Thursday’s Mystery – Which William B. Davis?

Today we have a mystery that I have worked on for some time without a conclusion. I need your help.

There are two William B. Davis, of age, to serve in the Civil War living in Chesterfield County, SC in 1861. William Blakeney Davis, b. 1823, d. aft 1880 and William Benjamin Davis, b. 1 February 1847. Tombstone for these two men show that they both served in the 21^st SC Volunteer Infantry.

Morven Cemetery,
Morven, Anson County, NC[1]

Peniel Cemetery
Chesterfield County, SC[2]

Only one record has been found for a William B. Davis in the 21^st  SCVI. On Fold3.com that record is listed as:

·         Civil War Service Records

·         Confederate Records

·         South Carolina

·         Twenty-first Infantry C-E

·         Davis, William B (17)

     Page: Page 1

This is a direct link to this record, if you have a Fold3 account: http://www.fold3.com/image/#20|85283370 [3]

The (17) after William B. Davis generally refer to the age of the soldier; in this case this William B. Davis is age 17. This would tend to indicate the record is for William Benjamin Davis since he is the younger and the closest to age 17 during the war. This record consists of 26 pages or 26 images. I could not find a single image in this record that showed the soldier's age.  

Image #20 of this record on the bottom reads:

The inclosed Q should be &c with data rel to William Blakely Davis &c

In the book, "Memoirs of the War of Secession, from the Original Manuscripts of Johnson Hagood, Brigadier, C.S.A" on page 403 a Wm. B. Davis, Jr. is listed as a member of the 21^st SCVI.[4] This listing as such with “Jr.” suggests that this is the younger William Benjamin Davis. Neither one of these two men had Fathers or Sons that were Senior or Junior.  

So, I’m in a quandary. Is this the record for the younger William Benjamin Davis or is this the record for the older William Blakeney Davis? 

_______________

[1] Jim Tipton, Find A Grave, digital image, http://www.findagrave.com; Headstone for William Benjamin Davis; (1 February 1847–9 July 1929); Memorial # 30452309; Record of the Morven Cemetery; Morven, Anson County, North Carolina, USA; Accessed on 11 July 2012.
[2] Jim Tipton, Find A Grave, digital image, http://www.findagrave.com; Headstone for William Blakeney Davis; (abt 1823 - aft 1880); Memorial # 44967042; Record of the  Peniel - Pine View Baptist Church Cemetery; Chesterfield, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, USA; Accessed on 10 July 2010.
[3] Ancestry, "Civil War Service Records" database, Military Service Records (http://www.fold3.com/ : accessed 10 July 2012), entry for William B.DAVIS, Private; 21st South Carolina Infantry, Volunteers; Confederate.

[4] Johnson Hagood, Memoirs of the War of Succession (Camden, SC 29020: Jim Fox Books, 1997 (Reprint)), page 403.

[5] Tombstone photos courtesy of  Julious Burr. My thanks to Julious for the use of his photos.