Manes Family Genealogy
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| James Knox Polk Davis was born 1840-1842 at Leasburg, Crawford County, Missouri. James Polk Davis was first married to Mary. Chas. V. Manes, Sr. attended a Davis reunion at Bluff Dale, Texas, in 1986. There were several "hushed" references to a Mary, but no discussion. In checking the 1870 census of Crawford County, Vonda Dihm found a James Davis age 28 and Mary age 28. There were two daughters from this marriage on the 1870 census: Nancy age 2 and Sarah age 1. The two daughters do not appear on the 1880 census.
Going back to the 1860 census,Vonda Dihm found James K. Polk age 18 in the household of possibly his father and mother. The 1860 census shows a James Davis age 52 and Jane age 28. Going through the marriage records of Crawford County, Vonda found a record of marrige for James Davis to Jane Avery dated 11 Se[te,ber 1956.
Searching further into the 1850 Crawford County census, Vonda found Jas Davis age 45 and among the children a J.P Davis age 6 (probably James Polk).
Davis is a common name and James Polk was a popular President of the United States. So, it is to be expected that there were during this era several males named James Polk Davis. Neil and Jean Renfrow who organized several Davis reunions before Neil was killed in a private plane visited a family in Roseville, Illinois who had a James Polk Davis among their line. Neil wrote in a letter to Davis Descendants: "unfortunately, we cannot claim kinship as they carried us to the tombstone of "their" James Polk Davis, which was between the graves of his wife and father. Our grandfather is buried by Sarah Louise Gipson Davis in the Guymon, Oklahoma, Cemetary."
Claude Manes, second son of Edmund Victor Manes and Margaret Melinda (Davis) Manes contended that our James Polk Davis was the son of a French trader and a Cherokee maiden. James Polk Davis's parents (according to Claude) both died soon after his birth during a small pox epidemic. This is denied by Lois Gertrude (Davis)Wilmeth,who was 12th child of James Polk Davis and Sarah Louise (Gipson)Davis. Lois was born 14 October 1896 in Sabathany Parker (Texas ?). Lois wrote Chas. V. Manes, Sr., in 1984 that: "I have very little information about my father James Knox Polk Davis (mostly hearsay). However, I am positive he was not of French or Cherokee parentage but definately Scotch-Irish. I am very interested in where Claude got his information. It sounds like something one of my brothers would tell Claude when he was so interested in the Manes ancestors...never thinking that Claude would believe it."
However, supporting Claude's information is the following: (1)The James Polk Davis family moved from Missouri to Parker County, Texas, and then Cherokee territory in Oklahoma. Claude visited these family members in Cherokee lands a number of times. (2) Harry Manes, brother of Claude, often told of Lois' brother Joe who would ride his horse across the Red River each day. He could not get liquor in the Cherokee lands, so he rode each day to Texas to get his shots of liquor. (3) After Oklahoma became a state, family members of James Polk Davis moved to Guymon, Oklahoma, and later several membes moved to Bluff Dale, near Stephenville,Texas. (4) Edmund Victor Manes always refered to his wife's father as "Little Jack Rabbit."
What is known about James Polk Davis is that he married his second wife Sarah Louise (Gipson) Davis 21 October 1872 in Leasburg, Crawford County, Missouri. They had 12 children. The oldest was Margaret Melinda Davis, born 2 August 1875. The youngest was Lois Gertrude (Davis) Wilmet, born 14 October 1896.
James Polk Davis died 2 June 1910 of pneumonia and is buried in Guymon, Oklahoma.
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