The Davenport House
The Home
The Davenport House was built in 1820 by master builder Isaiah Davenport with the work of his enslaved laborers Ned and Davey.
Explore the art, architecture, archeology, and preservation of the Davenport House.
The Family
Explore the lives of Isaiah, Sarah, and their ten children who lived in the Davenport House.
The Building
The Davenport House Museum is situated on Columbia Square at the corner of State and Habersham Streets in the Historic District of Savannah, Georgia. The house is one of the oldest brick structures in the city owning to the common use of wood construction during the town’s earliest history. Situated directly on the street, the two-and-a-half story urban dwelling contains a total of 6,800 square feet with a basement level (which originally housed the kitchen, storage, work space and possibly a sleeping area for the enslaved people owned by Isaiah Davenport), the first floor containing the public areas, and the second and third floors which were bedrooms and storage space.
The Davenport home sits on Columbia Ward’s lot number 13, which originally measured 60 feet by 90 feet. The rear portion of the lot at one time held a carriage house, garden, and privy. The site now contains a portion of lot number 14 which is the Museum’s courtyard garden. The garden was a Bicentennial project of Savannah’s Trustees Garden Club. It has since been redesigned under the guidance of renowned English landscape designer Penelope Hobhouse.
The Interpretation
The Museum’s period of interpretation is 1820 to 1827, which is the era when we have the most evidence of early residents in the home. The documentary cornerstones are two inventories – one taken at the time of Isaiah Davenport’s death and the other taken at the sale of his estate. The seven year period spans the time when the house was first listed on the tax rolls until the time of the builder’s death.
Scholarship determined the interior rooms’ appearance. In 1994 Ellen Roger wrote a furnishings plan suggesting how the rooms would have looked in the 1820s and Susan Mason Mays wrote a biography of the house’s builder Isaiah Davenport compiling the documentary evidence of his life in Savannah. With these two research tools, Page Talbott facilitated the period accurate re-restoration of the Davenport House Museum in the early 2000s. Her job was to synthesize the scholarship and provide a selection of correct finishes and textiles for the Davenport House Restoration Committee to chose for the house.
The Archaeology
In 2014, the LAMAR Institute conducted an archaeology dig of the garden of the Davenport House Museum. The contents found are now on display in the Urban Enslaved Exhibition. The findings of this dig were published in the paper: Deep, Dirty Secrets: 2014 Archaeological Excavations at the Isaiah Davenport House, Savannah, GA. This paper can be found here: Volume I & Volume II
The Davenport Family
Isaiah Davenport
Isaiah Davenport was a Master Carpenter who worked in Savannah and built what is now the Davenport House Museum.
Isaiah was born on November 3rd, 1784 in Little Compton, RI to Jonathan (1748-1785) and Sarah Thurston Davenport. Little is known about his early life. He had three brothers: Dudley (1781-1862), Samuel (b. ? – d. Sav. Aug. 1820), and Thomas. He studied to be a Master Builder, kind of like a General Contractor today, in New Bedford, MA.
Isaiah likely arrived in Savannah around 1807. He was married to Sarah Rosamund Clark on March 15, 1809 by Minister Dr. Henry Kollock. He continued his building work and legend has it that there was once a Davenport-built house on every square in Savannah.
In addition to his building work, he was also involved in city life. In 1810, he was the firemaster for Greene and Columbia Wards. In 1817-1822, he was elected to the Board of Alderman to represent Mechanics. In 1824, he was appointed to the Board of Health for Columbia Square.
There is little evidence of his personal life. We know that in 1823 Isaiah was city for obstruction of public ways and delinquent taxes. He was a member of the Independent Presbyterian Church and purchased pew #60.
Isaiah passed away in 1827 from Yellow fever, leaving behind his wife Sarah who was 8 months pregnant with their 10th child. He was originally buried at what is now Colonial Cemetry but has since been moved to Laurel Grove Cemetry.
Sarah Davenport
Sarah Rosamund Clark Davenport owned several boarding houses in Savannah and was the wife of Isaiah Davenport
Sarah Rosamund Clark was born in Beaufort, SC on Feb 22, 1788 to Susannah Tippin Sutter Clark and Archibald Campbell Clark.
Sarah married Isaiah Davenport in 1809 and gave birth to ten children.
Silhouette of Sarah Davenport in 1828. She has a book and quill in her hand, likely a nod to the fact that she was literate.
After the death of Isaiah in 1827, Sarah operated the Davenport House as a boarding house until 1840 when she sold it to the Baynard family. From there, she lived in a variety of homes around Savannah and in 1866, she ran a boarding house on the South side of Broughton St.
Sarah passed away on August 7th. 1869 at age 81. She is buried in Laurel Grove Cemetry.
The Davenport Children
Sarah and Isaiah had ten children, seven of whom live to adulthood. Their first three children died in early childhood due to what are now preventable diseases.
Susannah E. - Born Sept. 1810, died Oct. 8, 1814, due to bilious fever.
Sarah Rush - Born 1812, died June 12, 1813 due to teething & bowel complaints
Thurston W. - Born August 1813, died May 8, 1814 due to dysentery
Isaiah Jr. - Born Feb 27, 1815, died Oct 17, 1868. He married Martha E. Fairfax and had four children
Benjamin Rush - Born June 25, 1817, died April 14, 1866. He was a teacher in Effington County, SC
Archibald Clark - Born 1819, died 1892. He married Jane E. Postell in 1870. He was a customs inspector and a Confederate veteran.
Henry Kollock - born Dec 10, 1820, died Aug 18, 1872. He married Jeannie Brent Graham in 1847 and had four children. He was a Ship Captain in the Navy, and fought for the Union.
Hugh McCall - born Aug 16, 1822, died Aug 1, 1881. He married Martha Ann Elizabeth Stone and had 2 children. He was a merchant, customs inspector, and Confederate veteran.
Cornelia Augusta - born 1824, died 1853 during childbirth. She married Henry Rootes Jackson in 1844. She gave birth to five children.
William Dudley - born 1827, died 1862. He fought for the union.