James Percival Davenport with his wife Arletta Francelia Hawver and their daughters,
Ada May (Top L), Ethel Vere (Top-R) and Edna Clara (R, my Grandmother)
Ada May (Top L), Ethel Vere (Top-R) and Edna Clara (R, my Grandmother)
James Percival Davenport, 1842-1905
J.P. Davenport, my great Grandfather, was born in Arlington, Virginia, on Feb. 11, 1842 to Samuel Breck Davenport and Mary Ophelia Hunt.. His family moved to Kings County, New York where he lived until he enlisted as a Marine at the beginning of the Civil War on Aug. 20, 1861. He served in the Pacific Fleet out of San Francisco aboard the U.S. Steamer Lancaster, sailing to ports in Mexico. Panama and Chile.
After his honorable discharge as a Private on Sept. 7, 1865, he joined his family in Nevada City, California as a mining engineer and tax collector. In 1869 he returned to San Francisco for a short time as a merchant, and then on to New York for several years where he married Arletta Hawver. After their first child, Ada May, was born the small family settled in San Francisco where he spent the next 14 years as a produce importer agent traveling between San Francisco and Portland, Oregon.
In 1893 or 4 the family, now numbering five, moved to Los Angeles where he listed his occupation as Commercial Traveler. He was elected the the Los Angeles City Council for a term but his life ended tragically when the train car he was riding on was side-swiped and he was crushed in the accident. He died on the way to the hospital on Dec. 1, 1905, just 2 months short of his 64th birthday. He is buried in the Davenport/Hawver family plot next to the Crow/Kanaga plot in Angeles Rosedale Cemetery in downtown Los Angeles.
After his honorable discharge as a Private on Sept. 7, 1865, he joined his family in Nevada City, California as a mining engineer and tax collector. In 1869 he returned to San Francisco for a short time as a merchant, and then on to New York for several years where he married Arletta Hawver. After their first child, Ada May, was born the small family settled in San Francisco where he spent the next 14 years as a produce importer agent traveling between San Francisco and Portland, Oregon.
In 1893 or 4 the family, now numbering five, moved to Los Angeles where he listed his occupation as Commercial Traveler. He was elected the the Los Angeles City Council for a term but his life ended tragically when the train car he was riding on was side-swiped and he was crushed in the accident. He died on the way to the hospital on Dec. 1, 1905, just 2 months short of his 64th birthday. He is buried in the Davenport/Hawver family plot next to the Crow/Kanaga plot in Angeles Rosedale Cemetery in downtown Los Angeles.
Click to enlarge image
Sources:
- Obituary. James P. Davenport. Los Angeles Herald Dec. 2, 1905. p. 2, col. 2 “May go tomorrow said Mr. Davenport at reunion Thursday”
- Cemetery. Angeles Rosedale, Los Angeles, California. Section I Headstone
- Obituary. Arletta Davenport. Los Angeles Times. Aug 12, 1913. p. I12
- Census. 1850 Nov. 9 New York, Kings Co., Flatbush Twp. p. 80
- Census. 1860 Jun. 11. New York, Kings Co., Town of New Lots. p. 21
- Census. 1880 Jun 7. California, San Francisco, p. 6, SD 1, ED 5A.
- Census. 1890 June. Veterans'. ED 128, SD 1, page 1.
- Census. 1900 Jun 5 California. Los Angeles City, p. 164A, SD 6, ED 54
- Census. 1910 Apr 15. California. Los Angeles City. p. 133B, SD 7, ED 208
- Census. 1920 Jan. 8. California. Los Angeles. SD 8, ED 460 Sheet 6B
- Census. 1930 Apr. 23. California. La Crescenta, Flintridge. SD 15, ED 19-1042, Sheet 3A
- City Directory. San Francisco. 1871-1888.
- Newspaper. “Notes and Personals.” Los Angeles Times 26 July 1903.
- Marriage announcement. Watertown (NY) Re-Union, 23 Nov 1871, p. 5 Davenport-Hawes [sic]
- Death record. Los Angeles Co. 1913 Aug. 12 #25081
- Marriage index. California Co. Marriages, 1850-1952
- Voters registration. California. San Francisco 1869- Voters registration. California. Los Angeles, 1892-
- Voters registration. Caliifornia. Nevada Co. 1867-
- Book. Bean, Edwin F.. Bean's history and directory of Nevada County, California : containing a complete history of the county, with sketches of the various towns and mining camps, the names and occupation of residents : also, full statistics of mining and all other industrial resources. Nevada: Printed at the Daily Gazette Book and Job Office, 1867.
- Navy Survivors' Pension Files (Approved), 1861-1910. National Archives Microfiche Publication M1469. Cert. No 00034165, 47p. 1892-1906.
- City Directory. Oregon, Portland. R.L. Polk & Co. 1889-1891.
- Find a Grave. Memorial #39443029 findagrave.com
- Book. Davenport, Robert Ralsey. Davenport Genealogy: History and genealogy of the ancestors and descendants of the Rev. John Davenport, founder of New Haven, Connecticut, and of Yale College. 1982. This volume is available free at books.familysearch.com but please note that it does contain some inaccurate information about this family.
