William Davis

As printed in 1880

WILLIAM DAVIS, Marengo; son of Nathaniel and Martha (Doty) Davis; was born in

Kiiox Co., Ohio, Sept. 30, 1822; lie remained with his lather until he died, which was Aug. 0, 1839. His schooling was very limited, consisting of but two or three terms of winter school; the school house he remembers as a log cabin, with a portion of one of the logs sawed out for a window, and oiled paper served in the stead of window glass. In this poorly constructed concern he received only the rudiments of an education; since that time and out of school he has acquired quite a good knowledge of books and sufficient to pass a teacher's examination. When Mr. Davis Hrst attended school, children that could read, write and cipher were considered graduates. William remained with his mother after his father’s death, until she married John Lash. On the 30th of Nov., 1844, he was married to Lovina Vining, daughter of John and Abigail (Ganong) Vining. No family lias ever been born to this union. They have raised two orphan children from infancy and partly raised two others. James Rice and Juliet Davis were brought up by Mr. and Mrs. Davis. These children now are married and occupy responsible positions in the neighborhood in which they live. Mr. Davis started in life with scarcely a shilling, but by industry, frugality and hard labor, he has amassed quite a fortune. His place is nicely situated on the Mt. Vernon road, one mile east of Marengo, and consists of 269 acres of good land. He has acquired this by farming and stock-dealing, and is said to be one of the most extensive stock-dealers in Morrow Co. Though successful in business, Mr. Davis has been unfortunate in having met with severe accidents by flood and field. Once, when only a child, he fell in a deep spring, and was only rescued from drowning by the timely arrival of his sister. At another time he was on a steamboat in Lake Erie when it collided with a lumber-laden brig, and only escaped drowning by a miracle. He was also in the great railroad mirror that occurred in Iowa in 1877. In this wreck there was over thirty killed and a great number wounded. In this accident Mr. Davis received severe injuries, the Iowa State Register to the contrary. His last accident occurred the latter part of June, 1880. While riding in his carriage the horse took right and ran away, throwing Mr. Davis out and kicking him on the hip so severely that the high bone was broken about two inches from the hip-socket. Though an old man, the vigorous constitution he possesses will carry him through, so that he may again assume his usual prominent position in society. He is a staunch Republican in politics, but has steadily declined positions of honor and trust tendered him. He is one of the most prominent and upright men in Bennington Tp. and south-eastern Morrow Co.

As printed in History of Morrow County and Ohio : containing a brief history of the state of Ohio ... a history of Morrow County ... biographical sketches, portraits of some of the early settlers and prominent men, (1880). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.