On further review…

After comparing the names in the chancery order discussed in the post below with the Davis family tree, I now see that the John Davis mentioned as “next friend” in the plaintiff section is actually the brother of Williams Edwards Davis, and the children (John A. Davis, Elizabeth Ann, Emeline B., Caroline and Mary W. Davis) are the nieces and nephew of Williams E. Davis. In short, the suit was brought against John and Elizabeth Cully on behalf of the grandchildren of John and Elizabeth Davis by the two sons of John and Elizabeth, to wit, John and Williams Edwards Davis. This makes more sense, as it requires your being alive to represent as a “next friend” of a minor plaintiff, and it is also *highly* unlikely that John and Elizabeth Davis had that many minor children at that point (W. E. Davis would have been 40).
I still have a few things to work out before posting my research notes and conclusions to the Davis page. I made another trip, this time to the Virginia Beach Public Library to look at the Gloucester County Methodist Records index. It provided some other information to pursue, but mostly just pointed me to the Swem Library at William and Mary where the collection is housed.