William Davis
b. 1764, Maryland
d. 1851
William Davis is, as of this writing, the earliest documented ancestor on the Davis line — Chuck’s maternal five-times-great-grandfather, the generation above Joseph Davis and the man born deepest in time on this branch.
He was born in 1764 in Maryland and died in 1851 — a lifespan of about eighty-seven years that runs from the eve of the American Revolution to the eve of the Civil War. He married Elizabeth (b. ca. 1781; maiden name not yet recovered), and their son Joseph Davis (1819–1896) was born in Jefferson County, Ohio and carried the line forward through William Armstrong Davis, Homer Edward Davis, and Dorothy Marie Davis Wildermuth down to Chuck.
The GEDCOM now places his birth in Maryland — which sketches the migration the family followed to Ohio: a man born in Revolution-era Maryland whose son was born in Jefferson County, in the upper-Ohio-River corner of the state, by 1819. The intermediate stops between Maryland and Jefferson County, and Elizabeth’s maiden name, remain the open end of the line.
Source: Eesley/Wildermuth GEDCOM tree / FamilySearch — FamilySearch ID GJCV-QGS (William Davis, 1764–1851), linked as the father of Joseph Davis (GMTB-SJX). Surfaced from the FamilySearch pedigree view, July 2026.