Ralph Davis Descendants?

Jim Davis
While visiting Jackson County last month, I received some family lore from Carole Burroughs about a brother of William "Uncle Billy" Davis named "Rafe" Davis (probably Ralph Davis).  It stated that he had a son named Jim, who had married Hulda Roach.

I found a Hulda Gray (age 29) in the 1850 Census, whose daughter was Mary Ann Gray, b. about 1845.  There is a marriage record for Caleb Parks Gray and Hulda Joiner in 1843.  But Hulda's age suggests she could have married as early as 1839, and since the courthouse in Brownsville had burned down in 1843, there would be no record of an earlier marriage.  So she could have been the Hulda Roach who had married Jim Davis...

In the 1850 Census, I found 29 year old James Davis listed last in the household of William "Uncle Billy" Davis.  The others in the household were listed in birth order and thus were Uncle Billy's children, so it is likely that James was a nephew, since he was added after the youngest child.  I had always wondered just how he was related to the others in the household, so this perhaps explains that.

In the 1860 Census, I found Mary Ann Gray (age 15) living in the household of James and Mahala Davis.  There was also an Adaline Roach age 7 (listed last, just after Mary Ann Gray), plus Delia Davis (age 6 months), Maville Davis (age 2) and Leonard Davis (age 7 years).  

James had married Hulda at the end of 1853, so Leonard was likely their child.  There is a five year gap between him and his sister Maville.  It would seem most likely that Mahala was the mother of both Maville and Delia: that Hulda had died around 1856 or so.  Mahala was likely also the mother of Adaline Roach by an earlier marriage.  Unfortunately, there is no marriage record to corroborate these assumptions.

William Davis' son John had married Mavel Roach, and he had a brother named Leonard.  So it is plausible that Hulda was Mavel's sister, and that Mahala was their sister-in-law.

And these facts and assumptions support the family lore provided by Carole Burroughs.  As such, it is likely the best proof that we will ever find that this James Davis was the son of Ralph Davis, and that Ralph Davis was the brother of William "Uncle Billy" Davis.  

Unfortunately, there is no evidence that any of his children survived.  But at least there is some evidence that he had existed...

It is also worth noting that I think this Jim Davis was the James Davis, Junior who had witnessed an 1838 deed for James Davis (William's father).  My presumption is that Ralph had died by then and the younger James was being looked after by the elder James.

Bett Davis
Carole had also noted that "Rafe" or Ralph Davis had a daughter named Bett (presumably short for Elizabeth).  She was said to have married Charles Rich.  No such marriage record could be found, though there was a marriage between Elizabeth Davis and Chester C. Rich (which should be Richie).  Upon investigating this marriage, it was found that Chester had married Mrs. Elizabeth Davis and that a Civil War Pension record for Chester established that her maiden name was Jarrett.  So this wasn't Ralph's daughter.

If Bett had married, it was likely prior to 1843, making it very unlikely that we can determine what happened to her...