The Rounds

The Rounds is situated on the main road leading to the Church of St. Francis Xavier and was the birthplace of Judge David Davis on May 9, 1815. He was educated at Kenyon College and Yale and then moved to Illinois where he established a law practice later becoming judge of the noted 8th judicial district. An intimate friendship with Lincoln was established during this period. Lincoln appointed him to the Supreme Court, a position he held from 1862 to 1877, when he became United States Senator. Judge Davis has been referred to as Lincoln's closest friend. At the request of his family he became the administrator of his estate. Although Judge Davis spent his adult life in Illinois, it is related that on his visits to Cecil County he often stayed at "Myrtle Grove," the home of George Biddle. Judge Davis, being a man of great physical proportions, his host kept one chair especially for him. Someone remarked that he had to be surveyed for a suit of clothes!

David Davis Mansion in McLean co., Illinois. "On a flat stretch of Illinois prairie, where southern woodsmen first settled and crafty Yankees forged their frontier fortunes, stands an elegant Victorian mansion, completed in 1872 for Judge David Davis and his wife, Sarah."

Information from Alice Davis Cates:

An interesting thing about the Rounds is that it was the home of John Mercer who purchased it from John Rumsey in 1805. John was grandfather of Judge David Davis through his daughter Ann--- and through his daughter Harriet who married George E. Walker, is an ancestor of the Presidents Bush. The Rounds was Harriet's childhood home. Later she inherited Chew's Resurvey, 321 acres near Frisby's Prime Choice. The Walkers could not make a go of farming and lost the farm and traveled by wagon to Illinois in 1838. George and Harriet's grandson George Herbert Walker is the grandfather of the first President Bush.

I think that George E. Walker's stepfather Robert Hodgson was the Robert Hodgson who at one time owned Worsell Manor which is next to The Rounds. (It's almost on Bohemia Church Road but not that close to Warwick.) That's probably where the Heath-Matthews duel that killed James Matthews was fought. James Matthews was an uncle of Dr. James Scanlan, brother-in-law and legal guardian of George E. Walker after he was orphaned before he came of age.

Last Updated: February 3, 2003.