An update to the Davis-Pettis Genealogy first written in 1971 is being compiled. If you descend from Catherine Wing Pettis, 1779-1812, wife of Col. Stephen Pettis Jr., we want to include your family’s information.
Also, if you descend from Joseph Wing, 1782-1844, Catherine’s younger brother, and his wife Amy Pettis, 1788-1863, sister to Col. Pettis, please submit your family’s genealogy as far back as them for possible inclusion in the Davis-Pettis Genealogy. Catherine and Joseph were children of Giles Nelson Wing, 1754-1858, and Mary Jane Cornell Wing, 1755-1790. Stephen Pettis and his sister Amy Pettis Wing were children of Stephen Pettis Sr. and Amy Button Pettis.
The original 1971 book had four pages tracing the Wing line back to Stephen Wing, 1621-1710, (the original owner of the Wing House in Sandwich, Cape Cod), and five pages on the Solomon Hosford family of Canaan, Conn., and Johnston, Ohio. Catherine Hosford was fourth wife of Col. Pettis. Her younger sister Sarah Hosford married Charles Pettis, son of Col. Pettis and Catherine Wing Pettis.
Several grandchildren of Col. Pettis and Catherine Wing Pettis married into the family of Isaac Van Norman Davis, 1775-1853. Both the Pettis and Davis families lived near each other in Pike County, Ill., until most relocated together to Lake Emily, Kasota Township, Le Sueur County, Minn., in 1853-54. There were at least eight Pettis-Davis marriages.
Please submit your information to, Terry Davis, a third great-grandson of Col. Pettis and Catherine Wing Pettis, at ptdavis@hutchtel.net, or call 320-587-7820, by March 1, 2023. Your help would be greatly appreciated.