The Davis Families of Ray County, Missouri

NATHANIEL DAVIS, M. D.

Nathaniel Davis was born July 31, 1807, in Washington county, East Tennessee. When he was about five years old, his parents moved with him to Knox county, Tennessee, where he spent his youth and passed the threshold of manhood. At the age of twenty-two, he was entered a student in the University of East Tennessee, and graduated with honor, from that institution in 1832. After which he attended the famous Jefferson Medical College, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and in the spring of 1834, received his diploma of graduation therefrom. He then selected Ray county, Missouri, as the field of his future labors, and started for the " far west " to care out his destiny. How well he has succeeded, let the affection of his neighbors, and the respect and the esteem in which he is held by the people of the entire county, together with his comfortable home and surroundings, bear testimony. His character is untainted, and his very name is the synonym of integrity, hospitality and charity. He has grown old; the frosts of many winters have settled on his head, and "full of years and of honor, " he has retired from the practice of his profession to pass the remainder of his declining years in the quietude of his home, near the eastern limits of Richmond. He was an eminently successful practitioner, because he was skillful, prompt, and always reliable. In 1837, he was thrown from a horse, and by this accident his ankle was dislocated and broken, thereby permanently laying him. Dr. Davis was here through the exciting period of the "Mormon war," and was compelled to seek safety by leaving his home for a time. During the great civil war, however, he remained at home, and was not seriously molested. In the fall of the year 1837, Dr. Nathaniel Davis was united in marriage with Miss Mariah A. Allen, of Ray county. She was, however, a native of Virginia. They have had six children, two of whom are deceased. The living are as follows: James A., collector of Ray county; Margaret Ann, wife of Murray F. McDonald, a merchant of Richmond; Alice, widow of George Mason, deceased, late of Richmond, and Samuel B., deputy county collector. His wife died August 23, 1878. She was a lady of cheerful disposition, and added to an exemplary Christian character, gentle manners and the graces of womanhood.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

JAMES A. DAVIS.

James A. Davis, son of Nathaniel Davis, M. D., is a native of Ray county, Missouri, and was born November 27, 1837. He was educated at the Richmond College, Richmond, Missouri. In 1862 he engaged in the mercantile business in Richmond, in company with James F. Hudgins and Thomas H. Bayliss, and continued in that pursuit till November, 1864; at which time he withdrew from the firm, and went to Salt Lake City, Utah, where he remained one year, and then returned to Richmond, and resumed business, continuing about five years. He then engaged in farming, and after about three years became deputy county collector for Thos. B. Fowler, Esq., and subsequently for Mr. Fowler's successor, A. M. Fowler, Esq., acting as deputy altogether, five years. At the general election in November, 1878, he was elected, as a democrat, to the office of collector of Ray county, which office he now holds, having been re-elected in November, 1880. He is an excellent officer, serving the people with efficiency and fidelity; he enjoys their entire confidence, of which he has proven himself eminently worthy. He was married May 15, 1861, to Miss Mary Triplett, of Rappahannock county, Virginia. She was an intelligent, amiable lady, but died November 26, 1864. To this union one child, Carrie, now the wife of Frank Clark, Esq., of Ray county, was born. May 15, 1866, Mr. Davis was again married to Miss Alice M. Hughes, of Howard county, Missouri. She is an accomplished lady, of refined and captivating manners, and ingenious disposition. They have five children, to-wit: Harry, Frank, Katy, Lucy, and Alice. Mr, Davis is a member of the Masonic fraternity, in good standing.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

B. FRANK DAVIS.

B. Frank Davis was born May 15, 1834, in Hart county, Kentucky. He received his education in the private schools of the neighborhood in which he lived. While his literary training is not extensive, he has a good English education, which is greatly strengthened by strong, practical common-sense, and improved by intercourse with men, close observation, a faculty for learning from passing events, and a retentive memory that stores whatever of useful knowledge is to be garnered from sources of general information. He was raised on a farm in his native county, in the cultivation and management of which, he, in common with his brother, T. J. Davis, assisted his father. He moved with his parents to Ray county, Missouri, in 1853, and on the 29th day of October of that year, settled in Ray county, near the present village of Morton, within one-fourth. of a mile of where he now resides, conducting a farm, which, with the exception of a period of interruption from the beginning to the ending of the civil war, has been his life-long vocation. His father was an esteemed and honored citizen of Kentucky. He lost his life by accident, about a year after his arrival in Ray county. He was at work at a carpenter's bench, at the end of which and supported by it, stood a loaded shot-gun. The continued jostling of the bench, finally caused the gun to slip backward and fall on the hammer, discharging it. The contents entered the calf of one of Mr. Davis' legs, severing an artery, and causing his death by hemorrhage — medical assistance arriving too late to save his life. June 20, 1861, in response to the call of Gov. Jackson, Mr. Davis enlisted in the Missouri state guards, and participated in the engagements at Lexington, Carthage, Oak Hill, Elkhorn, and other places.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

THOMAS J. DAVIS.

Thomas J. Davis is a native of Hart county, Kentucky, and was born April 12, 1836. He was educated in the common schools, and lived in the county of his birth till the fall of 1853, when he accompanied his parents to Missouri, and with them settled in Crooked River township, Ray county, not far from his present residence. After leaving school, Mr. Davis engaged in farming, an occupation he has followed ever since. In June, 1861, responding to the call of Governor Claiborne F. Jackson, he enlisted in the Missouri state guards, and while in this service, under Captain Bohannon, he started south to join General Sterling Price, whom they met a few miles from Carthage, Missouri, on the morning of the engagement at that place. He then went south with his comrades in arms, and remained till his return to participate in the battle of Oak Hill, against Generai Lyon. He was also in the battle of Lexington. Thence went to Pineville, and afterward took part in the battle of Elkhorn. From Van Buren, Arkansas, the soldiers were ordered east of the Mississippi, to go thence to Memphis. Mr. Davis, however, was one of a company of sixty, ordered to remain at Des Ark, Arkansas, in charge of the stock, equipments, and other munitions of war belonging to the command, and to take the same, for protection, into the state of Texas. This, however, they did not do, as they found an excellent country, abounding in grass and water, near Doaksville, Indian Territory. After remaining in Doaksville three months, they were ordered by Governor Jackson to report to him at Fort Smith, Arkansas, where he expected to meet them. Governor Jackson died, however, at a farm house, on the Arkansas river, opposite Little Rock, before reaching Fort Smith, and Mr. Davis and his comrades, on reaching Fort Smith, reported to Colonel George. November 28, 1862, he enlisted as a soldier in the regular Confederate army, and served gallantly till the close of the war. He was in all the engagements mentioned in the biographical sketch of his brother, B. Frank Davis. He was never absent at roll-call, and never shirked a duty, nor faltered in any undertaking, however hazardous. In October, 1863, he was on detached service in the Confederate laboratory at Marshall, Texas. He rejoined his command at Shreveport, Louisiana. He surrendered at Alexandria, that state, in June, 1865, and, with his brother, returned home to Ray county, after an absence of four years, fighting for principles which have passed into history as the "lost cause." May 7, 1874, Thomas J. Davis married Miss Nannie Bohannon, of Ray county, daughter of Colonel Louis C. Bohannon, whose biography may be found elsewhere in this work. She is an intelligent, attractive lady, and, with her husband, is the recipient of the respect and esteem of all who know them.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

S. C. DAVIS. Was born in Ray county, Missouri, November 26, 1836. His parents were from the state of Tennessee, and came here with the first settlers of Ray county. They had three sons, two of whom were killed during the civil war. Mr. Davis was educated in the schools of his native county, and after leaving school engaged in the avocation of farming. He was married in the month of February, 1856, to Miss Sophronia A. Schooler, of Ray county. Six children have been born to them, whose names follow: Isabella A., Edward R., Martha A., Benora F., Maggie A., and James F. Mr. Davis has traveled considerably through the great west. Spent some time at the Mormon city of Salt Lake, Utah. He owns a farm of one hundred acres of good, rich land, a comfortable residence, and necessary out buildings for the shelter of stock and grain. He engaged largely in the cattle trade, and fatten cattle for market upon his farm. He is a practical business man and highly prosperous. He is a worthy member of the order of Patrons of Husbandry, Crooked River Grange, number 1,005, and a good, substantial citizen of Richmond township.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.