Last updated: November 29, 2021
Person
Joseph Brand Davis
Quick Facts
Significance:
Michigan Homesteader
Place of Birth:
Pennsylvania
Date of Birth:
1839
Place of Death:
Benzie County, Michigan
Date of Death:
1915
Place of Burial:
Joyfield Township, Benzie County, Michigan
Cemetery Name:
Joyfield Cemetary
Joseph Brand was born free to Mildred Ann Brand, a single mother, on March 22, 1839 in Chambersburg, Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Mildred Ann Brand was a free mulatto who was born in Richmond, Virginia in about 1825. Circumstances are unknown as to why she moved to Pennsylvania. However, Mildred was given 11 acres of land with a life estate in Pennsylvania for her and her children, as well as the children of her future spouse. By 1841, Mildred Brand married William Davis and Joseph carries the Davis surname. It is not certain whether they were officially married.
Mildred and William sold the 11 acres in 1858 and used it to buy 25 acres in the neighboring county of Medina, Ohio. They resided on this land for five years before they sold it in 1863 and moved to Michigan to homestead. The couple spent the remainder of their lives together.
The Civil War began and while in Ohio Joseph Brand Davis registered to fight in the Civil War in June 1863. Records do not state whether he ended up fighting in the war. Following his registration, he moved to Michigan.
After he arrived in Joyfield Township, Benzie County, Michigan, he was married to Mary Belle Imes. The couple had a son, Horace Burr Davis, in 1865. Horace was the first child born in Joyfield Township. They also had three additional children: Mildred Ann Davis born in 1871, George Grant Davis born in 1872, and Mary Belle Davis born in 1874.
On May 21, 1868, Joseph Brand Davis filed homestead application #902 for 160 acres of land in Benzie County, Michigan. His claim was next to homesteaders he knew well, his step-father, William Davis, and mother, Mildred Ann (Brand) Davis. Joseph Brand Davis built a log house and a barn on his homestead. He received his patent certificate #61 on November 1, 1872.
In 1898, Joseph Brand Davis donated 2 acres of his homestead land to the Reorganized Church of the Latter-Day Saints to build a church. This church opened its doors to people of color and Indigenous people.
Mary Belle (Imes) Davis died in about 1899. Following her death, Davis remarried in 1900. According to the 1910 census, Davis and his third wife, Rose Ann Timms, had six additional children: Booker T. Davis born in 1903, Lizzie A. Davis born in 1904, Lallin C. Davis born in 1906, Esther Mae Davis born in 1907, Ralph Lloyd Davis born in 1908, and Glen Leroy Davis born in 1910. The family continued to live in Joyfield Township until Joseph Brand Davis’s death in 1915. Davis was buried in Joyfield Cemetery in Joyfield township, Michigan. The 160 acres are no longer owned by the family.
~ This homestead history was contributed by Dr. Shelley Viola Murphy. She notes, "Family oral history has been passed down through generations that near Joseph’s land is a tree, which still stands today and, five family members are buried around that tree."
More about Dr. Shelley Viola Murphy
Dr. Shelley Viola Murphy is the great grandneice of Joseph Brand Davis. 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.
Dr. 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). Also, she is 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.