English Cemetery ~ David Daniel Davis ~ part of the Polk County Pioneer Cemeteries of Oregon
Davis, David Daniel
LAST: Davis FIRST: David MID: Daniel
GENDER: M MAIDEN NAME:  TITLE: 
BORN: ABt 1810 DIED: 31 Aug 1860 BURIED:  (English Cemetery)
OCCUPATION:  
BIRTH PLACE:  Pennsylvania
DEATH PLACE: Tampico, Benton Co., Oregon
NOTES: 
1st MARRIAGE - David D. Davis & Hannah Donahoe md 22 Feb 1831, Dearborn Co, Indiana
DLC 4518 Benton County: David D. Davis b. 1807/11 in Penn.; AO 1847.
1850 OR TERR CENSUS - David Davis, age 40, occupation blacksmith, b. Pennsylvania, is enumerated with Anne, age 18, b. Indiana, Rebecca, age 15, b. Indiana, Messis, age 13, b. Indiana, Thos. W., age 11, b. Iowa, Elizabeth, age 8, b. Iowa, Rachael, age 6, b. Indiana, and Wm. W., age 5, b. Iowa.

2nd MARRIAGE - David Davidson [sic] of Benton Co & Sarah Bowman md 25 Nov 1852; David R. Lewis, JP [2nd wife was Mrs. Sarah (Kindred) Bowman, widow of William Bowman]

BIOGRAPHICAL (Source - The Oskaloosa Company, Last Wagon Train to Skinner's in 1847, by Charles George Davis)
My 4th Great Grandfather, David D. Davis led the Oskaloosa wagon train in the spring of 1847 to Oregon.
The Davis family, which included Hannah Donahoe Davis and their 8 children, left Iowa with 7 wagons and many oxen, cattle, sheep, etc., but by the time the arrived in Oregon they had one cart of belongings left.
For the most part, the trip was uneventful. Their pilot, Lester Hulin, kept a diary of their travel overland. Uneventful, except for the attack on Hannah Ann Davis.
According to Hulin's diary dated September 29, 1847, in Fandango Valley, 14 year old "Ann" Davis was baking bread over the campfire when the stillness of the evening was interrupted by a sudden Indian attack. Three arrows were shot at Ann, one hitting her in the calf of her leg and the other through her arm and into her side. She fell into the fire. She was quickly rescued, but the fire had burned her hair, clothes and severly burned the right side of her face. They operated on her by the light of the campfire. There was nothing to ease her pain and it took several men to hold her down as another cut the arrows out of her flesh with a sharp knife. Hannah survived the ordeal and later married Caswell Hendricks, another pioneer who arrived in Oregon in 1848. They had 10 children. Hannah and Caswell are my 3rd Great Grandparents.
The Davis wagon train reached Skinner's cabin on November 4,1847. David Davis settled in Soap Creek, Benton County, OR, after making a side trip to Salem to get medical attention for "Ann". An outbreak of measles claimed the life of his wife, Hannah Donahoe Davis. She died June 15,1848.
In 1852 David married Sarah Bowman, the widow of William Bowman, and needing a larger house, he built the first residence in Tampico, Benton Co. The Davis residence was used as a way station, store, post office, hotel and livery stable.
The "Oregon Weekly Union" for the week of September 14, 1860 reported David D. Davis's passing on August 31, 1860. He died of consumption at the age of 54.

[Davis was buried on his farm in northern Benton County; the grave was moved to English Cemetery in 1942 by the US Army during the development of Camp Adair]
OBITUARY: 
INSCRIPTION: 
D. D. Davis
Died
Aug. 31, 1860
Aged 54 Ys
SOURCES: 
Dearborn Co, Indiana, Marriage Records (as indexed on FamilySearch)
1850 OR TERR CENSUS (Benton Co., FA #136)
Polk Co, Oregon, Marriage Records, 1849-1879, page 4
Davis, Charles Geo., The Oskaloosa Company, Last Wagon Train to Skinner's in 1847.
CONTACTS: 
ROW: 39