From the notes of Gary Daves -
George Daves was born in North Carolina in 1808 and came to Indiana by the time he married in 1829 in Hendricks County. Although he is often referred to by descendants as “George Daves, Jr.”, we do not have definite information about his parents or siblings. On the basis of weak evidence, I have decided that it is likely that both he and his father are named George W. Daves. In the 1820 census of Sullivan County, Indiana, we find a George W. Davis as head of a household consisting of one man 26-45, a woman 16-26 and a second male who was 16-26. We know that the younger George was born in 1808 so would have been twelve in 1820. What leads me to think this could be the Daves family is that the 1830 census for Hendricks County, where we know that George Daves was living in 1829, has a listing for “Widow Daves”, age 50-60 and with a man in the household who is 20-30. While these data are not completely consistent with the earlier census, it suggests that the widowed Mrs. Daves had recently lost a husband and still had a son at home. Unfortunately, we do not find this “Widow Daves” in later census records. She may have died or possibly she remarried. Was the man listed in the 1830 census George or a brother? We do not know. Also in the Hendricks County 1830 census is a listing for “George Davis” a young married man with no children. This fits what we know of George and Susan Daves. And in 1840 in Clay County, where we know the Daves moved, we find a family headed by “George W. Davis” with two young sons. Again the census record is not quite consistent with what we know, as the Daves’ oldest child was Lucinda and no daughter is included in the listing.
The 1850 census for Clay County, Indiana lists the family (as Davis):
George 40 born in North Carolina
Susannah 38 born in North Carolina (not correct, she was born in
Kentucky)
Lucinda 23 born in Indiana
Mary 12 born in Indiana
Wesley 10 born in Indiana
Nancy 9 born in Indiana
Malinda 5 born in Indiana
In the 1850 census, we have not located the two older sons, Thomas J. Daves and William Riley Daves although they were still in their teens; presumably they were working away from home.
GEORGE W.2 DAVES (GEORGE W.1) was born October 18, 1808 in North Carolina, and died April 23, 1857 in Clay, Indiana. From a newspaper clipping found in a file at Center Point, Indiana Genealogical Center with a hand-written date of September, 1923 but otherwise unidentified we learn of George’s death:
“George Daves was accidentally poisoned by the wrong medicine given by mistake by Dr. John Williams, pioneer minister and doctor.”
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