Caroline (or Celia) Kimer Davis
Caroline (or Celia) Kimer Davis was born circa 1846 in Iowa and died in 1886 in Madison, Iowa at age 40.
General Notes
Celia K. Davis: Attested as such in the 1870 federal census.
Caroline Davis. Attested as such in the 1860 and 1880 federal census.
Caroline Kimer Davis. Attested as such on her gravestone. (One transcription reads "Kimes". I have not seen a photograph.)
Caroline (or Celia) Kilmer. Attested as such on two ancestry.com family trees posted by members. No sources are given.
The family details match so conclusively in the 1870 and 1880 census entries that we assume we are dealing with the same person throughout. The presence of Izetta in the Davis family entry in 1870 and then in the subsequent George family entry in 1880 establishes Caroline’s maternity over Izetta.
Her father’s family: The 1880 federal census record gives Kentucky as the place of birth of both her parents. She is born in Iowa. Between c. 1846 and 1860, did her family move to Missouri, where she is next attested? How do we find her ancestors? Note under "Charlotte George" my inability to account for the Rogers I believe to have been Charlotte’s middle name. Could Rogers have been Caroline’s maiden name or her mother’s maiden name, handed down by her daughter to her grand-daughter? Equally, Kimer could be her maiden name or mother’s maiden name.
Birth
Caroline’s birth year: we dated it to circa 1846 on the basis of consistent ages given in consecutive census records.
Her birth-place: Iowa, according to the 1860, 1870 and 1880 federal census entries. Kentucky, according to Izetta’s 1900 federal census entry.
Chronology
1846: Iowa becomes a state on December 28, 1846.
1850: Caroline / Celia should appear in this federal census, but I do not know how to find her, since I lack a maiden name. Caroline Kimer does not appear in the 1850 federal census. Caroline Rogers appears frequently in the 1850 census, but there are none in Iowa. There are three in Kentucky, but I do not expect her there in 1850. There are several in Missouri, but none are plausible matches.
1860: Caroline appears with J.T. Davis in the 1860 federal census in Missouri; Atchison; Buchanan, where her age is given as 14 and her birth-place confirmed as Iowa.
Before 1862: The 1880 census entry gives "Ky" as the place of birth for both of Caroline’s parents. They must have moved from Kentucky to Iowa at some point before 1846, when Caroline was born, and she must have moved from Iowa to Missouri at some point after her birth and before the birth of her first daughter Izetta.
1862-1866: She then must have moved back to Iowa before the birth of her second daughter Rowena. Perhaps she and her husband and Izetta went to be with her family?
1870: I find her family in the 1870 federal census in Iowa by searching for Rowena Davis. But Caroline’s name appears therein as "Celia K." She is the right age (25) and birth (Iowa) and listed as keeping house.
In 1880 they are still in Iowa; Fremont; Hamburg. She is listed therein as Caroline.
Her Family
Caroline married Joseph T. Davis.
Her Death
Searching for "Caroline Davis" in Iowa between 1880 and 1900 I find a Caroline Kimer Davis who died in 1886 and was born in 1847, listed in Mt. Olive Cemetery, Madison town, from the Fremont County Grave Records: the middle initial is correct, the county is correct, and the birth year is off by only a year. But requesting from the state of Iowa a death certificate for a C. Davis in Fremont County, 1886, retrieves no records.
