Gasham Davis household, 1830 US census of population, Muhlenberg Co KY, page 175A, line 22.
- Gashom Davis household, 1840 US census of population, Muhlenberg Co KY, page 354A, line 26.
- Gasham Davis, dec’d, Muhlenberg KY, County court minutes, Apr 1847 session, on motion of Enos Hunt, the widow Permelia Davis being present, bond posted by Permelia Davis, John J. Engler.
- Permelia Davis household, “1850 US census of population,” Muhlenberg Co KY, Subdivision 2, page 267B.
- Inos Davis, Muhlenburg KY death register, 6 August 1855, Mud River, Muhlenburg KY, flux, father, Gashom Davis (of Mud River).
- John A. Gardner, to Mrs. Permelia Davis, on 6 Nov 1856, a 45-acre tract, part of G. Davis’s 150 acres, in Muhlenberg Co KY, land conveyed to Enos Hunt in trust for her two youngest children Squire Harper Davis & Lydia Margaret Davis, John Davis, A.J. Hall, E. Hunt, witnesses, DB 19:167-168, images 109-110, FamilySearch, FHL #556440, DGS #8339096
- Permelia Davis household, “1860 US census of population,” Muhlenberg Co KY, District 2, Laurel Bluff P.O., page 700, dwelling #68, family #68.
- Parmelia Davis household; 1870 US census of population, Muhlenberg Co KY, precinct 3, Greenville PO, 30 Jun 1870, p 12, dwelling #442, family #444
- Parmelia Davis household, 1880 US census of population, Muhlenberg Co KY, ED 139, SD 1, 18 Jun 1850, sheet 160 B, dwelling #198, family #211
- John P Davis to Harriet Hall Ingler, 20 Mar 1862, Gasham Davis (dead) and Permelia Davis, born KY; James Hall and Cynthia Hall, Muhlenberg Co Marriages, page 208.
- Lydia M. Davis and David Harper, 4 Feb 1866, Muhlenberg KY, Lott Harper (born NC) & Polly Harper (born KY); Gasham Davis (born in US) and Permelia Davis (born in US), to be married at Permelia Davis’s, Kentucky Marriages, 1851-1900, Ancestry online.
- Jesse Davis dec’d heirs, to James E. Gardner, Jr, 12 May 1859, Muhlenberg Co KY, DB 20:287, image 547; heirs listed as Jesse Fleming, John Fleming, Lucy Grubb late Davis, Permeley Davis, Ransom Davis, John Davis, William Whitaker, Sary Whitaker, J.P. Davis, Jonathan Hunt, Nancy Hunt, A.J. Hall, Charity A. Hall, Esquire Davis, and Lydia M. Davis.
- Permelia Davis, S.H. Davis, and Mary A. Davis, to John A. Gardner, on 14 Jan 1890, 45-acre tract on Muddy River , “the purchaser John A. Gardner is to allow the said Permelia Davis to live and remain upon the premises during her natural life or as long as she desires to stay:, Muhlenberg Co KY, Deed Book 39:401-402 (image 565-566), FamilySearch online, #556452, DGS #8338971, recorded 6 Jan 1891.