BIO: Hon. James J. DAVIDSON, Beaver County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Judy Banja & Joe Patterson Copyright 2005. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/beaver.html http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/beaver/bios/bbios.htm Index for this bio book. _________________________________________________________________ BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES. This Volume Contains Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Beaver County, Pennsylvania. Buffalo, N.Y., Chicago, Ill.: Biographical Publishing Company, 1899, pp. _________________________________________________________________ HON. JAMES J. DAVIDSON, deceased. It is a matter of profound regret that death should intervene to cut short a life in its very dawn of great promise, a life so efficiently equipped for usefulness to the community in which that life unfolded from childhood to noble manhood - a life gemmed with rare acquirements and high capacities, - full of encouragement to the many, who in their weakness, lean upon others. Such was the life of the most worthy subject of this memoir, Hon. James J. Davidson, who, although he lived but a few short years, did not live in vain. It is a sacred pleasure for those who mourn, to cherish the memory of his manly virtues and beneficent deeds. Eminent lives, independent of years, command the homage of mind and heart. James J. Davidson was born in Connellsville, Fayette county, Pa., November 5, 1861. He was a son of the late Col. Daniel R. Davidson, and grandson of Hon. William Davidson. Birth and environment are the supreme forces that mainly determine the success or failure of human beings. These forces actingin concert as uplifting factors, success is almost assured; if operating adversely, life often ends in failure. The influences, which give them direction and potency, date far back in ancestral history. These elements, in their most helpful form, as character builders, gave to James J. Davidson his high standing in business circles and his initial success in political affairs. The grandfather of our subject hereof, William Davidson, was favored with large practical ability, and was a noted iron master in the infancy of that great industry. He was several times a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature, and served as senator and as speaker of the House. He was appropriately looked upon as one of the foremost men of the county of his adoption. Colonel Daniel R. Davidson, father of the subject of these memoirs, was richly endowed with mental capabilities that would have secured eminence in any of the learned professions, had the bent of his mind led in that direction, but he chose to deal with great commercial enterprises. His keen foresight and power of analysis secured for him large wealth, and constituted him a leader in developing the vast mineral resources, which have made the county of Fayette famous in the industrial world. The mother of James J. Davidson belonged to a family which ranked among the best of Western Pennsylvania, and was a woman of rare intellectual attainments and cultivated taste, who made home life a school of moral and mental training. Such were the marked and conspicuous 24 BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES antecedents of that life which it is the aim of these brief lines to record. In the sixth year of Mr. Davidson's life, he removed with the family to Beaver county, his future home, and the theater of those early and brilliant achievements which gave such prominence to his short life. His preparatory education was obtained at the Beaver public schools and at Beaver Seminary. In 1878, he entered Bethany College, West Virginia, and afterward spent three years at the University of Lexington, Kentucky, graduating therefrom, in 1883. He returned to Beaver and spent the following two years in the study of law in the office of Hon. John J. Wickham, now of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. This fitted Mr. Davidson for the subsequent activities which made him a power in the political and industrial movements of the county and state, as it was not his intention to engage in the practice of the legal profession, but to qualify himself with most thorough business acquirements. This was the height of his ambition, and he made a study of practical matters among his first mercantile enterprises. In 1886, Mr. Davidson commenced his business career by entering the oil trade as a new member of the firm of Darrah, Watson & Co., oil producers; he was subsequently interested in several kinds of enterprises. In the course of a few years, he became president of the Union Drawn Steel Works, of Beaver Falls, Pa., one of the most prosperous manufacturing plants of the Beaver Valley. Mr. Davidson was one of the largest stockholders of that organization, and was its president at the time of his death. Early in life the subject of this biography became actively engaged in politics, and was soon recognized as an influential leader in the Republican party, supervising partisan policies and giving direction to local and national campaigns. He served seven years as a member of the Beaver Council and was an ardent supporter of the public improvements, which in these later years have made Beaver so attractive for family residences. In 1894, Mr. Davidson received the unanimous nomination of Beaver county, for Congress, but at the congressional conference held at Beaver Falls, he withdrew in favor of T. W. Phillips, of Lawrence county. In 1896, Mr. Davidson was again the unanimous choice of Beaver county, and at the congressional conference held in Butler, he was nominated on the first ballot. The nomination of so young a man in a district composed of four counties, with numerous aspirants, is proof of a phenomenal ability to control political forces, and was prophetic of a successful future, paralleled by but few in the history of our nation. After his election to Congress in 1896, Mr. Davidson went west to regain his health, but death prevented him from taking the oath of office, and his first year's salary was paid to his bereaved widow. Toward the close of 1895, Mr. Davidson suffered an attack of "la grippe," which in after months developed into lung disease. BEAVER COUNTY 25 His ambitions were beyond his constitution, and his energetic disposition kept him from taking much needed rest. The failure of medical skill to master this lung ailment, finally induced him to seek relief in change of climate. In July, 1896, he left his home in Beaver, and accompanied by his wife and two children, went to Salt Lake City. A month's sojourn in that city failing to bring any special relief, he changed his location to Colorado Springs. After a six weeks' stay there he removed to Phoenix, Arizona; but change of climate and the most careful nursing and loving attention were powerless to arrest the waste of physical forces, and he succumbed to quick consumption. On January 2, 1897, at the age of thirty-five years, the struggle ended, leaving a grief-stricken wife, two interesting children, and a host of friends to mourn his departure. Mr. Davidson was a thirty-second degree Mason and was past officer of that fraternity; he was a member of the Tancred Commandery, Knights Templar, and of Syria Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. His Masonic brethren met his remains at the home depot, and had charge of the memorial services, which were very imposing. Mr. Davidson was also a member of the I. O. O. F. lodge, the Knights of Pythias, the American Mechanics, and the Americus Club of Pittsburg, whose members came in a body to his funeral. January 31, 1889, James J. Davidson was united by the holy bands of matrimony with Emma Eakin, an accomplished daughter of John R. Eakin, noted as one of the solid men of Beaver county. This most happy union resulted in the birth of three little ones: Philip James; Margaret, who died when only three months old; and Sarah Norton. It was the most earnest desire of Mr. Davidson to build a handsome home for his beloved ones in some attractive spot, and to surround them with every convenience and comfort. But his unusually busy life left him no time to attend to this matter before being cut off by death, with this wish unfulfilled. Mrs. Davidson and her two children are now residing in a pleasant home located on the south side of Park street, and it is her desire to rear and educate her little son and daughter in a fitting manner, that they may in the future add other laurels to the honored name of their father, a further account of whose ancestors may be found in the sketch of Frederick Davidson, of Beaver Falls, to be found in this volume. The publishers of this work take pleasure in announcing that a portrait of Mr. Davidson accompanies this work, being presented on a preceding page.