Ancestry of John Davis, governor and US senator and Eliza Bancroft, his wife

101 Pages·2008·2.55 MB·English

V:
Mm

1
ANCESTRY

OF
I
JOHN DAVIS
V
Governor and U. S. Senator
and
ELIZA BANCROFT
His Wife

BOTH OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS

3
f}
Compiled by Horace Davis
M
SAN FRANCISCO, CAL.
1«97
&*

\%VI
¦a
\.S
w
INTRODUCTION
5v
The following pages contain the ancestry, as far as known, of
Governor John Davis and Eliza Bancroft, his wife.
Governor Davis and Mrs. Davis were both much interested in their
family history, and the accounts furnished by them form the germ of
this record. The work of completing ithas been principallydone far
from the original sources of information, consequently at great dis­
advantage. There are some gaps init,and many of the sketches are
mere skeletons of dates, but itseemed best to finish it,imperfect as it
is, rather than encounter more delay. Perhaps itmay stimulate some
more fortunate searcher to complete the history.
Ifound in the search many cases of conflicting dates, a very com­
mon difficultyin the early records. Preference has usually been given
to what seemed the best authority, but sometimes Ihave given the
reader his choice.
For greater ease in followingthe record, Ihave divideditinto four
groups or headings, entitled, respectively, Davis, Brigham, Bancroft,
and Chandler, each being devoted to the lineage of one of the parents
ofGovernor Davis or of his wife. The Chandler record is the most
complete, as the printed sketches of the Chandler, Church, Paine,
Gardiner, and Douglas families gave me the lineage of the female lines
more completely than Iwas able to obtain inthe other families. Next
to this the Brigham history is fullest, where Ihad the aid ofthe Brigham
and Breck printed genealogies. In following the Bancroft family, I
have received much help from the manuscript notes of Mr. John M.
Bancroft, and from Eaton's History of Reading. There are deficiencies
inthe records of the Heald and Gates families from Stow, which can­
not be made up tillthe early history of that town becomes accessible.
The direct line of descent shows fewmen of widedistinction, but a
very large proportion of colonial or local prominence. One man,
Richard Warren, came over in the "Mayflower." Three were college
4 INT—R ODUCTION.
graduates, two of Harvard Robert Breck, H. C, 1700, and Aaron
—
Bancroft, H. C,1778, both clergymen, distinguished intheir profession,
and John Davis, graduated at Yale in1812. In the list we find two
physicians— Dr. Benjamin Gott and his son-in-law, Dr. Samuel Brigham,
men of standing in their day. No practicing lawyer appears on the
record, excep—t John Davis, but we have four judges— p residing over
county courts Nathaniel Paine, and the second, third, and fourth John
Chandlers. /Only four men are rated as merchants Francis Wain­
wright, Simoß, his son, Stephen Paine, and Nathaniel, his son, though
there may have been others. Speculators inland were plenty in the
early times, but dealers in merchandise were few; the people were
poor, and their wants were simple.
Military heroes are numerous, and testify to the frequency with
whichthe Colonists were involved in wars with the French and Indians.
Nearlyevery man was calledupon some timeinhis lifetobear arms
in defence of his home, and the military title in those days usually
meant actual service in the field. Among the fighting men, the most
prominent were Lion Gardiner, a military engineer, who built Fort
Saybrook, and held it through the Pequot troubles; Col. Benjamin
Church, the most distinguished soldier of his day in the Colonial wars,
and Captain Jonathan Poole, who served with distinction in the King
Philip outbreak. The second, third, and fourth John Chandlers were
Colonels of Worcester County Regiments, and did active service inthe
field. There were many others who took part in those early wars, such
as Constant Southworth, Capt. Thomas Bancroft, Samuel Tarbox,
Samuel Lamson, George Woodward, Capt. Samuel Bancroft, and Dr.
Sam"u el Brigham.
7s
vhithe Revolutionary War, Isaac Davis served as First Lieutenant,
and Aaron Bancroft is said to have marched to Cambridge with the
minute men of Reading, after Bunker Hill.
The number of men whoparticipated inthe politicallifeofthe times
is remarkable. William Collier and Constant Southworth were among
the leaders of Plymouth Colony inits infancy. Later, Judge Paine and
the second and thirdJohn Chandlers were members of His Majesty's
Council for Massachusetts Colony, and nearly half the men on our list
wereDeputies inthe ColonialorState Legislatures; others again served
as town officers! John Davis fitly closing the political record by his