William Davis

 

                 b.            about 1833 Hamilton County, Tennessee

             m.            Louisa Stover

     October 30, 1856

                             at her mother’s house by Samuel Blair     

                                b.                December 13, 1934

                                d.                February 4, 1919

 Birchwood, Meigs County, Tennessee (Spivley Cemetery)

                d.             April 27, 1865

Aboard the Steam Ship Sultana 

                               

 

                c.             Sarah Isabel Davis 3-15-1858 m.  Jerry Myers Sims in 1910

  c. Leona M. Davis; Addie Trythenia Davis; William Fred Davis;

      Edgar Drew Davis; Rozella (Rosie) Davis

                                Barbara Stover 1-21-1860 - 3-29-1955  m. John Yarnell 1860- 1925

                                                c. Frank; Luther H.; Creed Mont; Anna; Eva; Wright William

                                Margaret Elizabeth “Lizzie” Davis 6-17-1861 - 10-9-1947 
                                m. John Williamson 1859 – 1931

c. Thanie ; William Melvin 1882 - 1956; Huldia (Norman) 1887 - 1960; Dove J. 1888 -    1960; Courtney 1890 - 1990; Eugene 1897 - 1963; Myrtle;  Ethel Louise (Holmes) 1904 - 1971

 

Prior to joining the union army he was a farmer in the Snow Hill area of Hamilton County, Tennessee. In the special tax of 1862 he is listed as owning 80 acres.  Most likely this was part of the estate settlement from his wife Louisa’s father Isaac Stover.   William joined the Union Army, Co. G; 5th Tennessee, at age 29.  His brothers-in-law Jackson Hines, William Lyon, John, Isaac and Jeremiah Stover also enlisted in Co. G.  He was taken prisoner on September 15, 1864, at Marietta, Georgia, with several other men of the 5th.  They were sent to Andersonville Prison in Georgia.  In the last weeks of the War the men of Andersonville were paroled to Mississippi for prisoner exchange.  The paroled prisoners were placed aboard the Steamship Sultana to return home.  On board were other members of the 5th Robert Mincey and Samuel J. Hinds who had been with him in Andersonville.  After the disaster, several men of the 5th gave a deposition in order for Louisa to receive a pension.  In his deposition, Robert Mincey stated that William’s final words to him, after the explosion was “I can not swim.”  Robert Mincey was from Company B, from Philadelphia, Loudon County, Tennessee.   

 

Submitted By Phebe Morgan
            phebem@comcast.net