aka  Davis

Fall Creek Township

Location: west side of CR 225W, between CRs 900S and 950S

    Brothers Elisha and Johnson Davis* came with their families from the Elizabeth City area of Pasquotank County, North Carolina.  They arrived in Indiana around 1829 and had settled in Fall Creek Township by 1835.  Like other pioneers, they migrated with a group of family members and friends from the same region, settled on neighboring farmland, helped each other survive, and were buried next to each other at a cemetery near their Hoosier pioneer homesteads. 

    Originally, the Davis family emigrated from England, possibly starting from Wales.  A family story explains that Elisha was the first of the family to be born in the United States around 1786.  He eventually married Miriam Scott, 1786-1855, and before leaving North Carolina, they had six children.  Since Miriam was a sister to Harvy Scott, 1791-1845, whose stone is pictured above, it is safe to assume that the Scotts and Davises traveled together on their journey to Indiana.  Elisha and his brother Johnson, whose stone is also pictured above, both applied for land patents: Elisha for 160 acres and Johnson for forty in the southern sections of Madison County.  The Scotts also homesteaded nearby. 

    Concerning eventual ownership of his land, Elisha was ahead of 19th century customs.  Elisha's first son Morris left three young daughters in 1856 when he died.  Elisha deeded part of his own land to these granddaughters, Emily, Anne, and Tensley.  Elisha could have given the land to other adult members of the immediate family, but it seems he wanted to secure a future for the three little girls. 

    Elisha and Miriam's daughter Maranda was evidently like her father because she, too, chose to do something that was not customary for her time.  Maranda, who was born in 1828, married Francis Marion Bunker.  They had a family of five children when Francis suddenly died at age thirty-nine in 1865.  Maranda never remarried, continued living at the family farm, and raised all five children and a granddaughter by herself.  Undoubtedly, nearby family members helped; that was the pioneer lifestyle.  Maranda, though, who died in 1908 at "79y. 2m. 7d.," appears to have been more independent and self-sufficient than was usual for women of the 19th century. 

    Something that was customary for pioneers to do was to take custody of neighbors' children orphaned by tragedy.   Margaret Shipley may very well illustrate this.  Davis genealogist Pam Brown has not found any Shipley connection to the Davis-Scott extended family; yet, a Margaret Shipley is listed on various census records as a child and later as a young adult living with members of the Elisha Davis family. There are no family stories or records that explain Margaret's placement in the Davis homes. It is assumed that young Margaret was related to the Eliza Shipley listed below, who died in 1849.  Margaret was possibly taken in because of some tragedy in the Shipley family, and, as was the custom, cared for by the Davises.

    Another son of Elisha was Bailey Davis, who was born in 1821.  Bailey married Charity Pritchard and they had a daughter Samantha who married a Harkrader.  Charity's sister Mary Ann married William George, and Charity and Mary Ann's brother was Jesse Pritchard, who owned eighty acres, part of which adjoined Johnson Davis's property.  In fact, Jesse's land was only one mile northwest of the cemetery.  Bailey Davis appears to be the glue connecting most of these seemingly divergent names together.

    The Bunker Cemetery with its Davis-Scott-Bunker-Pritchard-George-Harkrader-Shipley extended family is a time capsule of pioneer life style.  Here are first families who sacrificed, suffered, and helped each other survive in the untouched southern regions of Madison County. In the late 20th century, Harvy Scott descendent W. Lloyd Scott would acknowledge and appreciate his ancestors' contributions.  W. Lloyd Scott petitioned for a cemetery commission, helped draft its mission statement, and made the restoration of the Bunker Cemetery a personal priority.

*The Davis biographical information above was provided by family genealogist Pam Davis Brown of Florida.