Davis Family Research

In presenting an overview of our research into the Davis Branch of our Family Tree, we will cover history, current efforts, road blocks, and acknowledgments:

History

In chronological order, we present here the highlights of progress made toward understanding more about this branch of our family tree:

• Records of Lucille Collins:  Early on in my search for our family ancestry, the author's Uncle introduced him to Lucille Collins, a Gibson family relative still living around Drumright, Oklahoma.  She had grown up with the Roberson family and her mother was the best friend of the author's grandmother, Bessie (Vanscoyk) Roberson.  Lucille had done much work in the 1960s in pulling together information about the extended Gibson family, including records about our branch of the family, the children of oldest child, Mary.
  
  Lucille's records indicated the husband of our Mary L. Gibson was Elijah Lee Davis.  Although she didn't know where Mary was buried, she did know where Elijah was buried and his dates of birth and death according to his tombstone.
• Census searches, I:  With the information from Lucille's records, years ago the author made the discovery of Elijah Lee Davis on the 1900 U. S. Census, living alone with some roommates, working as a laborer.  His wife, Mary, had been dead for several years and none of his children were living with him.   This was very disappointing to find.  The only real critical bit of information was that he was born in Alabama.  According to this record, so were both of his parents.
  
  Considering the overwhelming number of Davis families and that he moved into the Oklahoma Territories sometime before 1880, the author let his dream of ever getting this branch of the family tree completed go into a "deep sleep ..."
• Road trip:  In 1997, the author had the rare opportunity of travelling through Oklahoma in person and made it a point to visit the gravesite of Elijah Lee Davis and make contact with those overseeing the cemetery, as well as visiting the funeral home which had provided for his burial.  Neither had any records which showed anything about Elijah's parents.  Furthermore, Oklahoma State did not have an official death certificate.  During the period when he died, 1927, they were still not required.  Another dead end ...
• Mystery Photo:   Years later, in December 2001, a breakthrough came while the authoring was working on building a database of some old family photos.  In the family collection, there was an old photo of a storefront, with a number of people standing out front.   Clearly lettered above the front door of the store were the words, "J. Z. Cacy, General Merchandise, Cash Store."  No one had ever been able to figure out the connection to our family.
  
  By itself, the mystery of this photo would have remained intact.  However, as the author was working with a large number of pictures, he had fortunately noticed a similarity between the young woman standing just to the right of the door and another picture purporting to show two Davis family sisters - Rhoda and Laura.  Nothing had ever been uncovered about Rhoda and it always seemed as though there were too many children for the early age of Mary's death.  Lettering on the back of this picture seemed to indicate that Rhoda was a cousin, rather than a sister, to Laura Elizabeth Davis.  Was there a connection between these two pictures?
  
  Follow the link above to read through a more thorough account of the breakthrough this picture represented.  The author was able to uncover who J. Z. Cacy was and begin to work backward on the ancestry of his first wife, Rhoda.
• Census Searches, II:  Late in December 2001, John and Rhoda CACY  were discovered in the Choctaw Nation of Indian Territory.  This record shows that her place of birth was Texas, that her father was born in Missouri, and that her mother was born in Alabama!  Was this evidence that her mother was a DAVIS?
• Cacy Family Contacts:  By contacting the originator of some Cacy family records on World Connect, the author was able to get in touch with several descendants of the large Cacy family that had emigrated from Arkansas into the Oklahoma Territories in the 1880s.  He learned that John and Rhoda had two little girls, Edna and Elva.  He also learned, mistakenly, that Rhoda's last name was GLISSON.
  
  Most importantly, the author was able to reach Lora Greer Cacy, who had maintained the extensive Cacy family memorabilia of her late husband.  The author was amazed to find this lady even had the original of the "mystery photo" referred to above!   She said writing on the back of the original indicated it had been taken in Sapulpa, Creek Co., Oklahoma.  She also had several pictures of the Cacy family, including the family of John and Rhoda Cacy.
• Marriage Records:  In January 2002, the author discovered a marriage record for J. Z. Cacy and Rhoda CLINE, not GLISSON, as reported by several CACY family researchers - 9 August 1896 in Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory.  This was quickly followed by discovery of only one online record in the state of Texas between a male CLINE and a female DAVIS - John CLINE and Nancy E. DAVIS, 29 May 1872 in Cooke County, Texas!
  
  Furthermore, the author was able to discover marriage records for John and Rhoda's two daughters in Sapulpa, Creek Co., Oklahoma in 1914 and 1919.  The family was definitely beginning to take shape!
• Census Records, III:  A lot of futility followed in trying to find a family record for a John and Nancy Cline on the 1900 U. S. Census.   A discovery was made in Wise Co., Texas of a John Cline and an Elizabeth, with two children - Jacob and Lucyann.  This Elizabeth had been born in Alabama.   However, Rhoda was born in December 1881, so there was no clear connection to prove this was the right family.
  
  The big breakthrough came with the discovery of John and Rhoda Cacy on the 1910 U. S. Census in Hamilton Twp., Okmulgee Co., Oklahoma with Nancy Elizabeth DAVIS living in the household as mother-in-law!  Yes, she was listed by her maiden name as a widow.   The record indicated she had been born in Alabama!  Her father was born in Georgia, her mother was born in N. Carolina.  Wow!!
  
  The final record discovered in April 2002 came with the launching of a new index for the 1920 U. S. Census for Oklahoma.  The author had been frustrated by not finding any trace of John Z. Cacy on these records [and still has not done so to date], although he had found both of John and Rhoda's daughters on the 1920 U. S. Census with their husbands.   Nor could any trace be found of a Nancy Davis, as she had been listed on the 1910 U. S. Census, as discussed above.
  
  Just to check every possibility, the author searched for a Nancy Cline.  Bingo!   There she was living in the Old Confederate's Home in Ardmore, Carter Co., Oklahoma at 69 years of age.  And that wasn't all.  She was listed there with her husband John, aged 75 years of age!  How could this be, as she was listed as a widow in 1910!   Another family mystery ...

Current Efforts

With the discovery of Nancy alive in 1920, hopes have risen that she lived long enough to have been issued an official Oklahoma State Death Certificate which would hopefully contain the names of her parents.  First, we must find the date of her death.   An online record of those buried in Rose Hill Cemetery, the largest in Ardmore and the final resting place of many from the Old Confederate's Home, do not show any CLINEs buried there.

A recent discovery has been made of the husband and many descendants of Nancy's daughter, Lucy Ann.  She passed away in 1956 in Creek Co., Oklahoma.  The author hopes to track down an obituary for this woman and see if it lists anything about her ancestry.  At the least, it may tell us more about Nancy.  Also, we should be able to find a death certificate for her.  If very fortunate, we may make contact with a descendant who provides us additional clues about the Davis family ancestry.

Just to make the effort, in the event of getting lucky, the author tried the "brute force" method of checking out every Davis family on the 1870 U. S. Census for Cooke Co., Texas.  Nothing!

Road Blocks

The major road block currently before us is to uncover the parents of Elijah Lee and Nancy Elizabeth Davis.  This will allow us to trace our Davis family ancestry back to the East and, if we are fortunate, find that someone has already done research on the earlier Davis family from which we are descended.  If we do find their parents, at least we will have cleared on of the great hurles encountered by the family historian - tracking their family back before they emigrated out West.

Acknowledgments

We wish to acknowledge here our indebtedness and appreciation for the following people, who have helped us reach our present understanding of this branch of our family tree:

• Lucille Collins:  Without Lucille's records, we would have encountered a tremendous barrier to finding out about our Davis and, subsequently, our Gibson ancestry.  Both families had moved into Oklahoma well before 1900 and records during the Indian and Oklahoma Territory days are extremely difficult to find.   Most of the time, they simply don't exist.
  
  A special posthumous expression of gratitude goes to Minnie Mae (Fulton) Morris, the oldest child of Elijah and Mary's oldest child, Laura Elizabeth.  Minnie lived a long and productive life and had many close ties to the extended Gibson and Davis families.   She had many pictures and stories.  In particular, it was most likely her who had saved the "mystery photo" taken so many years earlier of the store of J. Z. Cacy.
• Don Fowler:  Without Don posting his research records on Rootsweb's World Connect pages, the author would have had great difficulty tracking down J. Z. Cacy.  As it turned out, in December 2001, Don had the only records to be found on the Internet showing John Zaddock Cacy, who he had listed as being married to a Rhoda Glisson.  He was a great help in directing me towards another Cacy family researcher - Wilbur Robinson.
• Wilbur Robinson:  Without Wilbur's help, the author may never have established contact with additional Cacy family researchers - Ernest Holland, Phyllis Pinkston, and especially Lora Greer Cacy.  Wilbur was very kind in following up our initial phone conversation with a letter containing additional information he had in his possession about the Cacy "mystery photo."   Following up with Ernest and Phyllis, the author learned more about the Cacy family and was directed to Lora Greer Cacy.
• Lora Greer Cacy:  This wonderful lady in Stillwater, Oklahoma had a great collection of old Cacy family memorabilia left by her late husband.   She was able to tell the author about the tragic death of Rhoda.  She had a number of Cacy family photos relating to John Z. and Rhoda Cacy.  Especially nice was the fact she had in her possession the original "mystery photo" of the J. Z. Cacy store and said on the back was writing indicating the picture had been taken in Sapulpa, Creek Co., Oklahoma.

May each of you enjoy many happy returns on the helpfulness you have provided and kindness you have demonstrated to your extended family members and distant cousins!   Without the assistance of each of you in your own indispensible way, we would never have come to our present understanding of our family ancestry.

The author would be most grateful if anyone uncovering more
information would be so kind as to pass it on.

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Author: Roger L. Roberson, Jr.   •   Last updated: 06 December 2009