ZACHEUS ("ZIAS") DAVIS

 

 

     Zacheus David (called "Zias") did not settle in Falls County, Texas; however, some of his children, many of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren have made Falls County, Texas their home, for at least part of their lives, and it seems appropriate that his name be included in these biographies. Among his descendants in Falls County have been family names which include Allen, Patterson, Varnado, Harlan, Garrett, Erskine, Fannin, Monds, Saxon, Briggs, Hunnicutt, and Swinnea - to name a few.

     Zacheus Davis was born January 26,1803 in Marion County, South Carolina - the third child of Zabon and Isabella Davis. He died in Copiah County, Mississippi on December 5, 1845, before his 43rd birthday, and five months before the birth of his youngest child. He was buried as he had been known, as "Zias" Davis, in the Old Providence Baptist Church Cemetery –

located 17 miles west of Hazlehurst, Copiah County, Mississippi on highway 20; thence four miles south.

     On June 12, 1826 in Marion County, Mississippi, Zias Davis was married to Martha Ann Ratliff (called "Patsy"), b April 15, 1805 in Alabama, d November 23, 1901 in Copiah County, Mississippi, and buried in the same cemetery as Zias - Old Providence Baptist Church Cemetery. "Patsy" (Ratliff) Davis was married second in 1849 to James King; however, her twelve children - ten surviving birth - were all by her first marriage to Zacheus Davis.

     After their marriage, Zias and Patsy Davis lived for a while in Marion County, Mississippi, and then moved to Claiborne County; but by 1840, they had settled in Copiah County, Mississippi, where they remained the rest of their lives. Their twelve children were:

     Woodward Warren Davis, b 1825 in Marion County, Mississippi - married first on February 4, 1847 in Copiah County, Mississippi to Maria A. Watson, and had one daughter, Sarah June Davis, b 1847. He married second on January 18, 1849 in Copiah County, Mississippi to Louiza Jane Gilbert. In 1901 when his mother died, Woodward Warren Davis was residing in Caseyville, Mississippi. No further information.

     Asenith Elizabeth Davis - a Twin (called "Betty" by family members, but referred to as "Senith" and "Cenith" in later records), b March 6, 1827, d November 4, 1906 in Copiah County, Mississippi and buried in Pleasant Hill Cemetery - one-half mile north of Pleasant Hill Store on Highway 552, West of Hazlehurst, Mississippi. She was married February 22, 1844 in Copiah County to Howell Varnado, b March 18, 1820 in Pike County, Mississippi, d February 16, 1884 and buried in Old Providence Baptist Church Cemetery near his father-in-law, Zias Davis. Howell was a son of Samuel and Keziah (Newsom) Varnado, Jr., who both died near Osyka, Pike County, Mississippi. Howell and "Senith" were the parents often children, and two of these came to Falls County, Texas: Verlumnia Varnado, b 1845 - married June 4, 1860 to W. L. Henderson; Mary Minerva Varnado, b January 11, 1847, d January 11, 1949 at age 102 years - married William Thomas Fannin, b January 18, 1846, d March 17,1910, who settled in Falls County, Texas ca 1875, and have descendants who still reside in the county; Sarah Elizabeth Varnado, b May 1, 1850, d March 21, 1887 and buried in Kaufman County, Texas - married in 1866

to James Canady Monds, b January 1, 1843, d July 3, 1926, who came to Falls County, Texas where a son, James Meredith Monds was born June 4,1874, before the family moved out of Falls County; Anna Varnado, b 1852; Josephine Varnado, b ca 1854 who married December 7, 1874 to William Thetford; an Infant Varnado, born and died in 1856; Cornelia Varnado, b 1858; Samuel Willington Varnado, b October 5, 1860, d March 29, 1956 who visited his sister, Mary Minerva  (Varnado) Fannin in 1947 when she celebrated her 100th birthday in Falls County, Texas; Howell Francis Varnado, b ca 1863; and the youngest son, MeredIth A. Varnado, b 1869.

     Rebecca Jane Davis - a Twin (called "Betsy" by family members, but referred to as "Rebecca" in later records), b March 6, 1827, d January 4, 1911 and buried in Little Bahala County Cemetery, located East of Wesson, Mississippi - married December 19, 1844 in Copiah County, Mississippi to Charles Varnado, b February 26, 1822 near Osyka, Pike County, Mississippi, d December 15, 1876 in Copiah County, Mississippi and buried in Old Providence Baptist Church Cemetery, where his brother, Howell Varnado, and his parents- in-law, Zias Davis and Martha Ann (Ratliff) Davis King, are all buried - a son of Samuel and Keziah (Newsom) Varnado, Jr. After the death of Charles Varnado, Rebecca Jane (Davis) Varnado was married second ca 1887 to Joel Harvey Furr, b December 23, 1825, d November 19, 1916, and buried in the same cemetery as his first wife, and Rebecca Jane - his second wife, Charles and Rebecca Jane (Davis) Varnado were the parents of nine children of which six survived to adult - hood, and five married and settled in Falls County, Texas: Martha Jane Varnado, b 1846, who married November 23, 1868 to R. C. Douglas; Samuel Varnado, b 1848, died before 1850; Cornelius Willington Varnado, b January 1, 1850 in Copiah County, Mississippi, d February 11, 1936 in Falls County, Texas and buried in Stranger Cemetery - married 1871 to Mary Elizabeth Ratliff (called "Bettie"), b December 24, 1851 in Lincoln County, Mississippi, d June 26, 1916 in Falls County, Texas - who came to Falls County ca 1887 with their children, and continue to have descendants in the county; Infant Varnado, born and died 1852; Infant Varnado, born and died 1854; Emma S. Varnado, b February 8, 1858, d March 14, 1948 and buried in McClanahan Cemetery in Falls County, Texas - who married Joshua Saxon, b September 12, 1849, d September 10, 1924 - who came to Falls County ca 1883, and continue to have descendants in the county; Rosella S. Varnado, b February 6,1861, d May 31,1932 in Falls County, Texas and buried in Blue Ridge Cemetery - married Robert Smith Hunnicutt, b May 2, 1853 in Falls County, d April 9, 1932, reared their family of seven children, and continue to have descendants in the county; William Howell Varnado, b December 22,1866 in Copiah County, Mississippi, d November 29, 1894 after an accident with a horse, and buried in Stranger Cemetery in Falls County, Texas - married in Lincoln County, Mississippi to Angela Lola McInnis (later reversed to Lola Angela), b March 29, 1871 in Mississippi, d July 18, 1951 - who came to Falls County, Texas ca 1887 with the family of Cornelius Willington Varnado, and had two daughters before his death, and continue to have descendants in the county; and Sarah Varnado, b August 16, 1869 in Copiah County, Mississippi, d January 14, 1950 and buried in Stranger Cemetery - who married Warren Oscar Fannin, b July 7, 1860 in Copiah County, Mississippi, d June 1, 1932 and buried in Stranger Cemetery, who came to Falls County, Texas and had ten children, with descendants continuing to reside in Falls County.

     A child Davis, b 1829, has not been identified by name, or by sex.

     William Franklin Davis, b 1831 in Claiborne County, Mississippi, was alive in 1901 in Brookhaven, Lincoln County, Mississippi, when he certified as to the Civil War service of a brother-in-law, John Wesley Allen, to help his younger sister, Zias Ellouise (Davis) Allen, to obtain a widow's pension. William Franklin Davis married December 30, 1852 to Louisa Jane Douglas, b July 15, 1837, d November 15, 1883 and buried in Old Providence Baptist Church Cemetery. Among their children was an infant, born and died N 0- vember 27, 1857; Emma Davis, Nancy Davis, William Davis, Prescott Davis, and another infant Davis, born and died August 30, 1880.

     Martha L. Davis, b 1833 in Mississippi - married March 31, 1853 to David T. Segrist. No further information.

     Unidentified child Davis, b 1835 - no information as to name or sex.

     Sophronia C. Davis, b June 10, 1838, d August 30, 1841 and buried in Old Providence Baptist Church Cemetery.

     Francis Marion Davis, b April 13, 1840, d March 3, 1925 and buried in Old Providence Baptist Church Cemetery. He lived near Allen, Copiah County, Mississippi.

     Unidentified child Davis, b 1841, died before 1850.

     Margaret Ellen Davis, b September 11, 1844 in Copiah County, Mississippi, d January 16, 1929 in Texas - married first on January 18, 1859 to Riden N. Thompson, who died in 1863 while in the Confederate States Army during the Civil War. They had two daughters: Katie Thompson, b December 25, 1862, d 1925; and Olivia Thompson, b September 1863. Margaret Ellen (Davis) Thompson married second in 1867 in Copiah County, Mississippi to Oliver Gaskin, and they moved to Texas. They had seven children, including Alice Ophelia Gaskin who married John Milton Patterson - who resided in Limestone County, Texas, and have descendants who attended Marlin, Falls County, Texas schools, and continue to reside in the county.

     Zias Ellouise Davis (called "Ella"), b May 30, 1846 in Copiah County, Mississippi five months after the death of her father, d February 2, 1934 in the Alto Springs Community of East Falls County, Texas and buried in Mustang Prairie Cemetery - married November 16, 1863 to John Wesley Allen, b June 1845 in Mississippi d December 23, 1905 in Oklahoma - a veteran of the Confederate States Army during the Civil War. John Wesley and Ella came to Falls County, Texas before 1883, and resided there until they moved to Indian Territory (Oklahoma), where he died. She re- turned to Falls County, to live with a son, John Franklin Allen. John Wesley and Zias Ellouise (Davis) Allen had ten children, with her two youngest born in Falls County, and they continue to have descendants residing in the county.

     Martha Ann ("Patsy" Ratliff) Davis King was given the extra years that her young first husband did not have; and the descendants of Zacheus ("Zias") and "Patsy" have impacted the growth and continued development of Falls County for over one hundred years.

 

 

Copyright Permission granted to Theresa Carhart for printing the biographies of these Falls County Families to this Web page.
"Families of Falls County", Compiled and Edited by the Falls County Historical Commission, page 112 column 2, page 113 column 1 and 2 and page 114 column 1.  
Member of Falls County Historical Commission.