Morning journal and courier., 1885-10-09
COLONIAL ANCESTRY.

The Connecticut Davenport - New
 Yorkss Candidate For Governor.
 The Tribune has the following regarding New York's candidate for Governor and the Connections Davenports:
 Congressman Ira Davenport, the Republ1- can candidate for Governor, is an accom- plished scholar, student and l1ngulst The Davenports of history have been men Of learning The first minister at New Haven, Connecticut, was John Davenport. He was a native of Coventry, England, and had at tained eminence in London as rector of St Stephens church. About 1880 he came in conflict with the notorious Bishop Laud and three years later was forced to resign and go to Holland. The occasion of this was his engaging in the purchase of church lands in the hands of laymen, for the benefit of poor congregations. He had made great progress when Laud interrupted him, fearing that the plan would turn to the benefit of the Non- conformists. Davenport turned Nonconfor- mist himself. He had controversy in Holland over the general baptism of children, against which he argued. He went back to England before he came to America. Massachusetts was in 1887 such hotbed of religious dis cussion that he went in the following year after coming here to help found the colony of New Haven, where he preached under an oak tree on the first Sunday after his arrival. For thirty years he preached in New Haven and was active in the civil government of the thriving town. The Bible was the basis of civil administration and as there is no men ton in that book of trial by jury it had no place in the newly founded State. When a constitutional assembly was formed in 1859 it was resolved that none but church members should be eligible to it. This gave Davenport the keys of political power. His reputation abroad was such that he was ln- vited to participate with Hooker and Cotton in the Westminster assembly of divines. It was in his house that the 1egicides, Whalley and Goffe, were concealed when they fled from pursuit, and he publicly e1horted his people not to betray them. Along in the sixties of that century he was engaged in further controversy over the general baptism of children, against which hs had always taken sides. He died at Boston in 1870.
 Another Davenport of history was Adding ton Davenport, an eminent lawyer, gradu ate of Harvard. He travelled for number of years in England, Spain and the West Indies before settling down to the practice of law at which he earned such distinction as to be made judge of the Supreme court of Massachusetts in 1719. The family of Ira Davenport started in 164O with Thomas Da-
 
 England. Efforts to trace his re lationship to John Davenport have been made, but without success. There was distant relationship of some kind. I asked MT Davenport himself, the other day, about his Scotch ancestry, and he replied laughing ly: ''That has never been traced up because there was so much cattle stealing in the Scotch border that I was uncertain where it would bring up."
 The Sun says of MT. Davenport's father: Ira Davenport, the elder, came through here (the Davenports' part of New York State) many years ago with pack on his back ped ding useful little household wares. There is now in existence in the village a quilt made of calico which the enterprising young merchant sold at farmhouse. It was at Hornellsville that the elder Davenport got his first grip on the fortune which grew in bis hands to the splendid estate which he left to his children, for in Hornellsville, at- ter being in business in small way for some time, he was lucky enough to WOO and win the wealthy Widow Hornell, whose first hus band gave his name to the town where he had made his fortune.
 MT. Davenport, ST., was a shrewd and pushing man of affairs and with the profits he made from the little country stores he con- ducted hereabouts he bought lands in the Vest notably at Davenport, Iowa, which town is named after him, and it is now in the West that the great bulk of the Davenport estate lies. Their family possessions here in Steuben county are comparatively small. The heirs pay taxes on real and personal property in this county which is assessed at only $145,- 800, while their total possessions elsewhere count away up in the millions.