Submitted by Chris Barber
The International Davenport reunion was held the weekend of August 24th at Edenton’s old courthouse.  Several dozen attendees who hailed from England, Canada, Washington State, Georgia, Texas, Florida, Virginia and North Carolina chose to attend a special tour, South of the Albemarle Sound, to see the region where early Davenports once lived.

 Richard Davenport was the first Davenport to make his way from England to the colonies.  In Carolina, his first property was in what is now Perquimans County.  Soon after 1700, he purchased property at the mouth of the Scuppernong River.  His descendants continued to move up the river, as did Daniel Davenport whose land comprised some 1000 acres in the area around modern day Mount Tabor outside of Creswell in Washington County.

 On August 22, these visitors stopped for lunch at Creswell’s Main Street Eatery, where they were joined by Loretta Phelps who oversees operations at the Davenport Homestead as a member of Washington County Historical Society, which owns the property.  Loretta had been in contact with reunion organizers for months, as they planned their full itinerary, which included a visit to Daniel Davenport’s homestead.

 At the site, Bill Barber greeted the visitors and told them about Daniel Davenport, a yeoman farmer, who as a teenager served in the North Carolina 5th Regiment of the Continental Line under Col. Edward Buncombe.  Later, Daniel built his homestead where he and his wife raised five daughters.  When Washington County was established in 1799, Daniel was elected as the county’s first senator.  He was elected several times, but died before he could serve his last term in 1807.

 The group was split into two so that half could join Jimmy Hardison on the grounds for a tour of the outbuildings so necessary on a farm.  The smokehouse, loom house, and the still were on this part of the tour.  The other half of the group joined Chris Barber who explained that the house is relatively unchanged since it was built in the late 1700’s.  Electricity and plumbing have never been added, though the last descendant, Harriet, continued to live there until 1975.  The house illustrates quite clearly that its residents were tough, self-sufficient people.

The visitors enjoyed refreshments before continuing on their tour of the region.