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When did the Thomas Davey Family Come to America?

According to the 1886 obituary for Thomas Davey of Jeffersonville, Indiana, the family “came to this country, landing at New York in 1852, and made their home successively at Philadelphia, Reading, Altoona, and prairies of Illinois.”[1] 

On the other hand, he reported on his declaration of intent to naturalize in 1853 that he arrived at the port of New York in June 1850.[2] This date is closer to the date he made his intention as oppose to the obituary some three decades later. The family was enumerated in the 1851 English census in Deptford, London.[3] Why would he say 1850 if he was living in England in 1851? One needed to live in the U.S. for a minimum of two years before applying for the intent to become a citizen. Either he had come earlier and went back to get his family, or he lied to start the naturalization process sooner. 

Their youngest child, Frederick, was born in the United States, 10 Oct 1953 in Reading, Pennsylvania.[4] This supports the arrival between 1851 and 1852.

Searches in New York ship lists no record for Thomas Davey, his wife, Mary, nor any of the possible children: Elizabeth, Susan, Thomas N, Mary Jane, Lydia N, and Catherine Rose.[5]

Yet, the family may have been found. Searching on the child, “Lydia” with no surname and born about 1841 turned up a record for Lydia Nichols born about 1842 on the ship, Ocean Queen,  arriving 12 March 1852.[6] The surname is wrong, but her mother’s maiden name was Nicholas. It was worth a look.



The family was listed as:

Matthew Nichols, 43
Mary Nichols, 40
Elizab Nichols, 19
Susan Nichols, 17
Thomas Nichols, 16
Mary Nichols, 11
Lydia Nichols, 10
Rose Nichols, 2 mos

What works in this listing is the birth order and names of the children and the mother. This is the exact order for the names of the surviving children of Thomas and Mary Davey. The ages are very close to the known birthdates of the children. See chart below.

The conflict is in the surname as recorded and the first name of the head of the family.

Name on Ship List
Age on Ship List as of 3/1852
Date of Birth
Age in 1852 based on birth
Mathew Nichols
43
3 Sep 1807 (Thos Davey)
44
Mary Nichols
40
24 Aug 1811
40
Elizab Nichols
19
5 Jan 1833
19
Susan Nichols
17
11 Aug 1834
17
Thomas Nichols
16
7 Nov 1835
16
Mary Nichols
11
23 May 1839
12
Lydia Nichols
10
1 Apr 1841
10
Rose Nichols
2 mos
27 Jan 1851
2 mos

It is possible that Mary traveled with a family member (brother/cousin) and the names were recorded under that person’s surname. However, there does not appear to be any brother by the name of Matthew. The occupation of most of the people on the list was farmer, though there was one tailor. Thomas Davey was a blacksmith.

If this is the family of Thomas and Mary Davey, how did the names get mixed up? Did Mary give the information and use her maiden name? Was Nicholas mixed up into Nichols? What about Mathew? There was no child named Mathew nor any family member of either side with that name.

Perhaps Mary and children traveled to America with another male and met up with Thomas. Thomas may have arrived in 1850 and his wife and children came in 1852 to meet up with him. If Mary gave the information for the Thomas' obituary, then she would remember arriving in American in 1852. 

What do you think? Has Thomas and Mary's family been found? 



[1] "Thomas Davey," Jeffersonville (Indiana) Daily News, 9 Feb 1886, p. 2, digital image, NewspaperArchive (http://newspaperarchive.com/). Of course the author of the obit is unknown, but likely his wife, who died 7 years later, was the source.
[2] Court of Common Pleas (Berks County), Declaration of Intent, Apr 1852 - Sep 1856, Thomas Davey 1853, FHL film 1403263.
[3] 1851 England Census, Kent, Deptford, St. Nicholas parish, page 5-6, household 24, Thomas Davey; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 29 May 2012); PRO HO 107/1585, GSU rol 174822, citing The National Archives of UK, London.
[4] Family data, Thomas Davey Family Bible, (Cincinnati, Ohio: Moore, Wilstch, Keyes & Company, 1859); original owned by [address for private use], transcription done by Mary Davey Korn, granddaughter of Thomas Davey.
[5] Searched in Ancestry for combinations of Thomas Davey, Davy, and soundex of Davey in the “New York, Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957.”
[6] “New York, Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957,” Ocean Queen, arriving 12 Mar 1852, 2nd page, lines 18-25, digital image, Ancestry ((http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Aug 2019), citing NARA M237, roll 110.

Copyright © 2019 by Lisa S. Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Reserved.

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