1784 — Isaiah Davenport is born in Little Compton, RI to Jonathan and Sara Thurston Davenport. Jonathan, a carpenter, passed his trade to his four sons: Dudley, Isaiah, Samuel, Thomas.
1788 – Sarah Rosamund Clark, future wife of Isaiah Davenport, is born in the Beaufort District, SC area (a legal term that included both Prince William County and the city of Beaufort which is St. Helene Parish), to Archibald and Susannah Sutler Clark.
1795 – Sarah Rosamund Clark and family move to Savannah.
1805-06 – Isaiah is apprenticed in New Bedford, MA
1807-08 – Isaiah moves to Savannah.
1808 – Isaiah builds his first structure in Savannah which may have been what we call “Laura’s Cottage,” originally located at 122 Houston Street. (The house was moved to its present location, 420 E. State Street, in 1969.)
1809 – March 15 – Isaiah Davenport and Sarah Rosamund Clark marry.
— The Davenports enter into a seven-year lease for Lot 14, Columbia Square, the future site of the Davenport House side garden.
1810 – Isaiah becomes fire master for Greene and Columbia Wards.
— The Davenport’s first child, Susannah Elizabeth, is born.
— Isaiah purchases two slaves.
1812 – The Davenport’s second daughter, Sarah Rosamund, is born.
— Isaiah buys Lot 13, Columbia Ward, future side of the Davenport House (for $900.00).
— Isaiah is commissioned by the U.S. Government to construct Martello Tower on Tybee Island to protect Savannah against Naval attack.
— Davenport family moves to South half of Lot 8, Washington Ward, at the corner of Bay and East Broad Streets.
— Daughter Sarah dies from teething and bowel complaint.
1813 – First son, Thurston Warren, is born.
–Davenport buys Lot 18, Green Ward
1814 – Son Thurston dies of dysentery at the age of nine months.
— Daughter Susannah dies of bilious fever at the age of four years.
— Son, Isaiah, Jr. is born.
1817 – Son Benjamin Rush Tippens is born.
— Isaiah builds McQueen house.
— Isaiah and brother Samuel are employed by the city of Savannah to enclose Warren and Washington Squares.
1818 – Isaiah purchases two additional slaves, bringing the number to six.
— Isaiah becomes a member of the Savannah Mechanics Association.
— Isaiah is elected city alderman. His first assignments include State, Lane, and Tree Committee, Health Committee, and a committee to keep the meat and vegetable market clean.
1819 – Son, Archibald Clark, is born.
— Isaiah is appointed to serve on a City Council committee to oversee the laying of a pavement of oyster shells “under the avenue of trees on the Bay,” in preparation for President Monroe’s visit.
— Isaiah is named to a City Council committee to “report on eligibility of Tybee Island as a place for our citizens to reside at during the summer months.”
1820 – Isaiah is assigned by the City to create a plan for temporary housing to accommodate those left homeless by the recent fire.
– Isaiah encloses Greene and Franklin Squares.
— Isaiah’s brother, Samuel, dies at age thirty-two of yellow fever.
— Son, Henry Kollock, is born.
— Isaiah begins construction of the Davenport House.
1821 – Isaiah repairs and paints the enclosures to Oglethorpe Square and builds at wharf West Broad Street.
— For the first of many times, Isaiah’s name appears in the minutes of Savannah City Council’s list of delinquent taxpayers. Lot 18, Greene Ward, and Lot 14, Columbia Ward, are slated to be sold unless taxes are paid.
— Isaiah is made constable for Columbia Ward.
— Isaiah purchases 300 acres of land on Little Ogeechee Neck for $1000.
1822 – Hugh McCall Davenport is born.
– Isaiah once again is a successful candidate of city alderman.
— Isaiah continues to work on his house in Columbia Square.
— Chatham County Sheriff is instructed to advertise Lot 13 in Columbia Ward in the list of properties to be sold for non-payment of taxes.
— Isaiah bought Lot 4, Trustees Garden and 300 acres on Little Ogeechee Neck
1823 – Isaiah is included in the early list of candidates for city alderman, but soon withdraws his name and never serves as alderman again.
— The Davenports lose pew #60 at the Independent Presbyterian Church for failure to pay $315.
1824 – Isaiah bids unsuccessfully on a large project to repair docks.
— Isaiah is appointed member of Board of Health for Columbia Ward.
1824 – Daughter, Cornelia Augusta, is born.
1825 – Lot 13 & 14, Columbia Ward and Lot 18, Greene Ward, owned by the Davenports, are cited in the minutes of City Council for non-payment of taxes.
— Isaiah purchases from Susannah Clark (mother-in-law) three slaves, bringing the total number of slaves owned by the Davenport family to nine.
1827 –Isaiah is awarded a contract for the construction of the Savannah Steam Saw Mill Company on Hutchinson Island.
— September 16 – Isaiah Davenport dies at age forty-three of yellow fever.
— Tenth child, Dudley, is born one month after Isaiah’s death.
— Sarah Davenport hires Mr. Thompson to finish the construction of the Savannah Steam Saw Mill. After paying him, Sarah clears $24.50. Other sources of income include the hiring out of slaves and from rental properties.
— To meet the large tax bills and mortgages of the estate, Sarah decided initially to rent the family home, then decides to keep the home and open it as a boarding house.
1828 – Sarah sells several properties and some household goods to pay taxes and mortgages but continues to operate the family home as a boarding house.
1830 – Census indicates that Sarah Davenport owned 12 slaves.
1831: Sarah inherited Lot 30, Greene Ward, 517 E. York Street.
1838 – Isaiah Davenport, Jr., marries Martha E. Fairfax. They eventually have four children.
–Henry Kollock Davenport joins the U.S. Navy.
1839-40 – Cornelia Davenport attends the Hartford Female Seminary in Hartford, CN.
1840 – Sarah Davenport sells Davenport House to William Baynard of Hilton Head, South Carolina, for $9,000. The Baynard family keeps ownership of the Davenport House until 1955. (The house was rented as a single family residence until the 1920s, when it becomes a boarding house for multiple families.)
— Benjamin Rush Davenport marries Mary Eliza Jenkins.
1844 – Cornelia Augusta Davenport marries Henry Rootes Jackson, a distinguished lawyer and statesman of Savannah. They eventually have four children.
1847 – Henry Kollock Davenport marries Jeannie Brent Graham. They eventually have two children.
— Hugh McCall Davenport marries Martha Anne Elizabeth Stone. They eventually have two children.
1850 – Archibald Clark Davenport becomes an inspector for the U.S. Customs Office.
— Hugh McCall Davenport is engaged as a merchant and superintendent at Cotton Press Kain’s Wharf.
–Dudley Davenport is a USRM officer.
1853 – Cornelia Augusta Davenport Jackson dies of childbed fever at age twenty-nine following the death of a stillborn child (her fifth).
1858 – Isaiah Davenport, Jr. is a commercial merchant conducting business at 75 Bay Street.
1860 – Hugh McCall Davenport is a U.S. customs inspector in Chatham County
— Benjamin Rush Tippens Davenport is a teacher in Effington County, SC.
— Census records indicate Sarah Davenport as head of household with eleven slaves and listing her worth at $7,500/no real estate), her son-in-law Henry Rootes Jackson lives in her household (listing worth at $70,000 plus $8,000 in real estate)
1864 – Sarah lives on northeast corner of Barnard and West Taylor Streets.
1866 – Sarah Davenport runs a boarding house on south side of Broughton Street next to the Marshall Hotel.
1867 – Dudley Davenport dies at age forty.
— Archibald Davenport is the Savannah City Treasurer.
1868 – Isaiah Davenport, Jr. dies at age fifty-three.
1869 – August 7 – Sarah Davenport, a resident of Jones Street, dies at age eighty-one of “old age” and is buried in Laurel Grove Cemetery. Isaiah and other deceased family members (three children) are exhumed and reburied in Laurel Grove Cemetery.
1870 – Archibald Clark Davenport marries Jane E. Postell. They would have no children.
1872 – Henry Kollock Davenport, a captain in the U.S. Navy and commanding officer of the U.S. steamer Congress, dies in Franzenbad, Bohemia, at the age of fifty-one.
1875 – Benjamin Rush Davenport dies at the age of fifty-eight.
1879 – Hugh McCall Davenport dies at the age of fifty-seven.
1883 – The Davenport House is rented as a single-family residence.
1892 – Archibald Clark Davenport dies at age seventy-five.