PAMUNKEY DAVENPORTS & OTHERS INTERESTED: From time to time we come across observations concerning our ancestors which provide us with a view of how others have seen us. Beth Collins, our Georgia researcher, has sent us this excerpt of the memoirs of a Mr. Gilmer, "The First Settlers of Upper Georgia." "Margaret Harvie married John Devenport, who belonged to a numerous family, most of whom were in the habit of fudding their very good intellects by drinking whiskey. John was, to his credit, a sober, industrious man, who made a good estate. His chief merit was to be found in his success in marrying a wife of the most admirable qualities." "Fudding," my Webster's says, is 'to confuse or stupify as with alcoholic liquor," another way of saying "befuddle." This particular observation is not unique to Pamunkeys South of the Mason-Dixon. Several Pamunkeys who ended up North of the Ohio River were remembered for their dexterity in drinking their ways through their crops, then their farms. We would note that Mr. Gilmer was speaking of Georgia Pamunkeys who we regard as having been those of us who evolved from Virginia Commoners to Georgia elite. John Davenport, whom Gilmer credited with having only the good judgment to marry a Harvie, was a man of substance--started with nothing and left a substantial estate to an adopted son, who did not take the Davenport name, but did embrace our drinking propensity. Despite being slightly disabled by his service in the Virginia Continental Line at the Battle of Brandywine, John served many years as a Justice of the Peace and Magistrate. Having left no issue of his own, Gilmer's canard concerning John has heretofore has gone unchallenged. As to the Alcoholism of the Georgia Pamunkeys, there are ample descendants available to address that portrayal. Henry Gambill, Jr., son of Henry, Sr., and Mary Davenport, eldest daughter of Martin Davenport, Sr., was a Master Millwright, who took the apprenticeships of Jack Smith Davenport (son of John, Sr, the Bankrupt), Jouett Davenport (eldest son of James, Sr., who died in Ogelthorpe County, Georgia), William Davenport (fourth son of James, Sr.), and possibly Jesse Davenport (fifth son of James, Sr.). Henry, Jr., was both an uncle and a first cousin to his apprentices Jouett, William, and Jesse Davenport. He was a first cousin because his Mother and James Davenport, Sr., were sister and brother. He was an uncle because his wife, Catherine Jouett, was a younger sister of James, Sr.'s wife, Frances Jouett. All of that being said, we note that when Henry, Sr., moved from Louisa to Culpeper County in the early 1750s (then onto South Carolina in the early 1760s where he soon died), Henry, Jr., either remained in or went back to Louisa, where he shared in the abundant Jouett lands and wealth, had a thriving construction business, and like his brother-in-law John "Jack" Jouett next door, ran an ordinary (tavern). When, in the later years of the Revolution, Jouett moved to Charlottesville in Albemarle County, a thirty-five mile relocation west, Henry sold out in Louisa and went with him. There, Henry bit off more than he could chew. He undertook to build a new Jail and repair the Court House. Never, in all of my reading of old court records, have I come across a castigation of a contractor as appears in Albemarle Court minutes relative to Henry Gambill's workmanship in building that new Jail. From "The Further Chronicles.," to wit: 14Mar1784 – Scathing Report on Construction Inspection: “The Committee appointed to report on the work done on the County Prison recommended that the same not be received (to wit): ‘We the subscribers being appointed to superintend the building of the prison undertaken by Henry Gambill do report as follows, viz, that the studs are not doweled, that the framing except the sills and lower floor are ruined timber, that the joists of the two upper floors [are] of poor workmanship and framing, [that] weather boarding and shingles [are] inefficiently done, and we think there appears to be [?] in respect to the nailing on the facing and flooring planks, [that] the brick work [is] very badly executed. Work Extraordinary [needed] on Windows, water shelters, the lintels and door parts [illegible] Twelve Inches apart, and the sides braced. Under our hand, 12 March 1784. /s/ Nicholas Lewis, James Kerr. (Albemarle County, VA, Courts Orders, 1783-1785, 124) This was followed by: 8Apr1784 – Bad Construction Remedy: “On consideration of the report of the Gentlemen appointed to supervise the building of the prison, the Court is of the opinion that the prison be received upon these terms, to wit: that the undertaker Henry Gambill do give bond and security to refund any sum of money to the Court that be adjudged for [his] not complying with the plan of the prison as foresaid, [that he] finish the repairs of the Court House agreeably to the first & original contract by June Court next, and it be considered [that] Nathaniel Anderson, Rezin Porter, and William Rogers, or any three, do settle the price of the deficiency of the prison as it now is, and what it ought to have been by the original plan, and make repair thereof. The said Henry Gambill came into Court with Thomas Jones, his security, and acknowledged themselves justly indebted to Nicholas Lewis, John Marks, James Kerr and Henry Burk, Gentlemen, for the just sum of Two Hundred Pounds, Virginia money, to be levied on their goods & chattel, lands and tenements, rendered upon contracts that the said Henry Gambill do fully comply with the aforesaid Order of the Court.” (Albemarle County, VA, Court Orders, 1783-85, 142) Apparently Henry Gambill also had the contract to repair the Court House and was having troubles on that job also. This was a tough, but just solution, and boded bankruptcy for Henry and his bondsman if he did not complete Court House contract within the following two months and/or did not virtually redo all of his work and materials on the County Prison concurrently with the Court House. It was not a good year for Henry. He was also indicted by the Grand Jury for retailing liquor without a license, then indicted, along with Richard Davenport [likely Jr.], subsequently for gaming. Richard was the son of Richard, Sr., shortly hereafter moved to Georgia, but returned to Albemarle County when Richard, Sr., died in 1792. Henry Gambill played an important role in 18th Century Pamunkey Davenport history for he battled David Davenport, his uncle, both in Louisa and Cumberland, in a suit and counter suit that continued for seven years, was associated with John, Sr., the Bankrupt and Jack Smith Davenport in Louisa, had the master-apprentice relationship with the sons of James, Sr., gambled with Richard, Jr., and was associated in land conveyances in Albemarle with William and Thomas, sons of William, Sr., of Spotsylvania. Plus, he had the long running (thirty or so years) relationship with William and/or Jesse, sons of James, Sr., in Albemarle. Henry's reputation as builder was destroyed by the Court's appraisal of his workmanship on the Jail and Court House, and his profile in Albemarle County dropped steadily thereafter. His tavernkeeping days were soon ended. He was apparently a charity case by the mid-1790s when the Court appointed him "Inspector of Flour" for the Town of Milton (now long gone), a public position encountered nowhere else either in time or place. It was no joke, for Henry appeared in Court and qualified by oath. He had been off the tax list for more than ten years when he died without a probate in 1813. A bit of family history, not heretofore displayed. John Scott Davenport Holmdel, NJ