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Note: his grandfather] kept an old musket over his cabin door out near Mineral Point road. He was over 6 feet and very straight. One time a friend gave him eggs to set. It turned out that several were fighting cocks. Tom saved one, and kept him penned up and called him 'Toppy.'
In March 1889, according to the statement on his death certificate, Joseph D. Davey died, leaving his widow Mary Louise with 3 minor children to raise. Mary's oldest son, Joseph Thomas Davey was 24 years old and still single, working as a miner. He struggled to be the provider for the family, but in 1891, we see a garnishment suit against him, by the grocer, F. W, Stratman, in the sum of $53.81. At first, the judgement was rendered in favor of the defendant, because the plaintiff couldn't provide his account book as evidence. It was destroyed in a fire.
The plaintiff was permitted to have the case reopened because he was at last able produce a written memorandum of the products and the prices, and the dates purchased. Joseph Davey's attorneys, in the meantime, had secondarily garnisheed Evan W. Williams, who owed Joe for a load of "dry bone" a name given to the byproduct of the lead mines, a form of zinc. Joe was, in the end, adjudged to be innocent.
From papers on file at the U of W at Platteville: "Joseph T. Davey, about 74, and Nicholas Tredinnick worked together in Michigan mines in the 80's. Like many Wisconsin Cornish miners, they left their homes for Michigan, worked until their little "pile" was made, and then returned home to Wisconsin. Nicholas said he went once to Michigan. Joseph went 5 different times, working at Calumet and Bessemer, and he said he worked at Bessemer when there wasn't a church!"
In 1892, Joseph Thomas Davey married the daughter of Civil War veteran, Elisha Tyrer; her name was Ida Belle. The Tyrer family was among the earliest settlers of Iowa County, Wisconsin, and could be traced back to state of New York, and before that, Wendell, Massachusetts, to the American Revolution. Their first child, a son Edgar, was born in 1893. A second son, Elmer, was born in 1894, and daughter Elva was born in 1896.
Ida Belle's father, Elisha, suffered greatly from rheumatic arthritis and chronic diarrhea, resulting from his exposure to severe weather and disease during the War of the Rebellion. He tried to continue working for his income as a miner, but could only work about 1/2 a day at a time. In 1893, there was a nationwide financial panic, which threw the largest local employer, the Mineral Point Zinc Company into financial turmoil as well. In terms of the Davey family, this threw Elisha Tyrer, Joe T. Davey and his brother-in-law, Eli, out of work, possibly without collecting the pay owed them. In March 1894, this resulted in a garnishment suit against them by S. Hocking and Co. Their attorneys initiated a garnishment suit against the Mineral Point Zinc Co. for the pay they were owed. This resulted in the case being settled, with the defendants Elisha, Eli and Joe able to pay the claims and costs of the suit.
In the meantime, Joe Thomas Davey's family was growing rapidly, with the additions of Aldro, Eva and J.T. junior. In 1901, tragedy struck, with the death of the oldest boy, Edgar Leroy of heart disease, at age 8 years. In 1903, another child died the second oldest, Elmer Thomas Davey.
His obituary says:
"Elmer Davey Falls From Telephone Pole-Death Resulted. Thursday evening Elmer Davey, the 12-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Davey, met with an accident, which resulted in his death a few hours later.
"The boy, with a number of companions, was playing near the corner of Iowa and Main Streets, in the vicinity of the City Bank. A "dare" was given to climb the telephone pole to a platform where the cable leads into the telephone office, a distance of twenty-four feet from the ground. Young Davey reached the platform, and in turning to come down, missed his footing and fell to the ground, striking the cement walk. His skull was crushed in and other injuries were received.
"The boy was taken to his home on Division street, where he died a few hours later.
"The funeral was held Sunday afternoon at 2 o'clock."
In 1908, as the mines began to play out, Joe T. Davey, along with many other miners, followed the jobs where he could find them. In April, this brought trouble of a different nature down upon his head:
"State of Wisconsin Vs. Joe Davey
"Edward Berryman, being duly sworn and examined on oath by and before me, a justice of the peace, in and for said county, makes complaint and says that Joe Davey did, on the 7th day of April, AD, 1908, at the City of Dodgeville in said county, unlawfully vote at the city election at Dodgeville held on the 7th day of April, 1908."
The concluding statement by the district attorney reads:
"To the Honorable Circuit Court:
"I have made full examination of all the facts and circumstances connected with the alleged offense set forth in the complaint in the above entitled action and have consulted with the complaining witness, Mr. Edward Berryman, and have come to the conclusion that no further information should be filed, and Mr. Berryman is of the same opinion. The prosecution was commenced in good faith and had some semblance of a good foundation upon which to rest. At the preliminary hearing, it was shown that the defendant and family were living outside the city limits about one mile and a half where he was working in a mine. He went there to be near his work.
"At the spring election of 1908, he voted in the city where he had always voted before that time, although he had lived in the town for eight or ten months before that time. At that time, he claimed, I am informed by Mr. Berryman, that he intended to move back into the city and that he had letters to show that he had been trying to get a house for sometime before.
"I am also credibly informed that the defendant had been seeking a house in the city before the election. I am convinced that the defendant will go on the stand and swear that he only went out of the city to be near his work and that he had no intention of making it his home, and that all the time he had the intention of coming back into the city just as soon as his work ended, and Mr. Berryman informed me he had no way of disproving it.
"I am therefore of the opinion that the prosecution would fail and that I ought not to incur the costs of a trial. Dated March, 1909 J.P. Smelker, District Attorney"
In this same year, Joe left the state of Wisconsin and found work in Illinois. "Davey said he prospected around Elizabeth, Illinois in the vicinity of Galena. The farmer who owned the land kept him in room and board. He never made a cent. He was also asked to come down to an Illinois town [name not given] by a company to clean ore at a time when it was all done by hand. When he reached the place, another man had been hired and Davey refuse to take any money for the trip down and expenses involved. He said he was paid in the end because they always bought his ore and evidently paid him a little more. [see appendix for the notes of Becky Higgins]."
John Letcher, 'batching it'- [living temporarily like a bachelor] with Joseph (Josie) Davey and a brother of Mrs. Frank Jenkins of Rewey, said how the place, before it was their cottage, was used by miners coming from the mines to clean up. Joe, contradicted, saying there was never enough water for that. Address of the cottage, West Spring Street, Dodgeville."
Joe did not take his family with him to Illinois, and did not send any money to his wife, Ida Belle, for support of the children. These facts come from the divorce papers that Ida Belle filed against Joe in 1913. Ida Belle had born 10 children, with the births of Mayme, Amos, Charley and Willard, but the family was larger than Ida was able to support on her own. The three girls, Elva, Eva and Mayme were farmed out to other families at tender young ages. Eva went to work doing light housekeeping for her board and keep, when she was eight years old. Because of this early separation, she seemed not to have known about her family's pioneering past, nor her mother's family's ties to the American Revolution. Ida's divorce decree became final in 1913.
Dodgeville Chronicle, Sept. 19, 1957 issue:
"Joseph T. Davey, 92, is Called in Death. Joseph T. Davey, 92, lifelong Dodgeville resident and retired miner, died Thursday, Sept. 12, in a Dodgeville hospital after a long illness. Funeral services were held Saturday afternoon in the Luloff Funeral Home."
"Survivors include a son, Willard, 336 N. Court St, Madison. He is also survived by three daughters, Mrs. Elva Roberts, Dodgeville; Mrs. R. G. Boquett [should say, 'Poquette'], Los Angeles, California; Mrs. Alex Engel, Beloit; four sons, Aldro, Joseph, Jr, Charles and Amos, all of Dodgeville; a brother, Fred, Chicago, IL; a sister, Mrs. Mamie Thomas, Detroit, Michigan; seven grandchildren, 31 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild."
Note: Thomas Stephens' grandson, Joseph T. Davey, reported that 'Tom Stephens [
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