Annie appears...finally.

Looking through the Savannah City Directories year by year from 1866 through 1882, I see several patterns.  One is that the publishers changed almost year to year until 1879, when Sholes’ took over and published the directory for at least four straight years.

The other is that in a city directory a wife doesn’t seem to exist until her husband dies and she assumes the title of “wid” or widow.  A son who works will show up.  In this case as you see below, William A. Davis, starts showing up as a boarder at “Zubly, se cor Ann” in 1879 when he was 17.  Annie shows up in 1880 after W. Hunter’s (W. H.) death in 1879.  (See earlier posts for family bible and census mortality schedule evidence.)

So sometime in 1870 William H. Davis moved from Broughton to West Broad.  Then by 1874-75 he moves his family to Zubly at the corner of Ann, where he lives until he dies in 1879.  Note that in the 1879 directory no occupation is listed for William H.  He was probably suffering from “consumption” (tuberculosis) which was listed as the cause of his death in the 1880 mortality index. 

I don’t know if he owned the residence at Zubly.  That’s another item for the “to do” list – look up potential real estate purchase records.

Below the table you’ll see some screenshot “snippets” of directory entries for my Davis ancestors.  City directories can be addictive – between looking at the advertisements and wanting to continue my year-to-year inventory for my target ancestors, I missed the Saturday deadline for the blog.  See below the table and the entry snippets for some choice quotes from the directory publishers.

Year	Name listed	Location	Occupation
1866	Davis, W. H.	N e corner Broughton and Montgomery streets	Merchant
1867	Davis, W. H.	B’ds, cor Broughton & Montg’y	Bookkeeper, CRR
There is another W H Davis  listed as butcher in the 1866 and 1867 directories, but considering our W. Hunter’s later employment with the CRR, I think the one listed above is more likely “my” W H Davis.
1870	Davis, W. H.	204 Broughton	Nothing listed
Not sure if this is “my” W H Davis, could check map to see if it’s near Montgomery.
1871	Includes excellent map of Savannah city streets.
1871	Davis, Wm. H.	R 53 W Broad	Clerk, C.R.R.
	Above jives with 1870 census where he lived down the street from Mary Marshall, who lived at 43 W Broad
1875	Davis, William H	r Zubly se cor of Ann	Down freight ag’t CRR
1877	Davis, William H	r Zubly cor Ann	Freight agent CRR
1879	William, H.,	r Zubly, se cor Ann	None listed
1879	Davis, William A.	Bds Zubly, se cor Ann	Clk C. R. R.
1880	Davis, Annie Mrs	r zubly, se cor Ann	Boarding
1880	Davis, William A	Bds Zubly, se cor Ann	Clk C. R. R.
1882	Davis, Annie	Wid W.H., r Zubly, se cor Ann
1882	Davis, William A	Bds Zubly, se cor ann	clk C. R. R.

On the title page of the Rogers City Directory of Savannah from July 1877 the publisher admonishes “To find a name you must know how to spell it.”

In the 1882 Sholes’ Directory, the title page exclaims “Don’t lend your directory!  Your neighbor is as well able to Purchase One as you are.”

Sources:

City Directory, 1867. N. J. Darrell and Co., Publishers.  Savannah, Georgia, City Directory, 1867.  Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.  Accessed 1 June 2013.

Directory of the City of Savannah for 1870.  Compiled by Alex. Abrams & Co. J. H. Estill, Publisher and Printer. Savannah, Georgia, City Directory, 1870.  Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.  Accessed 1 June 2013.

Estill’s Savannah directory for 1874-75.  Savannah, Georgia, City Directory, 1874.  Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.  Accessed 9 June 2013.

Purse’s Directory of the City of Savannah. Savannah: Purse & Son, 1866.  Savannah, Georgia, City Directory, 1866.  Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.  Accessed 1 June 2013.

Rogers City Directory of Savannah.  Savannah, Georgia, City Directory, 1877.  Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.  Accessed 9 June 2013.

Haddock’s Savannah, Georgia directory.  Savannah, J. H. Estill, 1871.  Savannah, Georgia, City Directory, 1871.  Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.  Accessed 1 June 2013.

Sholes’ Savannah Directory. Volume I. – 1879. Savannah, Georgia, City Directory, 1879.  Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.  Accessed 9 June 2013.

Sholes’ Savannah Directory. Volume II. – 1880. Savannah, Georgia, City Directory, 1879.  Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.  Accessed 9 June 2013.

Sholes’ Savannah Directory. Volume III. – 1881. Savannah, Georgia, City Directory, 1879.  Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.  Accessed 12 June 2013.

Sholes’ Directory of the City of Savannah. Volume IV. – 1882. Savannah, Georgia, City Directory, 1879.  Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.  Accessed 12 June 2013.