Last updated: August 24, 2021
Person
William Davis
Dr. Shelley Murphy
Quick Facts
Significance:
Michigan Homesteader
Place of Birth:
Pennsylvania
Date of Birth:
1818
Place of Death:
Joyfield, Benzie County, Michigan
Date of Death:
December 4, 1881
Place of Burial:
Joyfield, Benzie County, Michigan
Cemetery Name:
Joyfield Cemetery
William Davis filed Homestead Application #450 to claim 160 acres of land in the Joyfield Township, Benzie County Michigan in July 1863. He received the Homestead Patent Certificate # 455 on October 1, 1870.
William Davis was born around 1818 in Pennsylvania. According to family oral histories, Davis was one of three children or grandchildren of an enslaver with the name Davis. It is unknown whether or not William Davis was born enslaved or free because of the unknown status of his mother.
Davis is said to have married Mildred Ann Brand, but an official marriage license has not been found. Mildred Ann Brand was born about 1825 in Richmond, Virginia. One record indicated that her father was from Scotland and thus she is considered a mulatto. She was moved to Chambersburg, Franklin County, Pennsylvania and had her first child in 1838 (Joseph Brand). She, her son and future children are given a life estate on 11 acres by Peter Mowen and his wife of Franklin County. The Mowen’s were a known Mennonite family. Mildred connects with another free mulatto named William Davis and they have their first son Alexander Wilson Davis in 1841. Joseph Brand takes on the Davis surname.
William and Mildred had additional children in Franklin County; James Buchanan, 1849, Susan Ann,1855, and William Otterbein. in 1857. They sold their 11 acres in 1858 to Reverend William Coursey for $1,000, and the Davis family left Franklin County arriving in Wayne County, Ohio in 1858. William and Mildred then purchased 25 acres ($900) in 1859 in the neighboring county of Medina County, Ohio. They had two additional children; Alma Porter and Henry Allen while living in Medina County, and their son Joseph continued to work in Wayne county, Ohio. The Davis’ sold their 25 acres to the Hyatt family from Cass County, Michigan on the 13th May of 1859.
Davis, Brand, and five of their children - James, 13, Susan Ann, 8, William, 6, Alma, 3, and Henry, 6 weeks old, moved to Michigan in the spring of 1863. They arrive in Joyfield Township, Benzie County. Here, they applied for a 160 acre homestead (Homestead Application #450) in July of 1863. It is believed that the Davis family was the first family of color to homestead in Benzie County.
During the five-year requirement for improving the homestead property, they added a house with a shingle roof, board floors, one door and two windows. They resided in that house the first of March 1864 and also built one barn, a stable, a corn-house and an outbuilding. The Michigan Homestead Certificate # 455 was issued 1 October 1870.
In 1870, one of their daughters, Susan Ann, passed away. However, there was no cemetery in the township. The Davis family took it upon themselves to change this. They sold 5 acres of land for $35 to the township for the purpose of creating the Joyfield Cemetery. For family deaths prior to the cemetery, five family members were buried around a tree on their son Joseph’s homestead land next to William and Mildred’s. Joseph’s first-born son, Horace Burr Davis was the first child born in Joyfield Township. Henry Allen Davis, son of William and Mildred, married Sarah Marsh and had one child (Rudolph Davis), Sarah died, and Henry married Sarah's sister, Clara Marsh, from Manistee County, Michigan.
William Davis passed away in 1881 and Mildred Brand in 1895. Following their deaths, the land remained in the family until 1974.
Owning property was what ensured this family’s success. They owned property in every place that they lived. This guaranteed them agency, social status, and the ability to provide for themselves.
~ Contributed by Dr. Shelley Viola Murphy
About the contributor: 
Photo Description: Dr. Shelley Murphy (left) and her mother, Verna Worden-Murphy, hold jars of soil collected from their Michigan family homestead.
Photo credit: Dr. Shelley Murphy
Dr. Shelley Viola Murphy is the great great granddaughter of William and Mildred. Murphy was born in 1952. Her and her four brothers spent many summers on the Davis family’s homestead. There, they stayed in a mushroom shaped house, the third house to be erected on the property. When the house was being rebuilt after a house fire, the M31 highway was also being paved. Some of the roadworkers assisted the family in the building of their house. Murphy reflected upon her time at the homestead, stating that “I don’t recall any conversations when I was growing up about the significance of homesteading property. It was just where we as a family went for the summers. Over the years when I began researching the family’s history I realized the value and importance of this land.” The land remained in the family up until 1974, and Murphy has a jar of dirt from the farm as a means of saving and appreciating this important family story.
An avid genealogist for over 30 years, Dr. Shelley Viola Murphy, aka "familytreegirl," was born and raised in Michigan, now living in central Virginia. She conducts genealogy workshops at local, state and national conferences. Murphy, is known for her inspiring & interactive "SO WHAT" with genealogy research, along with interesting problem-solving methodology lectures such as the use of Timelines. Murphy is also a coordinator and instructor at the Midwest African American Genealogy Institute (MAAGI) and serves on the Boards of the Library of Virginia. Albemarle Charlottesville and Fluvanna Historical Societies. She holds membership in AAHGS NGS, APG, DAR, and local genealogy groups.
Dr. Murphy’s personal research focuses on Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia/West Virginia, South Carolina and Tennessee. Dr. Murphy serves on the Board of the Library of Virginia and the Boards of the Albemarle, Charlottesville, and Fluvanna County Historical Societies. She is the President, Coordinator and instructor at the Midwest African American Genealogy Institute (MAAGI). She is also the lead researcher for the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers for the University of Virginia, to identify living descendants of the enslaved African Americans who built the University located in Charlottesville.