Messech JAMES Author: Sam D. Lawson Surnames: JAMES, OWENS, DAVIS, BOWEN, WAYT Looking for information about Messech and Mary JAMES of Cumberland Co., Pa., in the Little Cove area of what is now Franklin Co., Pa. I think Messech JAMES was killed in an Indian raid on 1 November, 1755, there. Like to contact someone who would be willing to go to the Cumberland Co. Historical Society and get information on these persons and their children. Will pay for this service. Please contact me at the email address or the Post Office mail address at the end of this "sketch". Thank you... The following biographical sketch is information collected from different sources: The Isaac DAVIS bible copied 1 March, 1927 (LDS Film# 163741, compiled by W. Guy Tetrick, labeled COGAR-COOKMAN) last in the possession of an Olandus WEST, of Clarksburg, West Virginia; "THE HISTORY OF TONOLOWAY BAPTIST CHURCH" by Harry Stuart Holman, M.A., 1980; the Messech JAMES Deed from Franklin County, Pennsylvania Deed Book# 3, Page 169; and the Harry E. Foreman collection, "HISTORY OF LITTLE COVE Volume IV (1967)" and "FORT LOUDON SIDELIGHTS, FRANKLIN COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA (1970)"; as well as "AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS OF FRANKLIN COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA" by Fendrick... Owen DAVIS was born 5 December, 1725, and died 7 July, 1810, at Ruble's Mill, Georges Creek, Fayette County, Pennsylvania (Will of Owen DAVIS, Georges township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, Vol.1, Page 390, dated 12 January, 1803, and proven 3 August, 1810). He was the son of Philip and Jane DAVIS. Owen DAVIS has a sister listed in the bible record, Mary DAVIS, born 29 December, 1727. Nothing more on her. Owen DAVIS' first wife was Sarah OWENS, the daughter of Samuel and Sarah OWENS. Sarah OWENS, Owen DAVIS' first wife, was born 20 April, 1735, and died in 1762. Their children were: 1. Philip DAVIS, born 18 October, 1751, and died 25 September, 1837, in Smithfield, Fayette County, Pennsylvania. He married Hannah JENKINS, a daughter of John and Elizabeth JENKINS (Will of John JENKINS, Georges township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, dated 10 February, 1793, and proven 6 April, 1795). Their children were: Sarah, Owen, Elizabeth, Ruth, and John DAVIS. Fayette County, Pennsylvania Church Records, 1784-1811, Minute Book Of Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, of Georges township (Smithfield) lists a Hannah DAVIS who died 1 April, 1848, aged 87 years...Also a Philip DAVIS who died 25 September, 1837, aged 85 years, 11 months, and 6 days. 2. Samuel DAVIS, born 15 May, 1753, in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, and died 6 April, 1826, in Smithfield, Springhill Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania (Will of Samuel DAVIS, dated 4 April, 1826, and proven 19 April, 1826). Samuel married Elizabeth STANCZ (STENTZ) about 1794. Elizabeth was the daughter of Philip STANCZ (STENTZ)(Will of Philip STENTZ, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, dated 3 February, 1807, and proven 2 September, 1807). Elizabeth was born 8 December, 1765, and died 3 February, 1851, in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. Their children were: Philip born 24 August, 1791; Catherine born 18 July, 1794; Owen born 16 October, 1799; Samuel born 24 March, 1796; and Daniel DAVIS born 3 June, 1801. Fayette County, Pennsylvania Church Records, 1784-1811, Minute Book Of Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, of Georges township (Smithfield) lists the death of one Samuel DAVIS who died 6 April, 1826, aged 72 years, 10 months, and 8 days...Elizabeth DAVIS, died 3 February, 1851, aged 85 years. Owen DAVIS died 17 April, 1849, aged 49 years, 6 months. 3. Mary Elizabeth DAVIS, born 10 April, 1755. She married in 1773 to Morgan JONES, the son of Morgan JONES and Eleanor EVANS. 4. Sarah DAVIS, born 7 May, 1757, died before 1803. She married Jonathan MORRIS. 5. Jane DAVIS, born 28 October, 1760, died before 1803. After Sarah (OWENS) DAVIS' death in 1762, Owen DAVIS remarried to Hannah JAMES possibly in late 1763 or early 1764. Hannah JAMES was born 24 March, 1745, to Messech and Mary JAMES. Owen DAVIS was a wagon driver for General BRADDOCK during the 1750's and is believed to have known the JAMES family while in that southwestern part of what was then Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. Messech JAMES lived about one mile up the Conococheague Creek from Thomas BARR'S place on what is now the site for the village of Fort Loudon, in present day Franklin County, Pennsylvania. This section, known as the "Conococheague Settlement" was doubtless among the earliest of the country to be settled. The patent for the tract of land on which the town of Fort Loudon is situated bears the date of 1 March, 1737. It was surveyed and laid out on 6 May, 1738, unto William WILSON in Heidelberg township, the county of Lancaster (Peter's township was not organized until about 1750, and Franklin County not until 1784). William WILSON found another parcel of land that he liked better, abandoned this one and Messech JAMES got a warrant for it on 4 October, 1745. For the 370 acre tract, Messech JAMES paid 57 pounds, seven shillings to the colony which included quit rent for a clear title back to 1 March, 1737. The JAMES patent bears the date of 30 September, 1748. The land upon which the fort was afterwards built was settled by one Matthew PATTON dated 18 April, 1744. Mr. Patton was another of Messech JAMES' neighbors. >From Maryland sources, Quote: "Shingas came to the Conolloways and the Big Cove, killed and took about thirty persons and drove the remainder from their homes shortly after BRADDOCK'S Defeat when BRADDOCK was only thirty miles from Fort Cumberland." In like vein we read "the Indians were massacreing dozens of settlers on the Conolloways and in the Big and Little Coves while BRADDOCK was marching on Fort Duquesne a slight thirty miles to the west." Saturday, 1 November, 1755, about one hundred Indians, Shawnees and Delawares, among them Shingas, the Delaware King, entered the Great Cove and began murdering the defenseless inhabitants and destroying their property. The savages divided into two parties, one of which attacked the inhabitants of the Cove and the other swept down on the Conolloways. Sheriff POTTER reported on 14 November, 1755, "that of 93 families which were settled in the Coves and the Conolloways forty seven were either killed ot taken and the rest deserted." The Messech JAMES homeplace was one of those burned in that particular Indian attack on 1 November, 1755. Sheriff POTTER stated that forty men went with him to Matthew PATTON'S (one of Messech JAMES' neighbors) one of whom was the Reverend STEELE. POTTER said that the old officers hid themselves to save their scalps. The men found no Indians at PATTON'S but saw the building on fire at the Messech JAMES home. When they reached the JAMES place they again found no Indians but the cattle had been shot and the horses were standing, bleeding, with Indian arrows sticking in them...In the FORT LOUDON SIDELIGHTS (Foreman), on page 148, there is a picture of the site of the Messech JAMES place. The Thomas BARR place was between the homes of Messech JAMES and Matthew PATTON. Messech JAMES died prior to 1771, intestate...His heirs are mentioned in a deed (Franklin County, Pennsylvania Deed Book# 3, Page 169) as: a. William JAMES, carried off by Indians and never seen again. b. Isaac JAMES, carried off by Indians and never seen again. c. Enoch JAMES who married to Sarah BOWEN, a daughter of David BOWEN and Hannah DAVIS. Enoch JAMES is listed in REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS FROM FRANKLIN COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. d. Jean (Jane) JAMES who married to John ROSS/ROSE. Jean, or Jane, was received by letter to the Tonoloway Baptist Church, with her sister Sarah (BOWEN) JAMES, in November, 1766. e. Sarah JAMES who married to David Bowen, the son of David BOWEN and Hannah DAVIS. f. Hannah JAMES who became the wife of Owen DAVIS, the son of Philip and Jane DAVIS. g. Mary JAMES who married to Samuel OWENS. >From "THE HISTORY OF TONOLOWAY BAPTIST CHURCH" by Harry Stuart Holman, M.A., 1980, page 63, we find that Owen DAVIS and his wife, Hannah JAMES, were baptized in August, 1766. They were transferred to the Great Bethel Church in Springhill township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, in September, 1771. In August of 1760, Owen DAVIS had moved from Frederick County, Maryland, to land he had purchased on Lick Run, a tributary of the Conococheague Creek in Franklin County. As late as 1783, the DAVISES were living in Westmoreland County. Owen DAVIS and his wife, Hannah JAMES, would have the following issue together: 6. Elizabeth DAVIS, born 15 February, 1764, died before 1803. She married to Daniel FERROL. Hannah FERROL, a daughter of Daniel FERROL and Elizabeth DAVIS, born 9 October, 1784. 7. Meshach DAVIS, born 4 September, 1765, died in Franklin County, Indiana, near Bath or Colter's Corner, 11 October, 1845. He married to Nancy Ann LEWIS, a daughter of Margaret LEWIS, about 1786.(Margaret LEWIS remarried to a John GRIFFITHS, of Georges Creek township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania. John GRIFFITHS Will dated 17 November, 1789, and proven on 24 January, 1791). Nancy Ann LEWIS was born about 1769, and died 2 March, 1832, in Butler County, Ohio, near Dry Fork, in Morgan township. Meshach DAVIS, after his wife's death, probably went to live with either his son, Isaac DAVIS and his wife Martha FOSTER, or, his daughter's family, Hannah (DAVIS) DAVIS. Hannah was the wife of Zachariah DAVIS, son of James DAVIS and Keziah PHILLIPS of Fayette County, Pennsylvania. Meshach DAVIS and his wife's graves are in the George Cemetery one mile west of Okeana, Butler County, Ohio. This is just across the state line from Franklin County, Indiana. Meshach and Nancy Ann's other childrn were: Polly born 3 march, 1791; Isaac born 9 April, 1804; Owen; Thomas; James; Samuel; and Margaret DAVIS. 8. Evan DAVIS, born 11 July, 1767, died before 1803. He married to Elizabeth JOLLIFF, a daughter of James and Hannah JOLLIFF, on 7 July, 1786. Their children were: Owen DAVIS born 20 May, 1787; James DAVIS born 24 November, 1788; Enoch DAVIS born 11 September, 1790; Squire DAVIS born 11 September, 1790; Hannah DAVIS born 19 February, 1792; Martha DAVIS; Sarah DAVIS; and Susanna DAVIS born 19 July, 1803, died 7 November, 1804. 9. Ruth DAVIS, born 23 August, 1769, and married to a _______ BROWN. 10. Enoch DAVIS, born in February, 1772. He married to Catherine SHACHLET, a daughter of John and Barberry SHACHLET. Catherine SHACHLET was born 18 August, 1778. Their children were: Shachlet; Owen; Barbara; John; and Otto DAVIS. 11. Hannah DAVIS, born in September, 1774. She married to Budd GASKILL. Budd was a gunsmith. The family moved to Crawford County, Pennsylvania. 12. Susanna DAVIS, born 17 July, 1776. 13. John DAVIS, born 16 March, 1779, died 6 January, 1820. John married to Elizabeth ARCHEY (ARCHER), a daughter of John and Hannahm ARCHEY (ARCHER), on 25 February, 1802. 14. Lewis DAVIS, born 8 July, 1782, died 12 November, 1782. 15. Isaac DAVIS, born 25 August, 1783, died 2 August, 1854, in Crawford County, Pennsylvania. He married to Frances WEST, a daughter of Job WEST and Mary GASTON, on 29 December, 1804. Isaac DAVIS apprenticed himself to Jacob WEBB of Luzerne township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, on 1 November, 1798, to learn the potter's trade, which he followed many years. Their children were: Marcellus J. DAVIS born 23 June, 1828 (never married); Owen VanBuren DAVIS born 23 November, 1836 (never married); and Hannah Almeda DAVIS born 5 January, 1839. Hannah Almeda DAVIS married to William W. WEST, a son of Eli WEST and Belinda KING. The following is a notation in the back of Isaac DAVIS' bible, "Susanna CASSADAY, daughter of Felix and Susanna CASSADAY, born 20 February, 1789, the intended wife of Isaac DAVIS." 16. James DAVIS, born 19 September, 1785. He married to Susan FITZGARLE (FITZGERALD), a daughter of John FITZGARLE (FITZGERALD), on 26 January, 1806. Susan was born 17 December, 1785. 17. Anna DAVIS, born 5 March, 1790. Anna married to David COLE. After Owen DAVIS died on 7 July, 1810, Hannah (JAMES) DAVIS went to live with the David COLE family in Redstone township, near Brownsville, Fayette County, Pennsylvania. She was living in this family later in 1810. About 1820, David COLE moved his family to Crawford County, Pennsylvania. Hannah (JAMES) DAVIS is no longer with the family and is thought to have died, with burial in or around Redstone township. Anna and David COLE had these children: Isaac COLE born 18 June, 1808; Daniel COLE born 24 February, 1810, and died 5 November, 1810; Owen COLE; Owen DAVIS COLE born 19 July, 1811; Elizabeth COLE born 14 April, 1813; Hannah COLE born 20 August, 1815; Mary COLE born 18 May, 1817; Daniel B. COLE born 19 April, 1819; and Samuel COLE born 10 March, 1821. Anthony Keefer, on 16 June, 1999, informed me that Owen DAVIS' Millseat property appears to have been put up for auction for a $328.25 bill owed to Charles BROWNFIELD. With interest the court awarded BROWNFIELD $50.00 since the executors had not sold in on their own to settle debts. It was put up for sheriff's sale and bought by Jesse EVANS, of Phildaelphia, for $1500.00...Venditioni exponas is the legal term used...Book O, Page 28, 21 January, 1814. The property was sold back to Philip DAVIS, Jr. on 30 July, 1831...Deed Book S, Page 126, Georges township. Anyone interested in these families, please contact: Sam D. Lawson 1929 Hiker Trace Columbus, Indiana 47203-3541