Through her maternal line, Susan Crofoot Davis is the gr-gr-gr-gr granddaughter of John James and Lucy Bakewell Audubon. She is the gr-gr-gr granddaughter of John Woodhouse Audubon, the Audubon's second son. John Woodhouse Audubon's first wife was Maria Rebecca Bachman, daughter of the Rev. John and Harriet Bachman of Charleston, SC, who are also her gr-gr-gr-gr grandparents. The Rev. Bachman was pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church in Charleston. John James Audubon and Rev. Bachman met and became friends for the rest of their lives. With his love and knowledge of natural history, Rev. Bachman contributed a wealth of information and advice to Audubon's BIRDS OF AMERICA.

In late summer 2000 Susan went to New York to visit museums and Trinity Cemetery near the Church of the Intercession in Manhattan, where many members of the Audubon family are buried. Trinity Cemetery is located near the site of the Audubon's final home called "Minniesland" on the Hudson River. Susan also visited John James Audubon's first home in America at Mill Grove, Audubon, PA.

In spring 2001 Susan went to Houston, TX to attend the an exhibit entitled, "John James Audubon in the West: The Last Expedition, Mammals of North America." In addition, she traveled to Orange, Texas to see other Audubon works at the Stark Museum of Art.

Susan's current genealogical interests are to document her branch of the Audubon family and to research John Woodhouse Audubon's 1849-50 expedition to California through Texas and Mexico. She plans to travel to the John James Audubon Museum in Henderson, KY, and other Audubon sites in Charleston, SC, Louisiana, California and return to New York State to continue her studies about her ancestors.

My interest in the life and works of John James Audubon, naturalist/artist and my gr-gr-gr-gr grandfather, took on new life when I got my first computer. Thanks to the internet, I have been able to access a rich variety of information about Audubon’s life and the lives of his wife Lucy Green Bakewell and his children, Victor and John Woodhouse. In my mother’s bank deposit box was her father’s handwritten Audubon family tree. I then realized that another set of my gr-gr-gr-gr grandparents were the Rev. John and Harriet Bachman of Charleston, SC. Rev. Bachman was a friend and collaborator of Audubon’s for over forty years and contributed information and advice to Audubon in his work on The Birds of America. Two of Bachman’s daughters married the Audubon sons, Victor and John Woodhouse.

During this time I met many people related to or associated with Audubon. Thus I made two trips to meet some of these people and to learn more about my heritage.

In late summer of 2000 I took a month to travel to the east coast to visit Audubon sites. My first stop was at Mill Grove, John James Audubon’s first and only standing home in America. I spent four peaceful days with Mill Grove staff wandering about the beautiful Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary. The most exciting part of my trip was to visit the very attic room where Audubon spent his early years working with specimens and making many of his early bird drawings. A special event was going to a local Audubon bird sanctuary with Alan and Carol Gehret to help band birds.

I also visited the Audubon burial site at Trinity Cemetery near the Church of the Intercession at 155th Street and Broadway, New York City. Many Audubon ancestors are buried here, including John James and Lucy Bakewell Audubon, their sons Victor and John Woodhouse, and several others.

Just before leaving New York City I visited several museums which house Audubon works. I was unable to see the original watercolor collection at the New York Historical Society because the floor on which they were to be displayed was undergoing a major renovation.

In spring of 2001 I traveled to Houston, Texas with friends to see the traveling exhibit originating at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, Wyoming. The exhibit was held at Houston Museum of Natural Science. The title of the exhibit was “John James Audubon in the West, the Last Expedition, Mammals of North America.” Our party also traveled to Orange, Texas, to visit the privately-owned Stark Museum of Art, which contains paintings, sculptures, books, folios, and other items of importance to American art and natural history. The collection includes works of contemporary Southwestern painters, plus American West artists Alfred J. Miller, J. M. Stanley, Paul Kane, Frederic Remington, and C.M. Russell, and others. There is an extensive collection of John James and John Woodhouse Audubon folios and paintings. (Brochure, "The Stark Museum of Art", Orange, Texas)

My present interest is in the western travels of my gr-gr-gr grandfather, John Woodhouse Audubon. In 1849-50 he traveled with a group of men going to the gold fields in California. The trip through Texas, Mexico, and into California was difficult, and John Woodhouse, who was not interested in panning for gold, drew many pictures of landscapes and people on his travels. This trip is documented in a book entitled, Audubon’s Western Journal 1849-1850, (John Woodhouse Audubon, University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 1984). I am currently reviewing books and documents pertaining to the fate of John Woodhouse Audubon’s art works after he left California.

On the Audubon Road

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