When I first saw this, three men came immediately to mind;
Barnabas Davis, the first of my line in America, Ernest Solomon Davis, my
great-grandfather, and Charles Wesley Jenkins, Ernest’s father-in-law.
Barnabas, in particular, I find fascinating. As I’ve mentioned before, he was the first
Davis of my line in America, and I am the last, so we sort of book-end our
family. Aside from that, though, the man
had a life full of adventure. He crossed
the Atlantic numerous times, spent time fighting both Indians and lawsuits,
raised several children, and lived during the time of the Great Migration. I sometimes wonder what it would have been
like to sit down in front of a fire with him later in his life, listening to
him recount his younger years. It would
be amazing to listen to a first-hand account of sailing across the ocean that
many times.
Further down the family line, Ernest Davis, descendant of
Barnabas, intrigues me. First, thanks to
my parents, we purposefully share initials.
Next, at one point in his life, he worked as a blacksmith, later he
worked as a lineman for a local telephone company. I find these two facts interesting as I enjoy
working with tools myself, and I also, at one point in my life, worked in the
telco industry. Finally, I came across
an old book of his one time, and he had signed the inside front cover, “E.S.
Davis”, in the same manner and similar script as how I sometime sign my
name. I’d love to talk to him and see if
we have anything else in common.
Ernest’s father-in-law, Charles Jenkins, as I mentioned in a
previous post, is something of a mystery to me.
He took part in the Civil War, may have been born out west, but
apparently lived in Massachusetts while the rest of the family lived in
Vermont. I have so many questions for
him about where, why, and how he came to be in the places that he was. From my research so far, he may have been
near a few famous Civil War battles, but it doesn’t look like he actually took
part in them. I’m curious if it was
circumstance or design. For instance,
did he really get sick a couple of days before Gettysburg, or did he know what
was coming and found a way to serve without actually going into combat? I may never know, but I’d sure love to ask
him.
