A Family’s Portal to the Past

Written By Linda Morton

In the southwest corner of Carroll County, where two Watersville Roads intersect about two miles southeast of Mount Airy, a tiny clapboard church is celebrating a big birthday this year.

The Davis Meeting House has stood quietly and steadfastly in a grove of tall oak trees for the last 150 years. It remains in the ownership and protection of the same family that built it long ago.

The Davis family is proud of its church and of an ancestry that dates back even farther: to the early days of colonial America. The family tree stems from the founders of the Jamestown, Virginia colony, which is marking its 400th anniversary this year.

A special reunion is planned for this summer. At the event on the fourth Saturday in August, the family will present information about the church’s history and display old photographs, the Davis family Coat of Arms and historical documents. The church will be open to the public for a tour in the fall (dates to be announced).

Nimrod Davis of Eldersburg is a descendant of the family that built the meeting house. The church, he said, has provided “an entryway to the past,” a connection to his ancestors and people who loved this area just as he and his relatives do today.

At 82 years old, Davis is former chairman and now treasurer of the Davis Foundation and an expert on a long and proud family tradition. He shares his love of this special spot with cousins all over Carroll County and beyond; Davis descendants who have married people with names like Bowie, Fleming, Gosnell, Shutt, Griffith, Gilliece, Arigo, and Marquardt.

Rebecca Gosnell Marquardt (originally of Woodbine, now of Centreville, Maryland) is the current chairperson of the Davis Foundation. “The church helps the family stay together,” she said. “It gives us a common bond. We think it’s wonderful that our ancestors built this church, and it’s still standing.”

According to Marquardt’s research (a hobby she has pursued for 25 years), Capt. James Davis sailed from England in August, 1607 to create a settlement in the region of northern Virginia (now known as New England), a trip that predates the Mayflower voyage by 13 years. That colony, in what is now Maine, failed the following year.

Davis returned to England, but in October of 1609, he sailed again, this time to Jamestown, Virginia, as part of the third supply run to that colony. He settled in Virginia and died there before 1624. His wife’s name was Rachel and they had two sons, Thomas and John.

Thomas Davis was born around 1613 and received a land grant in the Isle of Wight, Virginia, in 1633. His descendants moved up the coast and married into the Bowie family. The town of Bowie, Maryland, is named for them.

The Davis Meeting House is on property that was part of a large tract of land called The Highlands, owned by Henry Shipley Davis (nine generations from Capt. James Davis of Jamestown). Henry sold approximately two acres to his brothers, George H. and Samuel G. Davis, and to Amos Davis, a cousin, for the sum of one dollar. The Deed of Trust was dated November 1, 1856 and specified that the land be used for a church.

Amos gave $700 to build it, $100 for each of his sons. The Davis Meeting House was dedicated on September 27, 1857. Family members served as trustees who took care of the property and voted on matters concerning the pastor’s service.

Over the years, various Primitive Baptist congregations have used the church. According to Marquardt, many of the Davis women have played important roles in maintaining the church. In 1920 the church was without a congregation, and some considered selling the property. Virginia H. R. Davis Fleming (granddaughter of Amos Davis) saved the church from being sold. By 1926 the church had been repaired, a new pastor was invited to hold services, and the building was rededicated as The Old Carroll Primitive Baptist Church.

Amos Davis had a farm on Cabbage Spring Road (where the Dove’s Landing neighborhood now stands). A family cemetery was located on that property. The last Davis buried there (in 1946) was one of Amos’s sons, Francis T. Davis.

In 1986 the congregation using the church wanted to take ownership of the building and property. Francis Fleming Ellicott and her niece, Mary Shutt, descendants of Amos Davis and members of the church, alerted the family. They formed the Davis Foundation to maintain ownership and control of the property. According to the foundation’s charter, all board members must be Davis family descendants. The foundation upholds the tenets of the original deed of trust by making sure that a pastor and congregation use the church. It also tries to maintain the historic significance of the property.

The present Primitive Baptist congregation has used the building since 1988. Every summer the Davis family gathers at the church in August. (Nimrod said that they tried to move the event to September one year, but acorns dropping from the many oaks of the churchyard pelted the heirs so relentlessly that they moved the reunion back to August.) Approximately 125 families are usually represented and 60-75 people attend; most are direct descendants of Amos Davis. Family members bring items for auction to raise money for the upkeep of the building.

The church still has its original floors and pews. In the last decade, the walls were re-plastered and painted, the pews repainted and the steps replaced with freestanding ones (not to interfere with the historical integrity of the building). The trustees have recently repaired and replaced siding and shutters. A new roof is next on the list. The work is a labor of love by brothers, cousins, and nephews.

The Davis Family Cookbook is being reprinted for the 150th anniversary. To purchase a copy, contact Rebecca Marquardt at marquardtfamily1@aol.com or 410-758-0993. The church is available for weddings, funerals, and other religious events and can be rented through the Davis Foundation by contacting Marquardt.

Keeper of the Name

Nimrod is a Biblical name. In Genesis 10:8-9 of the New Revised Standard Version it says, “Cush became the father of Nimrod; he was the first on earth to become a mighty warrior. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, ÔLike Nimrod a mighty hunter before the Lord.’”

Although it is not a common name, it is a distinguished one. British naval ships have carried it, a Michigan school calls its athletes the Nimrods and it has become a synonym for “hunter.”

Amos Davis was the current Nimrod’s great, great grandfather. One of Amos’s sons was named Nimrod, the first in the family. Another of Amos’s sons, John Bunyan Davis, had a grandson named Nimrod who became the current Nimrod’s father. He lived in Watersville and was a conductor on the B&O Railroad.

Today’s Nimrod Davis served in the U.S. Navy’s Seabees during World War II, and his battalion built the airstrip at Tinnian Island that launched the plane carrying the atomic bomb.

After his military service, Nimrod traveled the country working for a pipeline company. When he returned to Maryland, he lived in Baltimore City but moved to Eldersburg in 1967.

In the early 1960s Nimrod helped start Maryland’s first chapter of the National Wildlife Federation. He and other leaders of the group lobbied the federal government to purchase a part of Asateague Island that would later become a wildlife refuge.

Nimrod has worked in carpentry and construction for most of his life. He has been retired for 20 years and before that worked for Cummins/Hart construction company, his last 20 years as a project manager.

Even in retirement, Nimrod likes to stay busy. Keeping the Davis Family Meeting House going is just one of his civic commitments. He is active with the Freedom Area Citizens Council (FACC) in Carroll County, a community group that advises county commissioners on slow growth. He is a member of the South Carroll Democratic Club and says he calls the White House regularly to express his opinions. He serves as the chair of his condominium association.

He is also a musician – a guitarist and singer. His favorite style of music is country and his favorite singer is Merle Haggard. For many years Nimrod led the South Carroll Blue Grass and Country Music Association, a group that started in Jim’s Barbershop in Eldersburg where they met on Friday nights to play music together. Eventually the musicians formed an association and met in Nimrod’s basement for many years. They often played at the Fire Hall, the American Legion, and for nursing homes. – LINDA MORTON