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Note: capt. elias 'e.p.' davis, jr, born in prince william county, virginia in 1810, grew to have an instrumental hand in the civilizing of his adopted land, carter county, kentucky. at the age of seven he moved with his family from prince william to hillsboro, fleming, kentucky, where his father elias sr., and older brother frank reno davis, are considered pioneers. like his grandfather richard davis of pwc and a number of HIS descendants, elias utilized a useful combination of lettered knowledge and backwoods survival technique. at hillsboro, e.p. apparently took well to the teaching of schoolmaster douglas irby winn, whose daughter myrtilla also attended. e.p. and myrtilla were married in april 1836 by rev. benjamin nortcott, from a prominent family of ministers, whose brother wrote an early history of the county. in 1837 e.p. and myrtilla moved to carter county. they appear on the 1839 county tax rolls. on or about 3 apr 1838 e.p., on becoming its first postmaster, named 'olive(r) hill' after the neighborhood's oldest resident. he would later move to grayson, the county seat, in 1855. e.p. and myrtilla generally accepted boarders and were listed as innkeepers in the 1850 census. e.p. was perhaps the area's most prominent whig and later was considered the informal republican party 'boss.' he held a number of offices early in his career, including that of sheriff in 1850, before settling in as carter county circuit court clerk for the better part of 4 decades. his signature appears on hundreds of ancestrally-relevant documents such as wills and deeds, as do the signatures of his two sons, who were being literally raised in the county courts. the circuit court clerks of old literally 'made the circuit' on horseback to outlying areas which had urgent business. davis was no different. soon a new reality would shatter the peaceful antebellum veneer of davis' northeastern kentucky; a little hostility known in the north as 'the civil war.' e.p. and his neighbors formed the carter county home guards, a small but deadly band of non-partisan protectors of county interests in general, especially of local lives and property. several of e.p.'s daughters married heroes of the home guards/40th. e.p.'s toughness, sense of ethics and his mobility made him an elemental member of both the carter county home guards and its evolutionary unit, the 40th mounted kentucky volunteer infantry, usa. the home guards were making a name for themselves in a number of daring moves; the little band ambushed a vast force of gen. john hunt morgan, csa, apparently coming quite close to morgan before disappearing into the brush. the rattled general ordered the burning of olive hill in retaliation. next they descended on the camp of the bloody and inept 37th kentucky cavalry csa, killing several key members before again being gone. it is thought that davis had numerous connections in d.c. and may have even known gen. winfield scott personally. davis is also thought to have been a primary organizer of the 40th on its inception at grayson. davis offered the use of the county courthouse as the 40th's command center, and hatched a plan to preserve the county's precious legal records. they heavily fortified the courthouse, then removed the files by night to caves on the property of the 40th's quartermaster, where they stayed for almost four years 'til the end of the war. this compiler believes the overly-protected courthouse was intended to be a trap for morgan, who never came. but they would encounter him again. the 40th generated glowing reports from command in washington for their agressive fighting and tactical usefulness in increasingly pivotal skirmishes, until they spearheaded the union's push to purge kentucky of the csa. with the 40th out in front, the u.s. 2nd chased morgan's army 470 miles from cynthiana to cumberland river to lexington (thru the gap) in under 11 days, out of kentucky altogether. during davis' later years, hatfield-mccoy raged in nearby counties. davis certainly was a witness to this and a number of nasty local feuds such as underwood-holbrook, whose participants included members of his old unit, the ky 40th. note: i have since determined that william underwood was a fellow court officer of davis' before the war; e.p. testified in the investigation of the 1872 election scandal evidencing a familiarity with squire holbrook. these 2 were known to have participated in the bloody feud. in the decades after the war, honest men seemed to diminish, while populations crowded in and the criminal element bulged. davis' influence faded as a less centralized, more permanent and diverse government came into being. but, davis' sons, watson andrew and richard douglas became the boyd and carter county judges who would hear the cases of these criminal acts, some quite heinous. from early families of eastern and southeastern kentucky and their descendants, by william c. kozee pp. 156-157: "elias p. davis, public official, was b. in prince william county, virginia, february 14, 1810; educated in the public schools of prince william county; removed with his parents to fleming county, kentucky, where he resided for ten years when in 1837 he removed to carter county, kentucky, where he rose to distinction as a public official and citizen. he held many positions of honor and trust and his performance of duty in all of them was very creditable. he served as sheriff of carter county, 1851; circuit court clerk 1851-1884; and county court clerk 1854-1882. a staunch union man, he had service in the union army in the civil war in company "D", 40th kentucky volunteer mt'd. infantry; was enrolled march 28, 1864; mustered in a first lieutenant, april 12, 1864, at lexington kentucky, for one year; promoted from first lieutenant to captain and mustered out at catlettsburg, kentucky, december 30, 1864." "mr. davis was a prominent whig and subsequently was a member of the republican party after its organization. he was a skilled politician, of pleasing personality and a colorful figure. he died march 8, 1884. interment at grayson, kentucky." in the 1850 and 1880 carter co. census, his household included a number of boarders, including his court clerks in the 1880 count. this surely helped enable the court to assemble rapidly in case of a situation. capt. elias 'e.p.' davis, jr, born in prince william county, virginia in 1810, grew to have an instrumental hand in the civilizing of his adopted land, carter county, kentucky. at the age of seven he moved with his family from prince william to hillsboro, fleming, kentucky, where his father elias sr., and older brother frank reno davis, are considered pioneers. like his grandfather richard davis of pwc and a number of HIS descendants, elias utilized a useful combination of lettered knowledge and backwoods survival technique. at hillsboro, e.p. apparently took well to the teaching of schoolmaster douglas irby winn, whose daughter myrtilla also attended. e.p. and myrtilla were married in april 1836 by rev. benjamin nortcott, from a prominent family of ministers, whose brother wrote an early history of the county. in 1837 e.p. and myrtilla moved to carter county. they appear on the 1839 county tax rolls. on or about 3 apr 1838 e.p., on becoming its first postmaster, named 'olive(r) hill' after the neighborhood's oldest resident. he would later move to grayson, the county seat, in 1855. e.p. and myrtilla generally accepted boarders and were listed as innkeepers in the 1850 census. e.p. was perhaps the area's most prominent whig and later was considered the informal republican party 'boss.' he held a number of offices early in his career, including that of sheriff in 1850, before settling in as carter county circuit court clerk for the better part of 4 decades. his signature appears on hundreds of ancestrally-relevant documents such as wills and deeds, as do the signatures of his two sons, who were being literally raised in the county courts. the circuit court clerks of old literally 'made the circuit' on horseback to outlying areas which had urgent business. davis was no different. soon a new reality would shatter the peaceful antebellum veneer of davis' northeastern kentucky; a little hostility known in the north as 'the civil war.' e.p. and his neighbors formed the carter county home guards, a small but deadly band of non-partisan protectors of county interests in general, especially of local lives and property. several of e.p.'s daughters married heroes of the home guards/40th. e.p.'s toughness, sense of ethics and his mobility made him an elemental member of both the carter county home guards and its evolutionary unit, the 40th mounted kentucky volunteer infantry, usa. the home guards were making a name for themselves in a number of daring moves; the little band ambushed a vast force of gen. john hunt morgan, csa, apparently coming quite close to morgan before disappearing into the brush. the rattled general ordered the burning of olive hill in retaliation. next they descended on the camp of the bloody and inept 7th kentucky cavalry csa, killing several key members before again being gone. it is thought that davis had numerous connections in d.c. and may have even known gen. winfield scott personally. davis is also thought to have been a primary organizer of the 40th on its inception at grayson. davis offered the use of the county courthouse as the 40th's command center, and hatched a plan to preserve the county's precious legal records. they heavily fortified the courthouse, then removed the files by night to caves on the property of the 40th's quartermaster, where they stayed for almost four years 'til the end of the war. this compiler believes the overly-protected courthouse was intended to be a trap for morgan, who never came. but they would encounter him again. the 40th generated glowing reports from command in washington for their agressive fighting and tactical usefulness in increasingly pivotal skirmishes, until they spearheaded the union's push to purge kentucky of the csa. with the 40th out in front, the u.s. 2nd chased morgan's army 470 miles from cynthiana to cumberland river to lexington (thru the gap) in under 11 days, out of kentucky altogether. during davis' later years, hatfield-mccoy raged in nearby counties. davis certainly was a witness to this and a number of nasty local feuds such as underwood-holbrook, whose participants included members of his old unit, the ky 40th. note: i have since determined that william underwood was a fellow court officer of davis' before the war; e.p. testified in the investigation of the 1872 election scandal evidencing a familiarity with squire holbrook. these 2 were known to have participated in the bloody feud. in the decades after the war, honest men seemed to diminish, while populations crowded in and the criminal element bulged. davis' influence faded as a less centralized, more permanent and diverse government came into being. but, davis' sons, watson andrew and richard douglas became the boyd and carter county judges who would hear the cases of these criminal acts, some quite heinous. from early families of eastern and southeastern kentucky and their descendants, by william c. kozee pp. 156-157: "elias p. davis, public official, was b. in prince william county, virginia, february 14, 1810; educated in the public schools of prince william county; removed with his parents to fleming county, kentucky, where he resided for ten years when in 1837 he removed to carter county, kentucky, where he rose to distinction as a public official and citizen. he held many positions of honor and trust and his performance of duty in all of them was very creditable. he served as sheriff of carter county, 1851; circuit court clerk 1851-1884; and county court clerk 1854-1882. a staunch union man, he had service in the union army in the civil war in company "D", 40th kentucky volunteer mt'd. infantry; was enrolled march 28, 1864; mustered in a first lieutenant, april 12, 1864, at lexington kentucky, for one year; promoted from first lieutenant to captain and mustered out at catlettsburg, kentucky, december 30, 1864." "mr. davis was a prominent whig and subsequently was a member of the republican party after its organization. he was a skilled politician, of pleasing personality and a colorful figure. he died march 8, 1884. interment at grayson, kentucky." in the 1850 and 1880 carter co. census, his household included a number of boarders, including his court clerks in the 1880 count. this surely helped enable the court to assemble rapidly in case of a situation.
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