Household #9: Davis, Ceily

Back to the 1900 Census & Household Index

In the 1900 Barney census, Ceily Davis headed a 5-person household. The table below preserves the exact names, relationships, ages, birthplaces, and occupations recorded for the household.

Household Snapshot

Ceily Davis headed a 5-person household in the 1900 Barney census with 1 child and 3 extended-family members.

Ceily Davis's listed occupation was Farmer.

All listed household members were reported as born in Georgia.

1900 Census Household

Children and Later Trails

This section is reserved for later-life child evidence. No later spouse, death, burial, obituary, probate, separate household, or descendant-line identification has been added here yet from direct records.

Family Narrative

• Head: Ceily, Cecly, Celia, or Ciley Davis, age 58 in 1900, born Apr 1842 in Georgia, widowed, farmer, and owner of her farm.
• Maiden-name bridge: The strongest direct identity bridge remains the Brooks County marriage record for Ciley or Celey Lightsey to Richard Davis on 18 Dec 1872.
• Earlier family household: The 1880 Quitman District household of Richard Davis and Celia Davis with children Warren, Charlotte J., Martha E., and John W. remains the core earlier census anchor.
• 1900 household structure: Ceily Davis appears in Barney with daughter Jane Leonard and Leonard grandchildren. That is still the best supported reading of the intergenerational household.
• Later child-forward lead: The 1910 Andrew J. Lennon / Lottie J. Lennon household remains the strongest candidate continuation for daughter Charlotte Jane Davis, but the Leonard/Lennon bridge should still be treated as likely rather than closed.
• Property significance: Ceily was one of the documented Black property-owning heads in Barney in 1900, an important economic marker in the precinct.
• Boundary on parentage: The Lightsey surname is directly supported by the marriage record, but claims that Ceily was a daughter of Primus Lightsey and Sylvia Capers-or-Davis remain unproven within this entry.

Connections to Other Barney Families

Ceily Davis is tied to the Barney Lightsey network through the 1872 Brooks County marriage record naming her as Ciley or Celey Lightsey when she married Richard Davis. Other Barney households currently discussed as part of the broader Lightsey cluster include William Betts (HH#10), through Ella Betts and Charley Lightsey; Thomas Lightsey (HH#12); Phillip Lightsey (HH#104); Jasper Lightsey (HH#126); and Henry S. Lightsey (HH#165). The connection should remain cautious: Ceily's Lightsey surname is directly supported, but her exact parentage and the precise relationship path to those other Lightsey households have not yet been proved within this entry.

Research Notes

• No reliable post-1910 death record has been secured for Ceily/Celia Davis.
• Warren Davis, Martha E. Davis, and John W. Davis still lack accepted later-life closures in the preserved local proof packet.
• The Andrew Leonard / Andrew Lennon bridge for daughter Charlotte Jane remains strong but not fully closed.
• Tree-backed Lightsey parentage should remain out of the proven body until direct records are found.

Open Research Questions

• Parentage audit: confirm both parents of the household head for HH#9 through direct or near-direct records where possible; mark derivative-only parent links as unresolved until supported.
• Child census audit: confirm every child named in the 1900 household against later census, marriage, death, obituary, cemetery, probate, or draft records; separate proven child links from same-name candidates.
• Other household member audit: verify boarders, servants, in-laws, stepchildren, grandchildren, and unrelated residents in HH#9; document the exact relationship instead of assuming kinship.
• Spouse and marriage audit: locate marriage records, death records, divorce records, or later census records for spouses or absent spouses tied to this household.
• Direct image review: re-check the 1900 census image and any cited index-only sources before treating ages, relationships, birthplaces, or name spellings as final.

Research Status

• Status: Source-exhausted for the current online pass.
• Strengths: Strong 1872 marriage bridge, solid 1880 and 1900 household anchors, and meaningful economic context as a Black woman farm owner.
• Remaining cautions: Later death and child-forward trails remain incomplete, and Lightsey parentage is still unproven.

Sources

• 1872 Brooks County marriage record for Ciley/Celey Lightsey and Richard Davis.
• 1880 U.S. census, Quitman District, Brooks County, Georgia, household of Richard and Celia Davis.
• 1900 U.S. census, Barney Precinct, Brooks County, Georgia, household of Ceily Davis.
• Preserved 1910 Lennon household notes used cautiously as a likely child-forward bridge.
• Brooks County and surrounding-county FindAGrave negative search, verified May 2026.

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