Genealogical notes of Barnstable families - citizen hylbom blog

GENEALOGICAL NOTES OP BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 277
in May, 1650, is on the Barnstable, and not on the Yarmoutli
return, which fixes the
ness.
date of his removal with sufficient exact-
Excepting of the births of his children, the earliest entry I
find of his name on the records, is 12th May, 1657, when a grant
of "a parcel of common land" in the New Common Field was
made to him, lying between the lands of Goodman Cobb and
Goodman Gorham. He was admitted a freeman of the Colony
in 1659.
Robert Davis was not a man of wealth, was not distinguished
in political life, nor was he ever entitled to the then honorable
appellation of "Mister;" he was
"An honest good man,
And got his living by his labor,
And Goodman Shelly* was his neighbor."
His character for honesty and industry he transmitted to his
posterity.];
His lands were not recorded in 1654. His farm in 1639, was
included within the bounds of Yarmouth, and with the exception
of a small lot owned by Robert Shelly, was bounded on the west
by Indian Lane—the original boundary between the towns—on
the east, his farm was bounded by the lands of Joseph Hallett,
and on the south by Dead Swamp, including the narrow strip
between the present road and that swamp. The easterly part of
his farm was a part of the William Chase farm. The westerly
part he bought of the town, of the Indians, and of James Gorham,
and the south was a part of the great lot of Thomas Lumbert.§
His house, in 1686, was not on the present County road,
but on the higher ground north, of the swamp where the first road
probably passed. In 1686, the house of Robert Shelly was the
next west of that of Robert Davis, and both appear to have been
on the north of the swamp. In that year the town granted Good-
* Goodman Shelly was a v^ry worthy, unambitious mau, "a rolling stone that gathers no
moss"—in other words, he was often removed from place to place, and was always poor.
His wife. Goody Shelly, was a Bay lady, and a cobbler would say of her, was "high in the '
instep." If Mrs. Lothrop or Mrs'. Diminock had a party, if she was not an invited guest,
she took great oifeuce, and her seat at church on the following Sabbath would be vacant.
Rev. Mr. Lothrop complains bitterly of this trait in her character.
X All the descendants of Robert Davis for eight successive generations, have been
noted for their honest dealings aud industrious habits. Of the whole number, I find only
one whose character for integrity was doubted by his neighbors. Cornelius Davis, I presume,
was a descendant of liobert, though the evidence is not satisfactory. He was not
reported honest. Perhaps his habit of carrying an Indian basket on his back was no
credit to him. It, however, is said that other peoples' goods got into that basket. Whether
or not these reports were slanderous I cannot say ;
but this much is certain, he did not enjoy
an unspotted i-eputation for honesty and integrity in his dealings. There is something in
race; tor even now, the character of the ancestor can be traced in the child of the ninth
generation.
§ Thomas Lumbert's great lot was all finally owned by the descendants of Robert
Davis. In 1664, the western part was owned by Samuel Hinckley, and the eastern part by
the widow of Nicholas Davis. Robert Davis appears to have owned the uorth-easterly part
of the Lumbert lot.