Ransom Davis was the son of Gasham (or Gershom) Davis and Permelia A. Whitaker; he was born in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, about 1840. He was probably named for his uncle, Ransom Davis, who in turn had been named for his uncle, another Ransom Davis.
Ransom’s father died when the boy was 7 years old, and his mother Permelia assumed all responsibility for raising her family from them on. Ransom spent the first 26 years of his life in Muhlenberg County, living with his mother and siblings and working on the family farm.
In 1861, he married Sarah A.E. Pitman in a ceremony at the home of his brother-in-law, Jonathan Hunt. While Sarah was living in the Muhlenberg and Butler County areas in 1860, she was originally from Morgan County, Tennessee.
With the outbreak of the Civil War, Ransom eventually registered for the draft in 1863, where he is described as 23 years old and a farmer in Muhlenberg County. We have not yet found any documentation that he actually enlisted in the military, however.
By 1867, Ransom and Sarah were living at least temporarily in Tennessee, where their second child, Jesse, was born. But by 1870, the couple were back in Muhlenberg County, where they were enumerated next to Permelia in the census. They stayed in that area until 1875, when they moved back to Morgan County and bought an 83-acre tract of land from Sarah’s brother Ephraim Pitman. The couple stayed in Morgan County for the remainder of their lives.
We don’t know why the family moved back and forth so often — nothing in any records we’ve uncovered to date reveal any possible motive. It’s possible that there were family ties drawing them back to Sarah’s family, many of whom were in Morgan County and just over the state line in Clinton County, Kentucky.
Ransom became a Justice of the Peace for Morgan County about 1881 and continued to exercise his responsibilities until 1888, when he disappears from county court records. In 1896, his son William sold his “undivided one-third interest” in the same 83-acre lot that Ransom had purchased in 1875, suggesting that Ransom had died. Sarah does not appear in the 1900 census, suggesting that she, too, had died by then, especially since William Davis’s household also includes his younger brother, Balaam, but not his mother.
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Ransom Davis (b. 1840, Muhlenberg Co, KY — d. between 1888/1896, probably Morgan Co, TN)
m. 18 Jun 1861, Muhlenberg Co, KY
Sarah A.E. PItman (b. 1837, Tennessee – d. between 1880/1900, place unknown)
Children:
i. Amanda J. Davis (b. 1862, Muhlenberg Co, KY — d. about 1893, Morgan Co, TN); m(1) Bunn McCurran; m(2) James Alexander McKinney
ii. Jesse J. Davis (b. 1867, Tennessee — d. after 1880, place unknown); no further information
iii. William Davis (b. Sept 1871, Muhlenberg Co, KY — d. between 1900/1903, Morgan Co, TN); m. Fairsina Brewster
iv. Jerusha Davis (b. 1874, Muhlenberg Co, KY — d. after 1880, place unknown); no further information
v. Balaam Agy Davis (b. 1 May 1879, Morgan Co, TN — d. 8 Apr 1946, Morgan Co, TN); m. Frances Appleby
Sources:
- Jesse Davis, dec’d, heirs, to James E. Gardner, Jr, 12 May 1859, Muhlenberg Co KY, heirs named as Jesse Fleming, John Fleming, Lucy Grubb late Davis, Permeley Davis, Ransom Davis, John Davis, William Whitaker, Sary Whitaker, J.P. Davis, Jonathan Hunt, Nancy Hunt, A.J. Hall, Charity A. Hall, Esquire Davis, Lydia M. Davis.
- Lydia M. Davis and David Harper, 4 Feb 1866, Muhlenberg KY, Lott Harper (born NC) & Polly Harper (born KY); Gasham Davis (born in US) and Permelia Davis (born in US), Kentucky Marriages, 1851-1900, Ancestry online.
- Permelia Davis household, “1850 US census of population,” Muhlenberg Co KY, Subdivision 2, page 267B.
- Permelia Davis household, “1860 US census of population,” Muhlenberg Co KY, District 2, Laurel Bluff P.O., page 700, dwelling #68, family #68.
- Ransom Davis, US Civil War Draft Registration Records, 1861-1865, Kentucky, 2nd District, Muhlenberg County, Ransom Davis, age 23, white, farmer, enrolled July 1863, p 174, line 4, residence Muhlenberg Co KY.
- Ransom Davis household, “1870 US census of population,” Muhlenberg Co KY, Courthouse precinct #3, 30 Jun 1870, page 12, Greensville PO, dwelling #443, family #445.
- Ransom Davis household, “1880 US census of population,” Morgan Co TN, 6th Civil District, page 6, ED 133, SD 1, 7 Jun 1880, dwelling #50, family #50, line 36ff, Ancestry.com image.
- William Davis household, “1900 U.S. census of population,” Morgan Co TN, Enumeration District #109, 25 Jun 1900, sheet #11B & 12A, dwelling #206, family #206, ll 49-50, 1-4.
- Ephraim Pitman of Clinton Co KY to Ransom Davis of Morgan Co TN, Morgan Co TN Deeds, DB V:167-169 (images 360-361), 20 Aug 1875, 83-acre tract in civil district 5, Family Search, FHL #978855, DGS #8151407.
- Ransom Davis JP, Morgan Co TN, County Court Minutes, Vols. 3-4, 1880-1889, 2 Jul 1888 court term, pp 432, 434 (images 573-574), Ransom Davis reported as paying county and school taxes, FamilySearch #978836, DGS 82644360.
- William Davis & Parizina Davis his wife to W.A. Whitney, Morgan Co TN, 17 Aug 1896, undivided one-third interest in an 83-acre tract, Morgan Co TN Deeds, DB HZ:428-429 (image 569), FamilySearch #978861, DGS #8477610.
- Ransom Davis and Sarah A. Pittman, 16 Jun 1861, Solemnized at home of Jonathan Hunt, Muhlenberg KY marriages.
- William Davis to Fairzinia Brewster, 5 Oct 1888, (no officiant listed), Morgan Co Marriages, 1888, page 6, FHC microfilm #0978841
- Balaam Agy Davis, World War I draft registration card, born 1 May 1879, place of birth not given, residence Sunbright, Morgan, TN, farmer, issued 12 Sep 1918, file # 798.
- Balun Agie Davis, Certificate of death, Tennessee Division of Vital Statistics, died 8 Apr 1946, Sunbright, Morgan, TN, issued 9 Nov 1946, file #21816, Mrs. Francis Davis, apoplexy, born 2 May 1871, Morgan, TN, parents Erunce Davis, father, Eliza Spurling, mother, Union Grove Cemetery, Burrville, Morgan, TN.