Biography of Thomas Davis - Macon County, Illinois THOMAS DAVIS Thomas Davis is another old settler who figured prominently in the affairs of the county, and who has done much to add both to its business and its wealth, and we therefore with pleasure add a brief notice of his life. He is a native of the Keystone state, and was born in Washington county, September 12th, 1819, and is the son of George Davis and Hester Whiteman, natives of the same county. After attaining the age of manhood he went to Licking county, Ohio, where he served as a farm hand about five years, then spent some two years in farming and trading on his own account in Muskingum county. He next directed his course westward, and located in Mt. Zion township, this county, in 1848. He purchased a farm in company with Philo Buckingham, another well-known business gentleman, and began trading in sheep and cattle. He soon purchased other lands in that township, and became well-known throughout this section of the state, both as a prominent farmer and an active trader, and has maintained a business reputation from that day to this, which places him prominently before the people. For the last four years he has made a specialty in shipping horses and mules to the West, principally to N! ebraska. Some of his investments have been very profitable, while others have involved heavy losses, and he has therefore had about the usual luck of all large traders. His object though, it seems, has not been so much to save money as to make it. His motto has been to create business, whether it promises large personal gains or not. He naturally loves to see business and trade active, the country prosper, even independent of his own immediate interests, and no man in his section of the county should have more credit than he for stirring up the active energies of general commerce. He has been twice married. His first wife was Miss Elizabeth Rogers, whom he married while on a visit to his old home in Pennsylvania. This companion he buried while a resident of Mr. Zion township. She was the mother of one child, which only lived a short time. He was married to his present companion in 1856. Her given name is Margaret, sister to his first wife. She has had three children, all dead. With respect to family history, the following items are gathered. His grandfather Davis was a native of Wales. He arrived in this country about the time of the Revolutionary war. He settled in Washington county, Pennsylvania, where he died. Mr. Davis' father was there born and raised and became a farmer and brick-mason. He then married the lady already mentioned, and raised seven children--six still living: Thomas, Eliza Hatfield, of native county, Isaac, a well-known farmer of this township, Joseph, a farmer of Borie county and Martha and Mary J. In politics, Mr. Davis is an independent thinker, and votes as he thinks best for the general welfare of the country. He was a Unionist during the late war, and is in favor of the equal rights of all in civic privileges. In physical constitution he has been endowed in a remarkable degree. He has had an iron constitution, and has performed a vast amount of manual labor. He is still robust and strong, and is yet blessed with unimpaired energies, and the prospect is that he will yet serve the county for many years in the work of material and social development. History of Macon Co, 1880, p. 214 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Pat Hageman (© 1997 Pat Hageman)