BIOGRAPHIES

Source:
Genealogical & Biographical Record
of Miami Co., Ohio
Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company
1900

CHAS. A. DANA
	DAVID DAVIS.  In one of the most beautiful homes in Miami county David Davis resides, the place of his residence being only about a mile from West Milton.  Here he owns one hundred and forty-eight acres of rich and arable land, the greater part of which is under a high state of cultivation, yielding to the owner a golden tribute in return for the care and labor he bestows upon it.  He was born in the township where he now makes his home Jan. 27, 1831.  His father, Benjamin Davis, was a native of Georgia and was of Welsh lineage, for the paternal grandfather, Abiather Davis, emigrated from Wales to the new world when a young man, taking up his abode in Georgia.  He was married in that state and came to Miami county, Ohio, where he entered a section of land, upon which the town of West Milton is now built.  After recording his claim he went to Elkton, Ohio, where he remained for a couple of years and then removed to his farm, taking up his abode thereon when there was only one house in this section of the county.  His land was covered with a dense growth of timber, but with characteristic energy lie began to clear it and soon the fields were yielding to him abundant harvests.  He made that his homestead and continued to reside there until his death, which occurred when he was about eighty-seven years of age.  In politics he was a Whig and was a member of the Friends' church.  He had four sons: Annas, Samuel, John and Benjamin, and to each of his children he gave one hundred and sixty acres of land.  His sons are all now deceased.      Benjamin Davis, the father of our subject, was a native of Georgia and with his parents came to Miami county in 1802, when ten years of age. Here he spent many years and was an eye witness of the pioneer development and growth of the county.  In 1856 he sold his farm in this county and removed to Lee county, Iowa, but in the meantime he had engaged in merchandising at West Milton for several years and was also interested in an oil mill there.  After his removal to the Buckeye state he purchased three hundred acres in Lee county, and there followed farming until his death, which occurred when he was eighty-four years of age.  He was reared in the faith of the Society of Friends, but as he married outside of that church his connection therewith was severed.  Miss Margaret Fetters, who became his wife, was born in Pennsylvania and emigrated to Miami county when about twenty years of age.  She died in 1847, leaving several children.  In the family were, ten, but four of the number died in infancy, the others being Sarah, now deceased; David, of this review; Susan, who is living in Lincoln, Nebraska; Margaret, a resident of Piatt county, Illinois; William H., of Oregon, who died May 18, 1900; and George, a farmer and dairyman of Lee county, Iowa.  In his political views Mr. Davis was a Whig until the dissolution of the party, when he joined the ranks of the Republican party.  He served as township trustee for several years and at all times was loyal to his duties of citizenship.      David Davis, whose name begins this record, remained with his parents on the old homestead until twenty-one years of age, when he was married and took charge of the farm, which he managed for three or four years. He then purchased eighty acres of his father's land, continuing its cultivation for ten or tweh'e years, when he traded that place for his present home of one hundred and forty-eight acres, on which he has lived since the spring of 1862. He now has a well improved property, on which is a beautiful residence that stands in the midst of well tilled fields. He is practical and systematic in his business methods and no delay is found in the prosecution of his work.      On the 4th of March, 1852, Mr. Davis was married to Miss Anna M. Mote, daughter of John and Rhoda Mote.  She died in 1891, leaving five children, namely: John O., of Troy, who served as county recorder for six years; Lambert, who died at the age of twenty-three years; Laura E., wife of John William Macy, of Dayton, Ohio; Susan Mary, wife of Wilson Stebelton; and Joseph Warren, who is living on his father's farm.  David Davis was married the second time, Oct. 4, 1896, to Miss Mary A. Kelly, the youngest daughter of Seth and Mary Ann Kelly.  Seth Kelly was a native of Massachusetts and died Sept. 19, 1852, aged fifty-seven years and eleven months.  Mary Ann Kelly died Aug. 5, 1852, aged forty-four years and nine months.  They left four children,—David, Eli, Sarah and Mary A. David died in January, 1890, and Eli in August, 1899.  Sarah married Oliver Jay and lives in St. Mary, Ohio.  Mrs. Davis was a teacher in the public schools of Troy for twelve years and for four years in Iowa, thus having devoted the best years of her life to educational work.  In his political views Mr. Davis is a Republican and is deeply interested in the issues of the day and in the success of his party.  He has served as school director, but has never cared for office, preferring to devote his time and energies to his business interests. Source: Genealogical & Biographical Record of Miami Co., Ohio - Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company - 1900 - Page 810
	JEFFERSON DAVIS, an officer, statesman and legislator of prominence in America, gained the greater part of his fame from the fact that he was president of the southern confederacy.  Mr. Davis was born in Christian county, Kentucky, June 3, 1808, and his early education and surroundings were such that his sympathies and inclinations were wholly with the southern people.  He received a thorough education, graduated at West Point in 1828, and for a number of years served in the army at western posts and in frontier service, first as lieutenant and later as adjutant.  In 1835 he resigned and became a cotton planter in Warren county, Mississippi, where he took an active interest in public affairs and became a conspicuous figure in politics.  In 1844 he was a presidential elector from Mississippi and during the two following years served as congressman from his district.  He then became colonel of a Mississippi regiment in the war with Mexico and participated in some of the most severe battles, being seriously wounded at Buena Vista.  Upon his return to private life he again took a prominent part in political affairs and represented his state in the United States senate from 1847 to 1851.  He then entered President Pierce's cabinet as secretary of war, after which he again entered the United States senate, remaining until the outbreak of the Civil war.  He then became president of the southern confederacy and served as such until captured in May, 1865, at Irwinville, Georgia.  He was held as prisoner of war at Fortress Monroe, until 1867, when he was released on bail and finally set free in 1868.   His death occurred Dec. 6, 1889.      Jefferson Davis was a man of excellent abilities and was recognized as one of the best organizers of his day.  He was a forceful and fluent speaker and a ready writer.  He wrote and published the "Rise and Fall of the Southern Confederacy," a work which is considered as authority by the southern people. Source: Genealogical & Biographical Record of Miami Co., Ohio - Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company - 1900 - Page 24
	LEWIS W. DAVIS. The neat and thrifty appearance of the Davis farm, in Newberry township, well indicates the careful supervision of the operator, who is numbered among Ohio's native sons, his birth having occurred in Union township, Clinton county, on the 8th of December, 1847.  He is a representative of one of the old families of Pennsylvania.  His grandparents were Joshua and Elizabeth (Rogers) Davis, both natives of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania.  There the grandmother spent her entire life, but the grandfather removed to Belmont county. Ohio, where his last days were passed.  He was three times married.  Hiram, the father of our subject, was born in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, in 1818, and when nineteen years of age, made the journey to Clinton county.  Ohio, on horseback.  He there married Mary Ann Shields, and began his domestic life on a farm of fifty acres, for which he traded a horse.  Later he sold his farm and operated rented land and also engaged in working in the woods till he settled on one hundred acres of land owned by his son.  John T. His death occurred on that farm in 1852.  His wife, long surviving him, passed away in 1894, at the advanced age of eighty-three years.  She was born in Clinton county, Ohio, and was the daughter of William and Hannah ( Frazier) Shields.  At an early day her father removed from Tennessee to Ohio.  He was a son of David Shields, who emigrated from Ireland to the new world, taking up his abode in Tennessee, whence he removed to Clinton county, this state.  On the voyage to America he was accompanied by two brothers, one of whom settled in Clinton county.  At the time when the colonies attempted to throw off the yoke of British tyranny, David Shields joined the colonial army and served throughout the war.  He participated in the battle of Yorktown, and when Washington was negotiating terms of surrender for Cornwallis, Mr. Shields was chosen to carry dispatches to the British leader.  It was from this Revolutionary hero that Mary Shields, the mother of our subject, was descended.  Unto Hiram and Mary Davis were born ten children: Elizabeth, who became the wife of John H. Shields and died in Clinton county, in 1861; Rebecca J., who became the wife of Thomas Garretson, of Clinton county; Ellis, of Danville, Illinois, who married Maria Jane Shields, and afterward married Sarah Doran; John T., who married Ann Thompson and is living on the home farm; William, who married Bertha Painter and resides in Marion, Indiana; George B., who married Alice Parrett and is living in Warren county.  Ohio; Joseph, deceased; Silas, who married Ruth Thatcher and makes his home in Clinton county; Lewis W.; and Calvin, who married Hattie Doran and died in Wood county, Ohio.      Lewis Walker Davis, whose name heads this review, spent his boyhood days on his father's farm and pursued his education in the public schools during the winter seasons.  He remained with his widowed mother until after her marriage and aided her in the labor of the cultivation of the homestead.  About 1882 lie removed to Grant county, Ohio, and purchased a seventy-acre farm, on which he resided for four years.  He then sold that property and removed to Warren county, Ohio, where he also spent four years.  On the expiration of that period, he located near West Milton, Miami county, and in the spring of 1896 he removed to the Judge Freshour farm of one hundred and eighty acres, on which he has since resided.  He does general farming and also makes a specialty of raising tobacco.      On the 22d of October, 1874, Mr. Davis married Miss Rebecca Coate, who was born in Newton township, Miami county, January 16, 1846.  Her father, Jonathan Coate, was born in Newton township and died there upon his farm.  He married Miss Elizabeth Jay, a native of Miami county, and they became the parents of the following children:  Mary, wife of Enoch Berry, of Newton township; John, who died at the age of two years; James, of Troy, who married Miss Pearson and after her death wedded Lydia Deeter; Lurana, wife of Henry Miles, of Newton township; Mrs. Davis; Sarah, who died at the age of fifteen; Elizabeth, wife of Charles Gilbert, of Denver, Colorado; and Amanda, who died in infancy.      After the death of his first wife, Jonathan Coate married Rachel Jenkins, who survived her marriage six months.  Martha Compton afterward became his wife and their children were: Emma; Ellwood, who died in infancy; Winnie, who became the wife of Otto Sinks and died in Dayton, Ohio; and Alice, wife of Webb Tucker, of Lima, Ohio.  The grandparents of Mrs. Davis were James and Lurana (Teague) Coate, tlie latter from South Carolina, and both died in Newton township.      The children of Mr. and Mrs. Davis are as follows: Laura and Eva were twins, born in 1875, and the former became the wife of William Compton and died Feb. 18, 1899; William and Elda were twins, and the former, a soldier in the Spanish-American war, is now following carpentering in Denver, Colorado, while the latter is the wife of Walter Ellemen, of Newberry township, and has one child, Lewis H.; Clifford, Lewis and Houston are now at home; Mary E. and Bertie complete the family, but the latter died at the age of five years.  The family is one of prominence in the community, its members ocupying creditable positions in social circles.  Mr. Davis is a highly esteemed and intelligent farmer who keeps well informed on the issues of the day, is a Republican in his political views and a Quaker in religious faith. Source: Genealogical & Biographical Record of Miami Co., Ohio - Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company - 1900 - Page 844
C. M. DEPEW

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