MR. AND MRS. DAVID D. DAVIS, Allegan Village, Allegan Co., Michigan

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History of Allegan and Barry Counties, Michigan, with Illustrations and 
Biographical Sketches of their Prominent Men and Pioneers.
Philadelphia:  D. W. Ensign & Co.  1880.  Press of J. B. Lippincott & 
Co., Philadelphia.

David D. Davis was born in Hartford, Washington Co., N. Y., Feb. 24, 
1814.  His father, William Davis, was a carpenter and joiner by 
occupation, and reared a family of eight children.  But little is known 
of David's early life.  He received a common-school education, and at 
the age of twenty came to Michigan, in company with his brother-in-law, 
Col. Joseph Fisk, of whom he learned his trade, --that of carpenter and 
joiner.  The year 1834 he spent at Marengo, Calhoun Co., and came to 
Allegan in in June, 1835.  May 18, 1836, he was married to Miss Hannah 
J. Robinson; they immediately returned to Allegan.  Mr. Davis and his 
wife were among the pioneers of the village, and contributed much to 
the development of its wealth and that of the country.  Being very 
energetic and extremely industrious, and withal saving and judicious in 
his investments, they were highly successful in the accumulation of 
property.  They first lived in a log house built where the wing of the 
Allegan House now stands.  Their second house was on the corner of 
Monroe and Walnut Streets, and while living there they built the 
beautiful residence on the corner of Cutler and Walnut, where Mr. Davis 
died Dec. 17, 1871.  He was a man of much strength of character and 
determination, and emphatically a self-made man.  His life was 
comparatively uneventful, and marked by few changes save such as occur 
in the lives of most successful business men.
  After his settlement in Allegan he followed his trade for many years, 
and his savings were judiciously invested in real estate.  He never 
engaged in any speculative enterprise, but steadily pursued the path he 
had marked out.  He took a deep interest in all matters pertaining to 
Allegan.  He held several positions of trust and responsibility, 
notably among the number that of county treasurer.  For years he was a 
member of the board of trustees of the Baptist Church, and took a deep 
interest in its welfare and prosperity.
  Mrs. Davis was a woman of more than ordinary abiliy and discernment, 
and a worthy counterpart of her husband in all that pertained to 
energy, industry, and thrift.  She was possessed of deep religious 
convictions, and was converted when twelve years of age; she united 
with the Baptist Church, and continued an earnest Christian and zealous 
Baptist until her death.  She was one of the thirteen who constituted 
the first membership of the Baptist Church of Allegan.  By her labors, 
counsel, and pecuniary assistance she did as much or perhaps more than 
any other of its members in bringing from its beginning to its present 
standard; nor was her work confined to her own church.  With the means 
at her command, she aided weak churches, fearless in advocacy of what 
she deemed right, and outspoken in opposition to what she thought 
wrong.  In her death, which occurred Sept. 30, 1877, the Baptist Church 
lost its strongest supporter and one of its most constant workers, 
temperance an earnest advocate, and the poor a friend.  In the 
disposition of her estate Mrs. Davis left eight thousand dollars to the 
Kalamazoo Theological Seminary, five thousand dollars to the Nashville 
(Tenn.) Institute for Colored Students, five hundred dollars to the 
Baptist State Mission; and, with the exception of the above-mentioned 
legacies and six thousand dollars, she bequeathed the balance of her 
estate, which was valued at about sixty thousand dollars, to the First 
Baptist Church of Allegan.