Thomas J. Davis

As printed in 1881

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 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.