AUTHOR: Jeanette Yarbrough
(Click photo to enlarge.)
Sylvanus David Davis was born in Surry County, North Carolina on September 8, 1832. Before the Civil War, around 1857, Davis came to Pfafftown, North Carolina and lived in the home of A. C. Transou. Afterward, he met Jane Transou, who was born in 1840 to Ephriam and Adelaide (Cooper) Transou, and they were married in 1861.
Sylvanus Davis was a medical doctor. On July 15,1862, he enlisted as a private in Company H of the 33rd Regiment, North Carolina troops, CSA. In July 1863, he was promoted to Hospital Steward and transferred to Field and Staff. He served until the end of the war. After the war, he returned to Pfafftown to practice medicine. Dr. Davis and Jane had six children, four boys and two girls. They were: Annie Elizabeth, born July 16, 1866 and married Fred Zigler on December 12,1896; Evan Davis, born 1869 and never married; Milton Transou Davis, born 1872 and never married; Hannah Adelaid Davis, born 1874 and married Claude Transou on April 7, 1901; Job Worth Davis, born 1877 who also became a medical doctor in Pfafftown; Ephraim “Eph” Gardner Davis, born 1880 and, as an adult, ran a small country store on Yadkinville Road and married Agnes Poindexter. Eph and Agnes did not have any children.
Jane Transou Davis had at least one uncle and four brothers who also served in the Confederate Army. The uncle was Julius A. Transou, known as Uncle Ule to most people in Pfafftown. He was a private in the 26th North Carolina Regiment Band. The four brothers were: Charles E. Transou, a private in the 26th Regiment Band; Lewis B. Transou, a private in Company D, 57th Regiment who was killed at Fredericksburg, VA on December 13, 1862; Ruben P. Transou, a private in Company K & L of the 21st Regiment who died of disease at Broad Run Station in Virginia on October 13, 1861; Owen C. Transou, a private in Company K&L 21st Regiment who died of disease on September 17, 1861 at Front Royal, Virginia.
Most of the named individuals are buried at Pfafftown Cemetery in Forsyth County, North Carolina. Sylvanus (1832-1896) and Jane Davis (1840-1927) were my great-great-grandparents. (Part of the above information was provided by my father, Henry L. Yarbrough, and by Patty and Helen Transou of Transou Road, Pfafftown, NC 27040 in August 1998.)
Editors note: See Henry Yarbrough’s story on Sylvanus and Jane Davis on this site.