DISCLAIMER

 

The First Five Generations from Davis Davenport identification posted here continues the attempt to breach the records problem that a Pamunkey Neck origin imposes. The lineage structure offered here is a compilation of Pamunkey Davenport data extracted and collected by more than four dozen researchers and analysts of various skill levels from all over the United States. The gathered research of many is now clustered, organized and annotated in a chronological order with a rigorous attention to location. Time and Place and Historical Context, in most instances, has given new meaning to old data, but ninety-five percent of the data here is new--in substance and/or in context--and is published for the first time here.

 

The reader-user is reminded that this is “Work in Progress,” that it is not the final word on the subject. Hopefully, additional research will enable new facts to be inserted into the lineage which will sharpen, better define identities of ancestors. An updated version of this lineage will be issued whenever there is a significant data acquisition, a finding of new evidence, or a need to revise. Contributions of freshly-extracted data, corrections of and additions to existing data, sharpening of documentation, and arguments, rationalizations, or disagreements with the Compiler are welcome as long as they are substantive and directed towards advancing Pamunkey Davenport roots identification. Direct your additions, corrections, and arguments to the Editor, per address below.

 

One final comment: Given the crucial loss of Colonial Virginia records and the commoner nature (sorry, no Earls, Dukes, Barons, Knights or even English Gentlemen--but no Convicts either) of the Colonial Pamunkey Davenports, insistence on rigorous proof for identification is naive--for that scholarly state is in most part a standard impossible to attain. Best Evidence for the Pamunkeys is nirvana. DNA has now conclusively identified the family in most part, but circumstantial evidence remains the best to be had in a number of instances. We repeat the admonition that this is a Working Paper.

 

This exposition is not to be considered as either final or totally definitive. The more than four dozen Pamunkey Davenport family searchers who have contributed to this compilation were/are of various degrees of research skill and scholarly acumen. Some descendancies are tied together by Will Proofs, Land records, or Court identifications, others by Best Evidence, yet others by Family Legend, and a very few by speculative deduction. By the number of question marks (?) and the number of statements “Children Unknown” that follow, it should be apparent that there exists a large quantity of missing vital data.