Orange County FlArchives Biographies.....Davis, Edwin W. August 21, 1869 - 
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Nancy Rayburn http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00025.html#0006128 June 23, 2012, 3:27 pm

Source: The Lewis Publishing Co., Vol. III   pg. 105  1923
Author: The History of Florida:  Past & Present

	DAVIS, EDWIN WALLACE.  The story of personal effort winning success in 
the face of difficulties is one that has always interested the American 
public, personal and moral courage always arousing an elemental spirit of 
right and justice.  There are many men in public, business and professional 
life who have had to carve their own way to success, and few, perhaps, really 
deplore the hard discipline if it brought them the capacity to value the real 
things of life with the clear vision and broad outlook.  One of the leading 
citizens of Orlando, EDWIN WALLACE DAVIS is an example of one who advanced 
himself from unassisted boyhood to a place of honor and independence among his 
fellow men, by whom he is respected and esteemed far beyond the average.  Mr. 
DAVIS is one of the foremost members of the Orlando bar, a member of the well 
known law firm of Davis & Giles, and is credited with being the ablest trial 
lawyer in the State of Florida.
	EDWIN WALLACE DAVIS was born on a farm near St. Paul, Minnesota, 
August 21, 1869, a son of WALLACE and HELEN D. (WINSLADE) DAVIS, the former of 
whom was born in the city of London, England, and the latter at Madison, 
Wisconsin.  In childhood his father became superintendent of a saddler and 
hardware business at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in a few years removing to 
Canton, Ohio, in the same line of business.
	During early boyhood EDWIN WALLACE DAVIS attended the public schools 
at Canton, and remembers that one of his teachers was a sister of Governor and 
later President WILLIAM McKINLEY.  The boy early became practically self-
supporting, and when sixteen years old made his way to Florida, finding work 
in a sawmill near Ocala.  He was ambitious, however, and in spite of 
discouragements had mapped out a future for himself, in no way being dismayed 
that its realization could only be brought about by great self denial and 
determined resolution.  He applied himself to his books, particularly law 
books, and so effectively that when twenty-three years old he had the 
satisfaction of being admitted to the bar and entered into practice at Ocala.  
In 1906 Mr. DAVIS was elected on the democratic ticket as state’s attorney for 
the Fifth Judicial Circuit, and was reelected in 1910, serving through two 
terms with the greatest efficiency.  In 1913 he came to Orlando, as a wider 
field for professional effort, and organized the law firm of Davis & Giles, 
general practitioners.
	In 1892 Mr. DAVIS married Miss SARAH WALLACE, of Marion County, 
Florida, and they have four children:  WALLACE E., ROBERT C., SARAH E., and 
WILLIAM F.  During the World war WALLACE E. served in the United States Navy 
on the Battleship Pennsylvania; and ROBERT C., a graduate of Stetson College, 
was a sergeant in Company K, 102nd Infantry, and took part in the battle of 
Verdun.  Both sons are in business at Orlando, the former a bookkeeper and the 
latter a law clerk.  Mr. DAVIS is a thirty-second degree Mason and a Shriner.


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