1850

34	 927	932	Davis	William	45	m	Farmer	500	Ohio	  	  	  	
35	  	  	 	Adaline	22	f	  	  	Ky	  	  	  	
36	  	  	 	William W.	12	m	  	  	Ill	  	  	  	
37	  	  	 	Phebe M.	11/12	f	  	  	Ill	  									

1860

1860 Census of Brown County, Illinois, Lee Twp
1328/1267
William Davis 53 m farmer Ohio
Mrs. A. Davis 35 f Kentucky
P. M. Davis 10 f Illinois
John H. Davis 7 m Illinois
M. B. Davis 5 f Illinois
Lucy Davis 3 f Illinois
Ann Davis 1 f Illinois
W. W. Davis 20 m farmer Illinois

1869

DAVIS, WILLIAM H. & LAW, ALICE 04/08/1869 C/71 #979 BROWN County               

1870

1870 Fed Census, Lee Township, Brown Co, IL, #214
 
William Davis 27, dry goods clerk, b. IL
Adeline Davis 25, b. IL
William Davis 1m, b. IL

I have no idea who the above William & Adeline are. This was the problem faced 4 years ago. Are they supposed to be William and Alice? Is the child’s name and birth date wrong? Did he live in town and also in the farm location, working two jobs? Who gave the information? That might account for the errors – just making a best guess? My gut feeling is that this William and Adeline are the same couple as William and Alice. If Alice’s middle name is Adeline, it could account for the mix up.

William and Alice appear in 1880 with James and two other children, but no other William with a wife anmed Adeline except the older couple.   

Same census & twp, #39

William Davis 62, farmer, b. Ohio
Adeline Davis 42, b. KY
John Davis 18, b. IL
Mary B. Davis 17, b. IL
Lucy Davis 15, b. IL
Catherine Davis 10, b. IL
Anna Davis 12, b. IL (listed out of order)
Susan Davis 8, b. IL
James Davis 5, b. IL

Same census & twp, #40 (next door to William & Adeline)

William Davis 27, farmer, b. MO
Alice A. Davis 22, b. IL (Alice Law)
James H. Davis 4m, b. Sept., b. IL

1880

38	250	261	Davis	William	m	74	head	m	farmer	Ohio	Virginia	Kentucky	  	
39	  	  	  	Adeline	f	53	wife	m	keeping house	Kentucky	Kentucky	Kentucky	  	
40	  	  	  	Kate	f	20	dau	s	  	Illinois	Ohio	Kentucky	  	
41	  	  	  	James	m	14	son	  	  	Illinois	Ohio	Kentucky	  	
42	  	  	  	Charlotte	f	8	dau	  	at school	Illinois	Ohio			

Cemeteries of Brown County, IL, Cleaves Cemetery, Lee Township, Brown County, IL, pp. 96,97

William Davis 12 Jan 1806 – 16 Oct 1894
Adeline Lester, wife of William Davis 5 Apr 1826 – 16 Oct 1894
Joseph T. [Davis], son of W. & A. Davis, died 24 Apr 1857, aged  2m 2d.

“Mr. And Mrs. Davis were the victims of a tragic accident while on their way to Mt. Sterling on a cool October 16 morning in 1894 as they were struck by a west bound train at the railroad crossing about one half mile west of Mt. Sterling. The buggy was splintered, the horse killed, and Mr. And Mrs. Davis were thrown on the pilot of the engine and carried some distance. A double funeral was held for them at the Fargo Church.”

Adeline Lester Bruce Davis may have been the child of  Harvey and Mary Trabue Lester, who are buried in the Cleaves Cemetery. They have other children buried there also, within Adeline’s age range. I will list them here, in case it has relevance in the future.

Cemeteries of Brown County, IL, Cleaves Cemetery, (Same ref. As above)

Mary Lester (stone broken – no dates)
John, son of H. and M. Lester (Dec 16, ??)
Matilda T., dau of H. and M. Lester (died 7 Oct 1849, aged 8y 1m 13d)
Franklin, son of H. & M. Lester (died 5 Apr 1862, aged 25y 8m 1d) May have been Civil War Casualty.

The father’s given name is written out in the “family relationships” section on p. 97 as Harvey. The mother’s maiden name, Trabue, is also given there.

Marriages of Brown Co, IL (transcribed by L. Huffman)

As you can see from the marriages listed below, Adeline’s maiden name was Lester, but when she married William Davis she was the widow of Thomas Bruce. I think William had also been married previously, which accounts for the two older children, William and Phoebe. I know nothing about their mother. She may have died in Ohio.

BRUCE, Thomas & Adeline LESTER (242) md 15 Dec 1844 lic 15 Dec (for some reason, the           
                       transcribers missed this marriage that I picked up, so it’s not on the IL index online)
DAVIS, William & Adeline BRUCE (491) md 28 Feb 1849 lic 28 Feb

Confirmation - from IL Marriages online

DAVIS, WILLIAM & BRUCE, ADELINE 02/28/1849 A&B/00000491 BROWN County               

Probate records:

William Davis 1894, Brown County Probate File Box #94.
James F. Davis 1946, Brown County Probate File Box #162.
Harvey Lester 1856, Brown County Probate File Box #22.

END OF REPORT