Common name and so many places...

my adventure has taken me to so many different places to look at records. Apparently my family is all over NE Massachusetts and they frequently have births, marriage or deaths listed in more then one VR. It sure makes it easier to find information but makes it all the more unusual that I cannot find any information about the death of my 6th Great Grandfather - Captain Israel Davis. Not a thing online.

At this point I am looking for help, he supposedly died while conducting business in either Castine or Eastport. His family was most likely living in "Pownalborough" and the year was 1788....

Where would you look?

Comment by Deborah M. Stover-Arsenault on July 5, 2011 at 2:25pm: try Shipping Records or records pertaining to ships entering and leaving Maine ports! Most captians had to let the harbor master know where they where from and what their business was in the port. If you know the name of his vessel you may be able to track him that way.

Comment by Laurie Davis on July 5, 2011 at 6:56pm: thank you...need to find a ship name...if his name was attached to one. From what I am reading he might have just hired others to do this part of the work. I wonder what kinds of merchant he was? waiting for a book from the Boothbay historical Society that might shed some light... I have truly found nothing so far

Thanks for your input...keep it coming!

Comment by Deborah M. Stover-Arsenault on July 6, 2011 at 11:24am: found israel davis born 7 april 1728 rowley, essex mass to nathan davis. died26 dec1788 death place American mercury. Could American Mercury be the ship upon which he died?

Comment by Deborah M. Stover-Arsenault on July 6, 2011 at 11:27am: found the info at familysearch.org

Comment by Deborah M. Stover-Arsenault on July 6, 2011 at 11:52am

Here's the whole list of the info I found on the death of israel davis at familysearch.org

Name:	Davis
Gender:	Unknown
Burial Date:
Burial Place:
Death Date:	26 Dec 1788
Death Place:	American Mercury
Age:	60
Birth Date:	1728
Birthplace:
Occupation:
Race:
Marital Status:
Spouse's Name:
Father's Name:
Father's Birthplace:
Mother's Name:
Mother's Birthplace:
Indexing Project (Batch) Number:	B03294-4
System Origin:	Connecticut-EASy
Source Film Number:	3113

Comment by Laurie Davis on July 6, 2011 at 12:22pm: THANKS....I have searched on family search before and this was not there...maybe some new source transcribed!! More searching...thank you again...

Comment by Deborah M. Stover-Arsenault on July 6, 2011 at 12:30pm: I think the secret is sometimes leave out given name use surname and dates as a general search often hits the target for me anyway lol

Comment by Laurie Davis on July 6, 2011 at 12:55pm: using just "Davis" is up there with using SMITH....LOL and the families were all large... I have tried many different ways but I believe this may be a recent addition - as info shows it is not complete...

Comment by Deborah M. Stover-Arsenault on July 6, 2011 at 1:44pm: It might not be more than whats there if he died on a ship ie the american vessel mercury in port then the ships doc might not have recorded more than the basics such as is listed here

Comment by Laurie Davis on July 6, 2011 at 1:49pm: I did look up Mercury...either a later ship by its dates or off in the Pacific...LOL but it is a start it makes sense as he is supposed to be a merchant. It would be nice to know the source of the information as it is, might give a bit of a clue. There were Israel Davis' in Connecticut but I cannot rule out that it was he and his son conducting business - or perhaps just coincidentally another father son tandem. I will have to dig through their info to see if I can sort that out. I had read about them as sail makers....I think...

Comment