Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Davison, William D 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com November 10, 2007, 1:43 pm

Author: Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County

WILLIAM E. DAVISON, who is well known as a successful merchant tailor of 
Joliet, was born near West Woodburn, thirty miles north of Newcastle-on-Tyne, 
County Northumberland, England, on Christmas day of 1862. His father and 
grandfather, both of whom bore the name of Walter Davison, were natives of the 
same county as himself. His father, who was engaged in farming and also in the 
manufacture of shoes, made his home at Laurel cottage, a beautiful place near 
West Woodburn, and there he died in May, 1866, when our subject was little 
more than three years of age. In religion he was a Presbyterian. He had 
married Margaret Brown, who was born at Davy Shield Hill, two miles from the 
famous battlefield of Chevychase. She was a daughter of Thomas Brown. She 
survived her husband ten years, dying in March, 1876. Of her six children, 
John Adam, was head bookkeeper for a large wallpaper manufacturing 
establishment at Newcastle-on-Tyne until his death in 1871; Jane Ann lives at 
Ridsdale, Northumberland; Margaret is the wife of Ralph Nesbit, of Ridsdale; 
Thomas J. succeeded his older brother as bookkeeper in the wallpaper house, 
remaining there until he died in 1891; Walter Robson is yardmaster for the 
Michigan Central Railway Company at Joliet. The youngest member of the family 
was William Edward, of this sketch. He was reared at Laurel cottage. When 
twelve years of age he completed the studies in the government school. August 
20, 1875, he was apprenticed to the tailor's trade at East Woodburn and after 
his mother died he went to live with his employer, with whom he remained 
during the rest of his five years' apprenticeship, when he worked for George 
Handyside at Cambo, England. In 1880 he went to Edinburgh, Scotland, where he 
pursued his trade. The next year he secured work at his trade in Ballymena, 
County Antrim, Ireland, where he remained for more than two years. In the 
spring of 1884 he took passage from Liverpool on the "Adriatic." April of the 
same year found him in Joliet, where he spent the summer. In September he 
entered the employ of Ely, of Chicago, and there learned cutting. In 1887 he 
returned to Joliet, which he had selected as his permanent location. In 
partnership with John W. Hudson, who had come to America with him in 1884, he 
started in business, the firm name being Hudson & Davison. After one year on 
North Chicago street, Mr. Davison purchased his partner's interest, continuing 
at the same place until August, 1889, when he secured his present location in 
the Clement building, No. 107 South Ottawa street. Here he has a large stock 
comprising the latest and finest patterns, and his business is the largest of 
its kind in the city, a result that is to be attributed entirely to his 
energy, thorough knowledge of the business, and courteous treatment of 
customers. Mr. Davison was one of the first to build on Buell avenue, which 
has since become one of the finest drives in the city. He was married in this 
city, in January, 1889, to Mrs. Carrie (Wallace) Sonntag. Her father, George 
Wallace, a native of Stroudsburg, Pa., was a nephew of the late Firman Mack, 
who was one of the pioneers and prominent business men of Joliet. Mr. Wallace 
was reared in his native place. For some years he clerked in a boot and shoe 
store in Philadelphia. In 1849 he came to Joliet, where he was employed by his 
uncle, Mr. Mack, until 1855. He then opened a retail shoe store on Jefferson 
street, continuing business there until his retirement. He died October 6, 
1881, at the age of fifty-two years. He had married, October 22, 1857, 
Elizabeth P. Moore, who was born at Clarkson, Monroe County, N. Y., a daughter 
of Rev. James H. and Jane (Parkinson) Moore. Her father, who was born near New 
York City, was for years a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church. During 
the '40s he came to Illinois and settled in Kendall County, where he was a 
pioneer preacher. At the time of the discovery of gold in California in 1849, 
he and his son, Parkinson, crossed the plains to California, where they 
engaged in mining for some years. From there he returned to Illinois. Soon 
afterward, however, he again went west, this time settling in Kansas in order 
to cast in his lot with the free-state adherents. He took part in the border 
warfare of those days and helped to vote in Kansas as a free state. As a 
minister and farmer he was well known in Kansas, where he remained until his 
death. Mrs. Wallace resides on North Hickory street, Joliet. She had but two 
children, both daughters, Mrs. Davison, and Laurabel, wife of C. W. Brown, of 
Joliet. Mr. and Mrs. Davison are the parents of three daughters, Kittiebel, 
Jessie Henrietta and Clara Elizabeth. The oldest daughter graduated from high 
school in 1899 and is now studying in the training school in this city. The 
family are connected with the Ottawa Street Methodist Episcopal Church.

Additional Comments:
Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County Illinois Containing 
Biographies of Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present, Biographical 
Publishing Company, Chicago, 1900

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