Believed to be the son of William Dale Davis and Nancy McCauley Wright, John L. Davis was born about 1790 in Virginia.

John L. Davis married Susannah Wilson in 1812. Susannah Wilson (born during 1783 in Virginia) was the daughter of Ebenezer and Sarah Wilson

They are believed to have had the following children:

1. William Franklin Davis (Born in 1814 in South Carolina - Died on November 9, 1865)
2. Thomas W. Davis (Born in 1817 in South Carolina - Died on April 25, 1894, in Franklin County, Georgia)
3. George Washington Davis (Born on July 15, 1821, in Anderson, South Carolina - Died on September 30, 1864, in Dinwiddie, Virginia) He married Nancy Anna Crawford and they had five children together. He then married Fannie Frances Ragsdale Davis and they had two children together.
4. Mathew A. Davis (Born in 1823 in Pendleton, South Carolina - )

Susannah Wilson died in 1850 in Anderson, South Carolina

John L. Davis died on January 14, 1864, in Anderson, South Carolina, at the age of 74.