Mary Daisy Davison (105-2016)

Baird's Baptist Church, Bairdstown, Georgia

Bairdstown Cemetery, located in Oglethorpe County, Georgia, is the cemetery where my paternal grandparents, several uncles, and an aunt are buried. It’s a beautiful, well-kept cemetery near Baird’s Baptist Church. Daddy’s sister lived just down the road from the cemetery so we’d always stop by when we visited her and take a walk through the graves. I remember Daddy telling me one time that we were related to many of the people buried there, although he didn’t know how. It’s been a while, but several times on my yearly trips home to Atlanta, my husband, Daddy, and I took a day trip to Greene and Oglethorpe Counties to visit the many cemeteries to document my research. Daddy enjoyed these trips and would spend the day telling us stories about his childhood there. My boys were young at the time and had no desire to walk the cemeteries with us so I always made sure they had new Gameboy games to play with and then I would bribe them. Yes, I said bribe! I told both if they would behave all day while we made the rounds to the cemeteries I would give each of them $25 at the end of the day. But, if they acted out, the deal was off. I had to pay up every time and it was worth every penny! I enjoyed these day trips immensely and we always made it a point to stop by Bairdstown Cemetery. By then, the walks took on new meaning because I had started to connect the dots from my family to the people buried there. I found that Daddy was right—we in fact had many collateral connections there. This blog post is about one of those connections—Mary Daisy Davison. A relationship calculator tells me that she and I are 3rd cousins, 3x removed with our nearest common relatives being Robert L. Hobbs Sr. (1754–1845) and Mary Marion Caldwell (1759–1853). They were my 5th great-grandparents.

Bairdstown Cemetery, Bairdstown, Georgia

Mary Daisy Davison, daughter of Col. Joseph Davison and Susan C. Briscoe, was born in Greene County, Georgia on December 22, 1874. She was the oldest child of seven—Mary Daisy Davison, Joseph Briscoe Davison, Sarah Elizabeth Davison, Ralph C. Davison, Evelyn C. Davison, and two infant children (sex unknown). She went by Daisy.

On June 14, 1880, five-year-old Daisy and her family lived in the 138th District of Greene County, Georgia. She was enumerated as Mary D. Davison. Her father was the postmaster; her mother was a housekeeper. There were three servants living in the home with them—Eliza Bearer (age 22, cook), Henry Towns (age 30, laborer), and Jordon Raiden (age 60, laborer). 

Daisy’s life was cut short in 1887 when she came down with dysentery. At the age of 12, she died in Woodville, Greene County, Georgia on May 4, 1887. The Atlanta Constitution reported her death that same day: 

Death of Miss Daisie Davison. Woodville, Ga., May 4.—[Special—Colonel and Mrs. James Davison lost their elder daughter, Miss Daisy, aged about thirteen years this morning, at 4 o’clock, with dysentery. The funeral services will take place at their residence tomorrow at 9 o’clock, conducted by Rev. M. W. Arnold, of Harwood, Ga., after which her remains will be taken to Bairdstown, Ga., for interment.

Davison plot, Bairdstown Cemetery

Daisy is buried in the Davison family plot at Bairdstown Cemetery. Her tombstone reads: 

IN MEMORY OF
MARY DAISY DAVISON.
BORN DECEMBER 22, 1874.
DIED MAY 4, 1887.
SWEET BE THY SLEEP
UNTILL HE WHO RENT
THE GRAVE.
SHALL COME FOR THEE.
AND ON THY CHEEK
THE BLUSH IMPRINT OF
IMMORTALITY.

Daisy's tombstone