52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks (2025–28)
From Buckingham to the Banks of the James: The Travels of Joseph & Vitula Davidson
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is a series of weekly prompts to get you to think about an ancestor and share something about them. The weekly prompt is provided by www.amyjohnsoncrow.com. The prompt for the week of July 7 is "Travel".
In the 19th century, travel wasn’t leisurely—it was deliberate, tied to survival, opportunity, and reinvention. For Joseph Cornelius Davidson and Vitula Sandridge, the moves they made as a couple—first through neighboring counties and eventually toward the bustle of Manchester—set the rhythm for generations of Davidsons to come.
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| Unverified images of Joseph and Vitula Davidson from Ancestry.com. I generally do not rely on photo hints from Ancestry, as their accuracy cannot be independently verified. |
Joseph was born around 1825 in Buckingham County, Virginia, a rugged patch of central Virginia defined by red clay, tobacco farms, and tightly woven family ties. Nearby, around 1830, Vitula came into the world in the same county. As young adults, they began their lives together in familiar countryside, appearing in Cumberland County by 1850, and later back in New Canton, Buckingham, by 1860.
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| Cropped image from Mitchell’s 1880 State and County Map of Virginia and West Virginia showing Buckingham and Cumberland Counties and Manchester. |
But like many Virginians in the post-Civil War South, Joseph and Vitula didn’t stay rooted. With Reconstruction reshaping the economy, the couple followed opportunity. By 1880, they had moved to Manchester, a growing industrial suburb across the river from Richmond, where Joseph likely found work and community among its mills and railways.
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| 1880 US Census for Manchester, Chesterfield Co., Virginia showing Joseph and Vitula with three servants in their home. |
Joseph died in 1891 at the home of their son, Thomas Archer Davidson, and was buried at Hollywood Cemetery. Vitula remained in Richmond for more than a decade, appearing in city directories as “Mrs. V. M. Davidson,” a widow living near her children. Her story came full circle in late 1905 when she returned to Buckingham to spend her final days with her son Eli B. Davidson. She passed away on New Year’s Eve and was remembered in the Richmond Times-Dispatch as a beloved mother and native daughter of Buckingham.
Vitula was buried in Buckingham County. Although her death certificate confirmed the burial took place there, the exact location remained unknown for some time. Recently, however, her final resting place was identified as Cherry Hill, the home of her son Eli Davidson. According to a post by Joseph and Vitula’s great-great-grandson, her grave lies in the front yard, where the tombstone was found broken in half, with one piece leaning against a tree.
Their story is one of quiet migration—from rural to urban, then rural once more. Not a grand voyage, but a meaningful one: step by step, forging the path forward.
Key References:
- U.S. Censuses: 1850 (Cumberland), 1860 & 1870 (Buckingham), 1880 (Manchester)
- Richmond Dispatch, February 5, 1891 – Obituary of Joseph C. Davidson
- Richmond Times-Dispatch, January 2, 1906 – Death notice for Vitula M. Davidson
- Richmond City Directories, 1898–1904
- Hollywood Cemetery Interment Records
- https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2819740/davidson-family-cemetery-at-cherry-hill
- https://slateriverramblings.com/2014/09/16/buckingham-burials-volume-iv/
