John: Thanks so much! I do have copies of the geneology, including the anecdote about Abraham "going to hell" with his sons during the Revolution. I didn't know about Altona and will certainly try to make arrangements to see it. One of our sons lives in Harper's Ferry, so we can go see both at the same time. I'm currently very active in historical restoration here in St. Mary's County and am president of the Historic St. Mary's City Foundation (the fund raising arm of St. Mary's City). We are currently rebuilding the first brick Catholic church in English North America which was built in St. Mary's City in 1667. The brick foundation is still there, and it's 5 feet deep and 3 feet wide, quite an impressive piece of construction. We're rebuilding as we speak, with bricks made from our own clay and fired in a wood kiln, oyster shell mortar and sappling post scaffolding. It's a fascinating project for anyone who loves history and really fun to watch the walls going up! Jeanne -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2003 12:02 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [DAVENPORT] Abraham Davenport - Mary Simms Descendants Jeanne: You're are ALTONA DAVENPORT, a line that dates back to Abraham, Sr., as the immigrant patriarch. Transported to Virginia/Maryland as a convict, subsequently of St. Mary's County, Maryland, and Berkeley/Jefferson counties, Virginia. Henry B. Davenport, III, a direct descendant, is the owner and operator of Altona Farm, Abraham, Sr.'s grant of 1761 from Lord Fairfax, on the west side of Charles Town, Jefferson County, West Virginia. Altona Farm is on the Register of National Historical Landmarks, has many of its pre-Civil War buildings--manor house, slave cabins, blacksmith shop, overseer's office, etc, but is a working farm. Henry tells me that he's growing oats, corn, and soybeans this year. The property also includes the site of a Colonial parish church and the old Charles Town railroad station, which Henry and wife Faye recently restored. When you leave Charles Town going west, you pass Davenport Street on the right, then the railroad tracks, then Henry's on both sides of the state road. The manor house is a quarter mile further on the north side, down a lane parallel to the highway for an eighth of a mile then back. The ALTONA DAVENPORTS have a published genealogy, done by Henry's uncle. Henry is a subscriber to this Rootsweb, and can be addressed hereby. John Scott Davenport Martinsburg, WV, for the nonce ==== DAVENPORT Mailing List ==== For instructions on unsubscribing or searching the list archives visit: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~nvjack/davnport/group.htm ============================== To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237