JAMES B. DAVENPORT, JR., of Cooke county, was born in Jackson county, Missouri, August 20, 1839, and at the age of eighteen came to Texas with his father, with whom he lived until the outbreak of the war, when he enlisted, in 1861, in Captain Wallace's company, Taylor's regiment, which afterward became Steven's regiment, and then Stone's battalion. He served through the entire conflict, and rose from the ranks to a captaincy. At the close of the war he returned to Cooke county and resumed farming; he now owns 742 acres, of which 200 are under cultivation. He began in mercantile business in 1888, and is also the owner of a large cotton gin. His standing among his neighbors is of the highest, and he is a sincere and active Free Mason.
   In 1875 Mr. Davenport married Miss Margaret, daughter of Colonel William C. Young, of Tennessee, who was shot and killed while hunting in the brakes of Red river by a member of a clan organized to rob and murder. The wife of Colonel Young was born in Arkansas, and is the daughter of Philip Duty. She bore the following children -- Margaret (married to James B. Davenport) and Simpson M. The children born to James B. Davenport and wife were named -- Pope, who died at the age of two years; William, Callie and Simpson M.
   James B. Davenport, Sr., the father of the gentleman whose name heads this sketch, was a native of Kentucky. After a residence of some years in Missouri, he came to Texas in 1857, and now resides in Cooke county, at the age of eighty-three, having been born in February, 1806. He has filled several offices of public trust, having been, while in Missouri, a justice of the peace, and since his residence in Cooke county, a deputy sheriff. He for some time kept hotel in Gainesville, and has always been identified with farming interests. He married Mary, daughter of William Evans, of Kentucky.

from Biographical Souvenir of the State of Texas, F. A. Battey & Company. Chicago, 1889. pp. 233-234.