Person Page

     Thomas Hilton was born in 1491. He was the son of William Hilton and Sibyl (Sybil) Lumley. Thomas Hilton married Elizabeth Clarvaux, daughter of John Clarvaux of Croft, before 1543. Thomas Hilton married Anne Hurleston, daughter of Clement Hurleston, before 1544. Thomas Hilton married Elizabeth Boynton, daughter of Henry Boynton, before 1545. Thomas Hilton married Agnes Baxter before 1558. Thomas Hilton died before and was buried on 17 January 1560/61.
     
In 1536, Thomas (also known as Sir Thomas Hilton, Knight) was one of the leaders of the Pilgrimage of Grace, the major thrust of which was to halt Henry VIII's campaign against the monasteries.¹

During the reign of Mary I (1553 to 1558), Thomas was Governor of Tynemouth Castle, "so he was obviously a Roman Catholic."¹

In 1588, Sir Thomas was reprimanded by the Privy Council for " 'pirating' a ship from Flanders laden with salt."

He died childless after 4 marriages and the Hylton Estate was inherited by his brother Sir William Hilton of Biddick (somewhere around 1560/61, I would assume).²

The inquest on the death of Thomas Hilton, Knight, was 25 September 1561. "Holder of the manor of Hilton with one military fief except the tenth part, the Manors of North Biddick, Little Usworth, Follonsby, Forth and Grindon." Click here and you will find the Will of Thomas Hilton.¹

     Anne Hylton married Ralph Hedworth. Anne Hylton was born in 1513. She was the daughter of William Hilton and Sibyl (Sybil) Lumley.

     Ralph Hedworth married Anne Hylton, daughter of William Hilton and Sibyl (Sybil) Lumley.

     Margaret Pigott of Clotherham married Sir James Metcalfe of Nappa Hall, Wensleydale before 1515?.¹

     Elbert Willard Davis was born on 30 November 1894 at home on 2716 Austin Street, Houston, Harris County, Texas. He was the son of James Oliver Davis and Rozina Phebe Fairchild. Willard married Alice Marie Kingman, daughter of Morrison McMillan Kingman and Sarah Ellen Utterback, on 12 April 1917 at Berkeley, Alameda County, California.³ Willard died on 6 August 1971 in Berkeley, Alameda County, California, at age 76 years, 8 months and 7 days. A Masonic funeral service was held for him at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, August 8, 1971, at the McNary and Morgan Chapel, 3030 Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley.⁴ His ashes were buried in the Davis Family Plot on 23 August 1971 at Mt. View Cemetery, 5000 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland, Alameda County, California.⁵
     
Elbert Willard Davis was always known as Willard Davis, and also called Bill by some friends and Paw by his grandchildren.

Willard appeared on the census of 1900 in the household of James Oliver Davis and Rozina Phebe Fairchild at York Street, Houston, Harris County, Texas. J.O. was listed as a Civil Engineer, Fred (12) and Richard (10) were shown as being in school. John (7), Willard (5) and Helen (3) were also shown in the household. Rozina's parents, Reuben and Huldah Fairchild, were also listed as being part of the household at this time.⁶

Willard graduated from Berkeley High School in 1913 and from the University of California at Berkeley in 1917 where he was a track star and member of Theta Chi fraternity.

To paraphrase a newspaper article: On May 31, 1917, while engaged in farming at Emerald, California, Elbert Willard Davis saved Victor F. Cesmat, 28, a tractor engineer from drowning. Cesmat fell from a boat into a slough of the San Joaquin River and remained under the surface. Willard dived from the bank twelve feet from the man, found Cesmat at the bottom of the river and grasped his arm. Cesmat got back of Willard and took hold of him at the hips and they drifted eighty feet in a swift current, being under the surface most of the time. Willard's father, J.O. Davis, who was nearby, paddled a boat to the boys and rescued them hanging from the limb of a tree. They were exhausted. Cesmat weighed about 200. Young Willard was in splendid training physically, which aided him in the rescue.

In October 1920 Willard was voted to receive the Carnegie Hero Award for this rescue (Willard's granddaughter Kerry Davis has the Carnegie Medal in her posession after receiving it from her Uncle Keith Davis after his death in 2007). A brief synopsis of two news articles from probably a Modesto paper, dated 10/30/1920 and a Berkeley or San Francisco paper about the same week, can be seen if you click here.

Williard attended law school at UC Berkeley and was admitted to the bar of the State of California in 1919.

The family moved sometime between 1918 and 1920 to 2908 Russell Street, Berkeley, Alameda County, California. This wonderful, old and rather large Craftsman style house is still located just down the street from the Claremont Hotel.⁷

Willard and Marie are shown on the California Voter Registration list of November 6, 1934, as registered Republicans, living at 2908 Russell Street in Berkeley. Willard's occupation is Attorney-at-Law, and Marie is listed as Housewife.⁸

Willard was the Assistant Attorney for the State Banking Department in California. Later he had a private law practice which was originally called Rosehime, Hoffman, Davis & Martin, and name later changed to Hoffman, Davis & Moon; always located at 111 Sutter Street in San Francisco, California where he worked on a daily basis until the day he died.⁹

Wilkins Kenneth Kingman (nephew of Willard and Marie [Kingman] Davis) shared this memory of Willard with his granddaughter Kerry Davis: "I remember (at the age of fourteen in 1947) taking your Grandfather, Willard, into the Horseshoe Basin at the head of Lake Chelan, to look at some mining property. My Father and Uncle Keith sent me down to Bridge Creek to meet him to escort him back to Rouse's Camp in the lower Horseshoe Basin, on foot. Willard was dressed in a three pieced suit and dress shoes so he made quite an impression on me! By the time we reached Rouse's Camp he had on only his shoes, pants and white shirt, having removed everything else by then due to the heat. Time marches on. . . . ."

After reading this reminiscence from Kenny Kingman, I realized that I really only remember seeing "Paw" in a dark suit, tie and white shirt; it was so rare that I can hardly remember ever seeing him dressed otherwise! (KSD).¹⁰

Willard's granddaughter Kerry Davis' memories of him: As already stated, Paw was always dressed in coat and vest, looking like the proper lawyer he was. He also always carried a wonderful gold Waltham pocket watch (made between 1877 & 1883) in his vest pocket which I remember him taking out often to look at. The watch belonged to his father J.O. Davis and after Paw died it went to his son Keith Davis; when Keith died, the watch came to me and I expect I'll pass it on to one of Paw's great or greatgreatgrandsons one day.

Paw was a generous, kindly, and smiling grandfather who would always pull silver dollars from his pocket for his grandchildren. While somewhat reserved like his wife, Marie, he was also a bit of a teaser and seemed much more comfortable with children than Marie did. I remember, back in what were most likely the 1940s and 1950s, Paw taking me to Tilden Park to ride the merry-go-round and the ponies, and also strolling through the UC Berkeley campus with him hand-in-hand on sunny days -- looking at The Campanile and Sather Gate. I was always at ease and comfortable with Paw and find it very sad that he was so estranged from his son Keith -- he probably had great expectations of his sons and no understanding of mental illness like Marie did.

We grandchildren were told that Paw was quite a running and track star while at UC Berkeley, and that he won a famous foot race up and down Mt. Tamalpais in those days circa1915. He passed this athletic ability along to his son Keith who was a track star and runner himself at UC Berkeley, and his son Kenneth who was a champion skier at UC Berkeley and a rock climber -- both sons were big outdoorsmen and hikers. Here is a photo of Paw NOT in that famous three piece suit!²

For 46 years, from about 1925 to his death in 1971, Willard was very involved with the Masons, and Masonic rites were conducted at his funeral. He was a past master of the Francis K. Shattuck Lodge No. 571, F and AM, of Berkeley; served as inspector for the 33rd Masonic district, was an assistant grand lecturer and grand lecturer, and was a charter member of the Northern Research Lodge of California.¹¹

     Alice Marie Kingman was born on 16 April 1894 in Chelan, Chelan County, Washington. Marie shares this April 16th birthdate with her great granddaughter Robyn Eliza Greene, as well as her son Kenneth's mother-in-law, Mabel Margaret O'Bryan Bean.¹ She was the daughter of Morrison McMillan Kingman and Sarah Ellen Utterback. Marie married Elbert Willard Davis, son of James Oliver Davis and Rozina Phebe Fairchild, on 12 April 1917 at Berkeley, Alameda County, California.² Marie died on 17 May 1974 at Alta Bates Hospital, Berkeley, Alameda County, California, at age 80 of metastatic carcinoma from breast cancer. She was cremated and buried in the Davis Family Plot on 23 May 1974 at Mt. View Cemetery, 5000 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland, Alameda County, California.³
     
Marie graduated from UC Berkeley in 1917. Not sure what her degree was in but she always had a great interest in literature, psychology and nutrition.⁴

The family moved sometime between 1918 and 1920 to 2908 Russell Street, Berkeley, Alameda County, California. This wonderful, old and rather large Craftsman style house is still located just down the street from the Claremont Hotel.⁵

Willard and Marie are shown on the California Voter Registration list of November 6, 1934, as registered Republicans, living at 2908 Russell Street in Berkeley. Willard's occupation is Attorney-at-Law, and Marie is listed as Housewife.⁶

Some memories of Marie from her granddaughter, Kerry Davis: Nana was quite a shy woman and always spoke softly, holding one hand near or in front of her mouth. She seemed rather tall to me and I remember my grandfather Paw always called her "a fine figure of a woman." Her son Keith looked very much like her and certainly had her reserve to an extreme. They both loved cats! She had a kind though shy and unassuming expression. She was a big reader, the house was filled to the gills with reading matter -- I seem to remember some more or less unused upstairs rooms were stacked with books. I, as well as my father before me, seem to have inherited that particular gene! None of us ever came across a book we could bare to discard. Nana had a great interest in Dad's work, science, atomic energy, peaceful uses of nuclear power, etc., and always liked talking with him about what he was doing -- I believe she also understood the subject matter very well, too. She had a great interest in UFOs and the paranormal and I often wonder if she didn't attend seances earlier in the 20th century when they were so popular. She also read a lot of psychology books and liked discussing the subject; I think she rather fancied herself an expert amateur, although some of her children and grandchildren had rather serious psychological problems throughout their lives -- perhaps this is why her interest was so great. As I remember, she belonged to book clubs and enjoyed meeting with her lady friends. I believe she also enjoyed genealogy, she passed her mother-in-law Rozina's typewritten family genealogy on to me some 40 years ago. Nana was also a very early health food nut! She bought tons of vitamins and supplements, and ate lethicin, soy and grains long before anyone else was probably aware of "health foods" as they are today. Paw called it her rabbit food! My father and his brother Keith, well-indoctrinated, bought vitamins and supplements to the day they died -- and I must say I seem to buy my fair share of them too! Nana was a very intelligent woman, a nice and caring woman, often with a twinkle in her eye, but a very, very reserved woman who found it difficult, nearly impossible, to show affection -- I wish I had known her better.⁴

     James Oliver Davis was born on 2 February 1861 in Brimfield, Peoria County, Illinois.¹ He was the son of Richard Carter Davis and Margaret Keyser. James Oliver Davis married Rozina Phebe Fairchild, daughter of Reuben Henry Fairchild and Huldah Rozina Marsh, on 22 September 1886 in Metamora, Woodford County, Illinois.¹ James Oliver Davis died on 11 December 1944 at Greenville, Greene County, Illinois, at age 83. He was buried at Mt. View Cemetery in Oakland, California in the Davis family plot he had bought in 1908.
     
James Oliver Davis appeared on the census of 9 July 1870 in the household of Richard Carter Davis and Margaret Keyser at Millbrook, Peoria County, Illinois. Richard (35) and Margaret (36) appear on this census together with their family and a couple of employees. Richard's occupation is a farmer, listing the value of his real estate at $8,000 and his personal property at $1,700. The children enumerated with the family at this time are John C. (21), Oliver (18), William (8), Elmer (6), Sarah (4), and Ann (10).

A young man named Fayle Williams (18) from Isle of Man is listed as a farm laborer, and a young woman named something like Therfson Agnes (19) born in Illinois is listed as a servant.²

James Oliver Davis appeared on the census of 14 June 1880 in the household of Richard Carter Davis and Margaret Keyser at Millbrook Township, Peoria County, Illinois. Richard Davis (44) is listed as head of household and a farmer. Margaret Davis (46) is listed as keeping house. The children are listed thusly: John C. (21) at school; Oliver (19) works on farm; Willie (18) works on farm; Elmer (16) works on farm; Sarah (14) at home; Anna (12) at home; Gertrude (9) and Elbert (9).³

He graduated from the University of Illinois in 1886, receiving the degree of Civil Engineer.¹

In 1886 James Oliver Davis and Rozina Phebe Fairchild first settled in Hyde, Colorado. They later "removed" to Denver in 1889; to Houston, Texas, in 1891, and in February, 1907, they removed to Berkeley, California.

James Oliver Davis and Rozina Phebe Fairchild appeared on the census of 1900 living at York Street, Houston, Harris County, Texas. J.O. was listed as a Civil Engineer, Fred (12) and Richard (10) were shown as being in school. John (7), Willard (5) and Helen (3) were also shown in the household. Rozina's parents, Reuben and Huldah Fairchild, were also listed as being part of the household at this time.⁴

James Oliver Davis was admitted to the bar at Houston, Texas in December 1900.¹

     Rozina Phebe Fairchild was born on 15 January 1865 in Metamora, Woodford County, Illinois. She was the daughter of Reuben Henry Fairchild and Huldah Rozina Marsh. Rozina Phebe Fairchild married James Oliver Davis, son of Richard Carter Davis and Margaret Keyser, on 22 September 1886 in Metamora, Woodford County, Illinois.¹ Rozina Phebe Fairchild died on 5 May 1954 in Oakland, Alameda County, California, at age 89 years, 3 months and 20 days.²
     
Rozina P. Fairchild was graduated from the University of Illinois in 1886, receiving the degree of B.L.

In 1886 Rozina Phebe Fairchild and James Oliver Davis first settled in Hyde, Colorado. They later "removed" to Denver in 1889; to Houston, Texas, in 1891, and in February, 1907, they removed to Berkeley, California.

Rozina Phebe Fairchild and James Oliver Davis appeared on the census of 1900 living at York Street, Houston, Harris County, Texas. J.O. was listed as a Civil Engineer, Fred (12) and Richard (10) were shown as being in school. John (7), Willard (5) and Helen (3) were also shown in the household. Rozina's parents, Reuben and Huldah Fairchild, were also listed as being part of the household at this time.³

Rozina was my Great Grandmother and she did most of the Davis family research I have in these genealogy pages. To see some of the documents she compiled and wrote click here.