Notes for: Ivy Bertha Davis
According to family legend, the natural father of one or more of Bertha Davis' children was Daniel W. Davis, in whose home she was listed as a servant, unmarried with two children, in the 1900 Census. Following Bertha's 1901 death, Daniel and his wife Harriet, who had no children of their own, raised Bertha's children. But the birth record of Bertha's oldest child, Harvey Davis, identifies his father as John Mitchell Ross. The delayed birth record of her second child, Ottie Davis, filed by John Ross' sister Mary, omits the father's name. It could not have been John Ross, as he had died three years before, marital status single. Ottie's marriage record states that he was the son of Daniel W. & Bertha Davis. Only the delayed birth record of Bertha's third child, Gracie, indicates "D. W. Davis" as the father, but that relationship was not reflected in the 1910 Census for either Gracie or Ottie. There is no record of Bertha ever having married. Daniel and Harriet Davis remained married until her death in 1926. As great-great-grandchildren of Nathan Davis and Ann Gifford, Bertha and Daniel W. Davis were third cousins.
1900 Census, Doddridge Co, WV (New Milton District), enumerated on Jun 11 1900:
Daniel W. Davis, 43, b. Mar 1857, farmer, married 20 yrs; wife Harriet C, 51, b. Dec 1848, no children; boarder Darsey D. Ceders (male), 15, b. Jul 1884; servant Ivah B. Davis (female), 23, b. Oct 1876, single, mother of 2 children (both still living); boarder Harvey C. Davis, 6, b. Apr 1894; boarder Oatta C. Davis, 3, b. Mar 1897.
1910 Census, Doddridge Co, WV (New Milton District), enumerated on May 5 1910:
Daniel W. Davis, 53, farm laborer, married 25 yrs; wife Harrit, 57, married 25 yrs, no children; boarder Ottie (male), 11; boarder Gracie, 6.