The Davis Path

Faith, History and Seven Generations of an American Family

By Rick Holmes

 Introduction

Family trees grow in countless directions, but you can only climb out one branch at a time. This is the story of one branch of my family tree, sprouted in Scotland centuries ago, transplanted to America before our nation’s founding, and shaped in the years since by history and faith.

I write here of seven generations of the Davis family, my mother’s side of my lineage. There are other trails I could follow. I have four grandparents, only two of which are Davises, eight great-grandparents, only two of them mentioned here, and so on. I chose this branch for practical reasons: Others had already begun the work. Relatives had traced the family genealogy and written down family lore.

I started with a dusty brown loose-leaf binder I found in a box from my parents’ closet that landed in my attic when they passed away. It’s thick with neatly typed pages and poorly-copied photos. One chapter carries the byline of my grandmother, Mabel Boyd Davis Sr., but the author or authors of the rest of it are unclear. From the context, I’ve concluded most of the narrative was written, or dictated by, my great-aunt, Harriett Davis Jackson, who everyone knew as Hattie Bell. Hattie Bell was my mother’s favorite aunt, known for her sense of humor. I didn’t know her, but I’ve seen her laugh in old home movies. Her laugh was more like a cackle, people said. She died in 1976, and I believe she wrote her memoirs late in life.

(A word for those writing their memoirs: Sign and date what you write, so that readers who follow can give credit where due and know the context in which it  was written. For the record: I am Richard Alan Holmes, son of Allie Davis Holmes, and this was written in late 2021.)

I had other sources for family information, including the memoirs of my Aunt Mame (Mabel Boyd Davis Jr.), the genealogical research of my late cousin Karen Davis Engle, miscellaneous notes and records from family reunions, newspaper clippings, old photographs and a stack of World War II-era letters. I’ve added historical context from Census records and various online accounts. My research, and thus this story, is by no means complete, and I welcome any suggested additions and corrections 

Davis is a common name, and everyone is in some way distantly related, but I’ll say out front that I’ve seen no reason to think we’re directly related to Jefferson Davis, Bette Davis, Sammy Davis Jr. or any other famous Davises.

I’ve tried to put this family’s journey in the context of America’s history. These Davises were displaced by religious intolerance in Scotland and Ireland. They fought in the American Revolution and the Civil War. They profited from slavery in the American South. They moved west on to lands taken from Native Americans. They cleared the wilderness and built a prosperous little community. Education opened new opportunities for them, and World War II scattered them across the country.

I’m not here to glorify my ancestors, or to apologize for them. What little understanding I’ve gleaned from this distance tells me they were well-intentioned people, devoted to family, church and community, typical of their times. What follows is mostly their story.