Allen-Clark County IN Archives Biographies.....Davis, William January 12, 1838 - 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
J. Robison normadeplume@windstream.net February 4, 2011, 4:54 am

Source: History of Allen and Woodson Counties, Kansas
Author: L. Wallace Duncan

From 'History of Allen and Woodson Counties, Kansas' by L. Wallace Duncan 1901

     WILLIAM DAVIS, of Iola, seven years a Sunday School Missionary in 
Oklahoma, and a resident of Allen county for nearly a third of a century is a 
contribution from the citizenship of Indiana.  He cast his lot with Kansas, 
and Allen county, in 1869, a time when good honest citizenship was in need of 
encouragement and reinforcement here, and when permanent settlements were only 
beginning to take substantial hold.
     Of the eastern states whose sons were looking in the direction of the 
prairie states for settlement, just after the war, Indiana furnished her share 
and, from 1865 to 1875, they poured into Kansas in a steady stream.  Johnson 
county, that State, gave Allen county many men whose character and personal 
worth won them a conspicuous prominence in the confidence of our citizens.  
WILLIAM DAVIS is one of these.  He was born in Franklin township, Johnson 
county, Indiana, 
January 12, 1838.  The blood of the Scotch and Irish courses through his veins 
and his remote ancestors were among the settlers of the Colonies and in the 
ranks of the Revolutionary armies.
    This family of Davis emanates from New Jersey.  William DAVIS, our 
subject's grandfather, was born in Mercer County, that State, and came by 
wagon, westward to the Monongahela river, in Pennsylvania where he built a 
flat boat and floated down the river to Ohio Falls and from that point went 
into Mercer county, Kentucky.  Farming was his vocation.  He served in the War 
of 1812 from that State and , late in life, went into Clark county, Illinois 
(sic Indiana), and died there in 1874, aged ninety years.  He was a son of a 
Revolutionary soldier, married a Miss COVERT and was the father of four sons 
and eight daughters.  The sons were:  John W., William Samuel and Daniel DAVIS.
     John DAVIS, father of our subject, was born in Mercer county, Kentucky, 
February 17, 1813.  He left his native State in 1822 and settled on the Ohio 
river in Switzerland county, Indiana.  Two years later he went into Johnson 
county, and there lived a successful farmer and an honored citizen.  Like his 
forefathers he was a Democrat, but firing on Ft. Sumpter caused him to unite 
his political fortunes with the Republicans.  He was a man of much piety, of 
strong Christian character and was a life-long Presbyterian.  His first wife 
was Mary F., a daughter of William McGEE from Mercer county, Kentucky.  The 
McGEEs were a Scotch and Irish mixture while the Davis' proper are believed to 
be of Welch origin.  John DAVIS' second wife was Martha, a daughter of John 
VANARSDALE.  She resides on the family homestead in Johnson county, Indiana.  
Mr. DAVIS' first wife died February 14, 1853.  Their children were:  William, 
Martha J., deceased, married Elisha VANARSDALE; Mary E., deceased, married 
John W. DAVIS and left two children; Daniel C. DAVIS, deceased; Rachel A., 
deceased; Abraham V. and John H. DAVIS, both deceased, are children by his 
second wife.  Mr. DAVIS died July 24, 1880.  He was an intelligent, strong-
willed positive citizen.  His character showed in all his acts and his life 
was one good example to be followed with profit.
     William DAVIS, our subject was educated in the better schools of his time 
and he reached his majority as a farmer.  His first experiences away from the 
parental home were as farm hand and as clerk in a Franklin store.  He entered 
the army....
     Mr. DAVIS engaged in merchandising at Franklin, Ind., and only closed out 
the business to come to Kansas.  His first permanent location was in Iola 
where he established a business (a partnership) and conducted it till 1875.  
The following three years he spent in colportage work for the Presbyterian 
church traveling about through Kansas and the Indian Territory.  In the fall 
of 1878 he was elected Clerk of the District Court in Allen county, serving 
four years.....
     Mr. DAVIS was married at Brownsville, Nebraska, May 16, 1872, to Candace, 
a daughter of Alexander GRIMES.  Her mother, Mrs. C. G. BOYCE resides with 
her.  The GRIMESes were from near Richmond, Indiana.  Mr. and Mrs. DAVIS' 
surviving child is Miss Grace E. DAVIS, born October 10, 1882.


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