AUTHOR: Henry L. Yarbrough
(Click photo to enlarge)
Sylvanus David Davis was born in Surry County, North Carolina on September 08, 1832. Before the Civil War, he came to Pfafftown, N.C. around 1857 and lived in the home of A.C. [Adalaid Cooper] Transou. After that time, he met Jane Transou, and they were married in 1861. Davis was a medical doctor. Jane was born in 1840, and her parents were Ephriam and Adalaid Cooper Transou.
- D. Davis enlisted as a private on July 15, 1862 in Company H, 33rd Regiment, NC Troops. In July 1863, he was promoted to Hospital Steward and transferred to Field and Staff. Doctor Davis served until the end of the war.
In addition to her husband, Jane Transou Davis had four brothers and at least one uncle who served in the Confederate Army. Her uncle was Julius (J.A.) Transou, known as “Uncle Ule” to most people in Pfafftown. He was a private in the 26th NC Regiment Band. Her four brothers were Charles E. Transou, private in the 26th Regiment Band; Lewis B. Transou, private in Company D, 57th Regiment, NC Troops; Reuben Transou, private in Company K & L, 21st Regiment, NC Troops; and Owen C. Transou, a private in Company K & L, 21st Regiment, NC Troops. Only her brother Charles survived the war: Owen died of disease on September 19, 1861 at Front Royal,Virginia; Reuben died of disease at Broad Run Station in Virginia on October 13, 1861; and Lewis was killed at Fredericksburg Virginia on December 13, 1862.
After the war, Doctor Davis returned to Pfafftown to practice medicine. Doctor Davis and Jane had six children: four boys and two girls. Annie Isabel Davis was born July 16, 1866 and married Fred L. Ziglar on December 12, 1896. Evan Davis was born 1869 and never married. Milton Transou Davis was born in 1872 and never married. Hannah Adalaid Davis was born in 1874 and married Claude Transou on April 7, 1901. Job Worth Davis was born in 1877 and later followed in his father’s footsteps, becoming a medical doctor in Pfafftown; he married Della Shore. Ephraim (Eph) Gardner Davis was born in1880; as an adult, he ran a small country store on Yadkinville Road, across from Vienna school. He married Agnes Poindexter, and they had no children.
Most of the people mentioned above are buried at Pfafftown Cemetery in Forsyth County. Sylvanus David and Jane Transou Davis were my great-grandparents.
[Part of the above information was furnished in August 1998 by Patty and Helen Transou of Pfafftown, NC]
Editor’s note: See also Jeanette Yarbrough’s story about Sylvanus and Jane Davis.
