Escambia County FlArchives Biographies.....Davis, Arthur W. August 16, 1857 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/fl/flfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Nancy Rayburn http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00025.html#0006128 May 1, 2010, 8:59 am Source: The Lewis Publishing Co., Vol.III pg.34-5-6 1923 Author: The History of Florida: Past & Present DAVIS, ARTHUR WILLIAM, is one of the prominent members of the bar of the City of Pensacola, and is now serving as United States court commissioner for the Northern District of Florida. In the picturesque hills of Wales Mr. DAVIS was born on the 16th of August, 1857, and he is of distinguished ancestry. His grandfather on the paternal side was WILLIAM DAVIS, who was born in England and who there passed the closing period of his life at Chester, he having been a government revenue supervisor for a long period of years and having been stationed at various places in England, including Chester, where his death occurred while he was still in office. He was a lineal descendant of Lord Lightfoot and Lady Peacock, members of old and distinguished English families. BENJAMIN DAVIS, father of him whose name introduces this review, was born at Bolton, Lancastershire, England, in 1810, and in that county he was reared to manhood. He was for sixty years engaged in the practice of law at Chester, England, near the Welsh border, and he served a number of years as a member of the municipal council of Chester. He was a conservative in politics, and both he and his wife were earnest communicants of the Church of England. Mrs. DAVIS, whose maiden name was SUSANNA WILLIAMS, was born in 1820, at Ruthin, Denbighshire, Wales, and it was at that place, near Chester, England, that she and her husband passed the closing years of their lives. Their eldest child, Mrs. ANCHORITE MITCHELL, died in Kent, England; WILLIAM PEACOCK became mate of the sailing vessel “Eliza Bonzell”, and he died at sea; THOMAS F. is a retired merchant at Galveston, Texas; SUSANNA is the wife of GRIFFITH JONES, of Pensacola, Florida; Miss ELIZABETH still resides at Ruthin, Wales; BENJAMIN was a customhouse officer in the City of Liverpool, England, at the time of his death in 1918; ARTHUR W., of this sketch, was the next in order of birth; JOHN EDWARD a retired railroad inspector, resides at Ruthin, Wales; and four children died in early childhood. The schools of Ruthin, Wales, and Chester, England, afforded ARTHUR W. DAVIS his early education, and his father’s earnest desire that he should become a lawyer led the father to put the son to the reading of law when he was too young to assimilate the required knowledge and to develop any enthusiasm for such study. The result of this somewhat untimely discipline was that ARTHUR W. DAVIS ran away from home when he was a lad of thirteen years and entered upon a seafaring career, in which connection he eventually visited many of the ports of the world, including those of South America, where finally he engaged in the hotel business at Valparaiso. His adventurous career included his service as a soldier in the war between Chile and Peru, he having been a private in the army of Chile in 1879-80-81. Early in his seafaring career Mr. DAVIS came to the United States, and thereafter he was in navigation service out from the ports of New York and Boston, on passenger and mail steamers. In 1881 he left Valparaiso, Chile, and returned to New York City. He there became steward in a leading hotel, and later he gave similar service in Boston, at Newport, Rhode Island, and at various places in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. His connection with the hotel business continued, as manager, steward or proprietor, until 1896, when he removed to Birmingham, Alabama, and there he entered the employ of the great Chicago packing concern of Armour & Company. After serving two years as a traveling salesman he was made manager of the branch house at Bessemer, Alabama, where he remained until 1900. He was then offered his choice of managerial vacancies at Havana, Cuba, Mobile, Alabama, and Pensacola, Florida. He selected Pensacola, and from that year until 1912 he here had the management of the branch house of Armour & Company. In the meanwhile the ancestral or paternal urge seems not to have been obliterated, for he gave as much time as possible to the study of law, in order to fulfill the promise made to his father. In 1913 Mr. DAVIS was appointed special agent for the Government Department of Justice at Pensacola, and this office he retained until April, 1920, besides being engaged in the private practice of law, his admission to the bar having occurred in 1913. When, in 1917, the nation became involved in the World war, Mr. DAVIS found it imperative to devote his entire time and attention to his official duties with the Department of Justice, in which he had supervision of the territory between Pensacola and Tallahassee. When, in 1920, the Government desired to transfer him to some other jurisdiction, he declined to leave Pensacola, resigned his office with the Department of Justice and in April resumed the practice of his profession in this city. In January, 1921, however, he was appointed United States commissioner for the Northern District of Florida, and in this service he now maintains offices on the second floor of the Federal Building at Pensacola. In January, 1920, the Government sent him to Philadelphia on special service for the Department of Justice, and while in that city he assisted in the capture of GROVER CLEVELAND BERGDOLL, the draft evader whose case has been a matter of international prominence. Mr. DAVIS is aligned staunchly in the ranks of the democratic party, and he served two years as a member of the Board of County Commissioners of Escambia County. He is a member of the Florida State Bar Association and of the Pensacola Chamber of Commerce, and is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, the Woodmen of the World, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias and the United Commercial Travelers. He owns and occupies the fine old colonial mansion erected by the late Judge A.E. MAXWELL at Oakfield, five mile north of Pensacola. On the 26th of June, 1884, at Liverpool, England, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. DAVIS and Miss SARAH EMMA FOULKES, daughter of the late ROBERT and MARGARET (ROBERTS) FOULKES, the father having been a substantial capitalist and having also attained distinction as a harpist and a Welsh bard of exceptional talent and artistry. Mr. and Mrs. DAVIS have five children: SUSIE MARGARET is the wife of JAMES P. ADAMS, of Brent, Escambia County. ELIZABETH M. is the wife of SCOTT HARTER, of Pensacola. ROBERT ARTHUR remains at the parental home and is chief clerk for the Louisville & Nashville Railroad in its Pensacola offices. JOHN HARRINGTON likewise is in the employ of the same railroad company, and remains at the parental home. As a member of the Engineering Corps he was in active service with the American Expeditionary Forces overseas during two years of the World war period, he having taken part in several major engagements and having gained the rank of first sergeant. BENJAMIN L. is in the service of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company at Pensacola, and in the World war he served two and one-half years in the commissary department of the American Expeditionary Forces in France. Mr. DAVIS has written a number of short stories which have appeared in different magazines, and won the first prize for short stories, offered by the State Fair, “Uncle Jeff’s Cabin”, which has appeared in serial form. Photo: http://www.usgwarchives.net/fl/escambia/photos/bios/davis30bs.jpg File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/fl/escambia/bios/davis30bs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/flfiles/ File size: 8.1 Kb