Nathaniel Davis

As printed in 1881

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 History of Ray County, Mo. (1881). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.