JACOB R. DAVIES, attorney-at-law and an influential citizen of Newark, was born in Granville, Ohio, Feb. 15, 1845, and is a son of David A. and Ann (Reese) Davies.  His parents were natives of Wales, the father born Feb. 2, 1809, and the mother Feb. 14, 1813.  They were married in the land of their birth and emigrated thence to the United States in 1840, settling on Welsh Hills, Licking County, Ohio.  Here they followed the trade of weaving cloth and carpets, and the father also was at times employed as a farm laborer.  In 1850 they purchased a home in Granville, and there continued to reside until death, the father passing away in 1886, and the mother in December, 1889.  They were c7donsistent members of the Baptist Church, in which the father was Deacon for a number of years.
     The family consisted of ten children, three born in Wales and seven in the United States, as follows:  David L., a bookkeeper in Columbus, Ohio; Mary Ann, who died unmarried; Sarah Jane, who passed away in childhood; Elizabeth, who died in 1869; Jacob R., our subject; William C., a physician at Granville; Esther Ann, the wife of Dr. William Lynch, of Greenville, this state; Martha Jane, who married Hon. H. B. Swartz, an attorney of Wooster, Ohio; Mary who married Rev. Frank Swartz and died in 1880, and Ellen, who resides in Newark.
     The subject of this sketch was graduated from Denison University with the Class of '69, and two years later completed the studies of the law department connected with the Michigan State University at Ann Arbor.  Opening an office in Newark, he was for four years a partner of J. Buckingham, and since then has been alone.  While is practice is large and demands a great deal of attention on his part, he also finds time for other interests.  He is the Secretary of the Soldiers' Memorial Building which is now in course of erection, and is also Trustee of the Denison University and Shepardson College at Granville.  He is also Director of and attorney for the Security Building & Loan Association.
     While independent in politics, Mr. Davies inclines toward the principles of the Republican party, which he believes best adapted to secure the prosperity of the nation.  In local affairs, however, hje votes for the men and the measures, rather than the party.  In religious belief he is a Baptist and for a number of years has been especially active in the work of the Young Men's Christian Association.  He was a charter member of the organization at Newark, served as its first President, filling that position for a number of years, and has always been an enthusiastic supporter of the work of the Association.
     In 1872 Mr. Davies married Miss Clara, daughter of Washington Crabbe.  She was reared in Bucyrus, this state, where her father was a farmer.  Her death occurred in 1880, and one of her children, Charles, died at the age of four years.  The others are, Elizabeth Rose, Clara Ann and William A.  In 1882 Mr. Davies was united with Mary E., daughter of Jacob Anderson, formerly an agriculturist of Licking County.  Mrs. Davies was born in this county and is a graduate of Shepardson College in the Class of '69, being a lady of culture and refined tastes.
Source:  Memorial Record of Licking Co., Ohio - Chicago - Record Publishing Co., 1894 - Page 172

SAMUEL J. DAVIS, solicitor of pension claims at Newark, dates his residence in this city from 1853.  He is a native of Wales and was born July 24, 1834, to John and Rachel (Griffith) Davis.  His parents were lifelong residents of Wales, where the father engaged in farming.  There were three sons in the family, the eldest of whom, David, emigrated to the United States in 1851, and settling in Newark, here followed the trade of a stone mason.  In the spring of 1854 he went to California, where he worked in the gold mines and later was employed at his trade.  Thomas, a farmer by occupation, died in Wales in 1893, leaving a family.
     At the age of ten years our subject was orphaned by his father's death, after which he was obliged to earn his own livelihood.  When thirteen years old he commenced to work in the iron ore mines, being thus engaged until eighteen years old, when he crossed the Atlantic to the United States and proceeded direct to Newark, where his brother at that time resided.  After working with him at the stone cutting and furnace building in Kentucky.  In July, 1854, he returned to this state and pursued similar work in the Monroe furnace, near Oak Hill.
     At that place, in August, 1854, Mr. Davis met with the misfortune of having his leg crushed and was obliged to have the limb amputated.  Upon recovering, he attended school in Newark about eight months, which was his first schooling since eleven years of age.  He was then appointed Deputy Recorder for Licking County, in which capacity he served for four years.  In 1861 he visited Washington, D. C., to see the inauguration of President Lincoln, and while there he applied for an appointment.  Through the influence of Senator B. F. Wade he secured a clerkship in the census office Mar. 11, 1861, remaining in that position until July 3, 1863.  He was then transferred to the pension office and there remained until May 17, 1885, when he tendered his resignation and returned to Newark.
     Politically Mr. Davis is a Republican and has long been prominent in that party.  Twice he was the candidate of the party for State Senator, and although he ran ahead of his ticket, he was defeated, the party being in the minority.  So close, however, was the race the second time that he came within one hundred and fifty votes of being elected.  In 1888 he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in Chicago and also served in a similar capacity to the State Convention which nominated William McKinley, Jr., Governor of Ohio, the first time he was a candidate for that office.
     In 1861 Mr. Davis married Jerusha, daughter of Thomas D. Jones, a native of Newark.  This lady died in 1862, and Oct. 19, 1869, Mr. Davis was again married, his wife being Mary, daughter of Evan Jones and a native of this city.  In religious belief Mr. Davis is a member of the Welsh Congregational Church and a generous contributor to benevolent projects.  They have an attractive home at No. 118 Granville Street.
Source:  Memorial Record of Licking Co., Ohio - Chicago - Record Publishing Co., 1894 - Page 339

Campus View

Denison University Entrance

Swasey Observatory
@ Denison University

Greek Fraternity
House

University President's Residence

Stone Hall

DENISON UNIVERSITY.   Intimately associated with the progress of Ohio, with the development of its material resources, has been the attention devoted to the cultivation of the intellect and the development of the powers of the mind.  Among the institutions of learning that have contributed to the mental progress of the people few are more widely known throughout the state than the Denison University of Granville.  This is one of the olders educational institutions of the state, having been founded in 1831. 
     The movement resulting in the establishment of the University originated in the minds of a few prominent Baptists, who succeeded in interesting the Ohio Baptist Educational Society in the project.  A farm of two hundred acres on the Columbus road, a mile and a-half west of Granville was offered as the site for the institution, and the offer being accepted, buildings were soon afterward erected, and in October, 1831, Rev. John Pratt, of South Reading, Mass., was invited to become Principal of the school.  He accepted the invitation and opened the school on the 13th of December following.
     The large building upon the farm was enlarged and remodeled, and when just completed was destroyed by fire, in May, 1832.  A new structure was erected on the site of the old one, at a cost of $5,000, and in this the school was opened Dec. 17, 1832.  During the first quarter thirty-seven students were in attendance, the eldest of whom was thirty-seven and the youngest eight.  At the opening of the second collegiate year Professor Pratt was joined by Pascal Carter, of South Reading Mass., who was connected with the institution the ensuing twenty years, while professor Pratt remained for twenty-eight years.
     What is now Denison University was incorporated under the laws of the state of Ohio, by the Legislature thereof, Feb. 3, 1832, under the name of the "Granville Literary and Theological Institution."  In January, 1845, the name was changed to Granville College, and this was changed June 25, 1856, to the name now borne.  It was so named in honor of William Denison, of Adamsville, Ohio, in accordance with an early vote of the Trustees that the first donor of $10,000 or more to the institution should have the privilege of naming it.
     The University was moved from the farm to its present site in 1856.  The buildings are located on a beautiful hill less than a half mile from the public square.  The grounds cover twenty-four acres of which almost one-half is a grove of old forest trees.  The University buildings contain study and dormitory rooms for one hundred and seventy-eight students, and chapel, recitation rooms and other rooms for general use.  Five buildings are now owned by the University, namely: College Hall, containing chapel, lecture room, laboratories and dormitories; Academy Hall, containing literary society halls, recitation rooms and dormitories; Doane Hall, containing a finely equipped library; Barney Memorial Hall, the finest science building in the state; the President's residence, a comfortable frame structure; and Granville Academy, originally organized as a preparatory department to the University, but in 1887, merged into a separate school.  The original frame college building is used as a gymnasium.  The faculty contains men of eminent abilities in their varied departments, and the most prominent institutions in the state.
Source:  Memorial Record of Licking Co., Ohio - Chicago - Record Publishing Co., 1894 - Page 447

Denison University Campus Chapel

Denison University Science Hall

Denison University
Doane Gymnasium

Denison (Shepard) University
Dining Hall

Denison University
Curtis Hall

Denison University
Cleveland Hall

have many more photos - Sharon Wick