Our Patriot Ancestors
. . . Biographical Sketches
M(organ) Davis
The name "M. Davis" was included by U. J. Jones in his narrative of the massacre. The 'M' could stand for any number of names, including Michael, Martin, Mathias and Mathew, which were all common in the 1780s.
A check of the published Pennsylvania Archives revealed that the only man by the name of Davis, having a given name beginning with the letter 'M' who served in the Bedford County Militia was Morgan Davis. The reference to Morgan Davis was the inclusion of his name in a listing of the Bedford County Militia who was to receive depreciation pay.
In addition to the Bedford County Militia, the Pennsylvania Archives recorded a man by the name of Morgan Davis who served in a company of the Fifth Pennsylvania Regiment of the Continental Line in 1777. The company was commanded by William Oldham. A notation alongside his name on a roster taken in 1777 stated that he deserted on 22 September. Then in June 1778, Morgan Davis was recorded in the company's roster as an active private. Morgan's name does not appear in any roster for the Fifth Pennsylvania Regiment after 1778. The Fifth Pennsylvania Regiment was originally enlisted as the Fourth Pennsylvania Battalion at Chester, Bucks, Lancaster and Philadelphia Counties. It is possible that after serving in the Fifth in 1778, Morgan might have left the army and headed west to wind up in Bedford County in the year 1780.
Where Morgan Davis resided and whether he was married and had a family are not known. Despite serving in the Bedford County Militia, Morgan Davis' name did not appear on any tax assessment returns for the region prior to 1780. The only men by the surname of Davis who resided in Bedford County in the townships from which Captain Phillips' company might have been enlisted prior to and after 1780 were Samuel, Thomas and Joshua. Morgan Davis might have been the son of any of those three Davis men.
The fact that Morgan's name was not recorded on any tax assessment return might have been indicative of his having been young and single and living with his parents at the time of the massacre.