William Davenport, the first confirmed ancestor of this Davenport line was most likely born prior to 1654, twenty-one years before his first recorded appearance as a freeman. The exact date and location of William’s birth and the identity of his parents and other ancestors have not been discovered.  Because of the other individuals that William was closely associated with and the naming convention used for his children it is almost certain that his ancestry was English, however at present this is only an unsupported assumption.  The first record of William discovered so far is dated October 9, 1675 and shows him living as a freeman in town of Flushing in the North Riding of New Yorkshire.  In Long Island records William is sometimes shown as “William Danford”.  On various early deeds and records in both Queens and Westchester counties William’s surname varies from Damford to Danford to Danfor and finally settles on Davenport.  It is possible that Davenport was not the original surname of this line.  The DNA test (#17685) of a direct descendant did not indicate a relationship to any of the other known Davenport lines.