Samuel George Davis

     I've neglected this blog for so long that I almost forgot I had a blog.  What better way to get back into writing and revive my dead bog than to participate in Amy Crow Johnson's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge.  I found out about this challenge in one of my genealogy groups on Facebook.  Each week there will be a different theme, a word or phrase to prompt  us to write and it can be about anything.  Week 1 is "First".  I had already decided that this week's post would be about my great-grandfather, Samuel George Davis because today was his birthday and also my son's birthday.  Although I had chosen to write about my great-grandfather, I couldn't think of a "first" for him until I sat and thought about his life.
     Samuel George Davis was born 5 January 1885 in Spring Hill, Ohio to Daniel J Davis who was originally from Ulster County, New York and Flora H Braught from Ohio.  Daniel and Flora were both deaf-mutes who lost their hearing at a young age due to Scarlet Fever.  Samuel was healthy and his hearing was fine.  I don't know if growing up with deaf parents and a father who drank contributed to his behavioral problems but this boy ended up in a reform school.  Imagine my surprise when I saw this tidbit of information on the 1900 federal census.  The census showed him with his parents and in the column for occupation it states 'at Lancaster Reform School' but for his younger sister it just states 'at school'.  I looked up Lancaster Reform School on the internet and found that at the time of my great-grandfather's incarceration or should I say 'detention' since he wasn't an actual 'prisoner', this institution was called Boys Industrial School and was located in Fairfield County.  I called the Ohio Historical Society to inquire about obtaining a copy of Samuel's record.  The lady I spoke to was helpful and friendly.  I mailed my payment along with the name, date of birth and record #, and received a copy of the 'inmate record' with a brief history of the institution about a week later.
     Samuel Davis was admitted to the Boys Industrial School 17 January 1899, just 12 days after his 14th birthday.  The case record has his personal information such as name, date and place of birth, parents names and current residence.  His nationality is listed as German-Irish.  There is a column for health and special marks which has a physical description.  There are columns for education and employment.  The miscellaneous column asks about profanity, tobacco and alcohol use which there is none but he is listed as truant.  For the commitment column it is shown that he was committed by the probate court in Henry County.  He is a first time convict and his offense is being Incorrigible and a Truant.  Let's go back to the miscellaneous column...   at the bottom it is written that he is "pleasant" with a "bright face".  So, my great-grandfather, Samuel George Davis was a pleasant, incorrigible truant.  He was lucky though because before this school was established, young offenders were housed with adult felons.  The new school had boys living in cottages, being treated as students rather than prisoners, and worked the farm along with academic classes. There was a demerit system at this school.  Samuel was released 9 August 1900.
     By 1910, Samuel was living with his parents and younger sister in Brooklyn, NY according to the federal census.  I don't know when he moved from Ohio to New York but found his parents in the 1905 New York state census living at a different address in Brooklyn.
     In December of 1916, Samuel married Josephine Duper and the following June, their first born daughter, my grandmother, Eleanor was born.  They had four more children, each born about two years apart.
     At some point the marriage fell apart.  I don't know if it had been crumbling for years but by 1930, I found my grandmother, Eleanor living with her maternal grandmother according to the federal census.  I did not find Samuel or Josephine in 1930, nor did I find their sons.  There was another daughter who was born in 1923 and tragically died in 1927, a day before their youngest son's first birthday.  I don't know where Josephine was in 1930 but I think the boys stayed with their father who didn't bother answering the census.  I wonder if Josephine had a breakdown due to her daughter's death and was in a hospital at the time the census was taken?  I met my grandmother's cousin years ago (long after my grandmother had died) and she told me that the boys stayed with their father upstate and their mother lived in Brooklyn and would sometimes visit on the weekends.  She said that her mother (Samuel's sister) used to help care for the boys.  She loved her Uncle Sammy.  She described him as a man who liked to drink a lot and when he was drunk he would buy the neighborhood kids ice cream.  I guess he was a jolly drunk.  I don't know if he consoled himself with alcohol after the death of three year old Dorothy or if he had been drinking for years.  His reform school record described his father as intemperate.  I wonder if he was prone to drinking because of his father?  He died of stomach cancer in July of 1947.

Samuel George Davis 1885-1947  great-grandfather
 
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