Master carpenter, brick mason and cabinetmaker, James Davis, built this table about 1840 in the raised basement cabinet shop of his house on Moore Street, known today as the James Davis House circa 1829. James Davis (1780-1861) was born in Core Creek, Carteret County - the Quaker colony on the Newport River, north of Beaufort. He was the eldest son of Joseph Wicker Davis Jr. and Susanna Stanton, who were married in Carteret County in 1776. In 1803 James married Elizabeth Adams (1783-1868), daughter of Nathan Adams and Mary Canaday, who were farmers in Core Creek.
James and Elizabeth's daughter Elizabeth Harris Davis married William Jackson Potter (707 Ann Street). Their daughter Mary Elizabeth Potter married Robert Withers Chadwick (Chadwick House at 117 Ann Street). Daughter Mary Caroline Chadwick married William Wallace Shaw.
Passed down through generations, the table is cherished by a descendant in Texas.
