OBIT:  DAVIS, Thomas (Capt.); 1909; Ebensburg, Cambria Cnty., PA

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Cambria Freeman
Ebensburg, Pa.
Friday, 12 Jul 1907
Volume 41, Number 28


Death of Capt. Davis 

One of Cambria's Best Known Citizens Died at His Home in 
this Place Saturday after Lingering Illness

Cambria County lost one of her best known and sturdiest 
sons and Ebensburg, one of the most enterprising citizens 
Saturday afternoon in the death of Capt. Thomas Davis, 
which occurred at 2:36 o'clock at his home in this place.  
The end was hastened by another paralytic stroke, since 
which time the patient had sunk rapidly. The cause of death 
was a complication of diseases from which Mr. Davis had 
been suffering for some time and which had confined him to 
his bed for the past few months, his condition at several 
times during recent weeks being regarded as extremely 
critical.

Thomas Davis was born in Cambia township about two miles 
southeast of Ebensburg on October 7, 1831, and was a son of 
Richard and Elizabeth (Roberts) Davis, his father having 
come from Wales to America and located in Ebensburg about 
1812.  He was educated in and commenced life as a farmer 
but, while a young man, engaged in the lumbering business 
and followed it from 1854 until the breaking out of the 
Civil War.  Then he set his energies to work for the union 
and began by recruiting 120 men for the Nineteenth 
Regiment, United States Regulars, which had its 
headquarters at Indianapolis.  Afterward he made first 
sergeant of Company C, filling the position until after the 
battle of Chickamanga, when he was commissioned second 
lieutenant.  In about four months he was promoted to first 
lieutenant and remained in the service in this capacity 
until the close of war, serving, in all, three years and 
eight months and taking part in thirty-two engagements, 
among them Pittsburg Landing, Stone River, Resaca, 
Chickmanga and Lookout Mountain.  He was also with Sheridan 
at Atlanta and saw the city burned.

Following his retirement from the army on account of poor 
health, Mr. Davis engaged in farming for a year and then 
went into the mercantile business with his brother under 
the firm name of Davis Brothers. In 1887 he went out of 
business and lived in South Dakota for three years in the 
hope of curing a bad case of asthma.  At the end of this 
time he returned to Ebensburg and engaged in the real 
estate business, which he followed as long as able to 
attend to it.  During his life time he acquired 
considerable wealth, largely through heavy purchases of 
coal lands when they were considered of little value and he 
leaves behind a comfortable fortune.

Mr. Davis was one of Ebensburg's progressive councilmen for 
several years and it was through his efforts that many 
improvements were made to the town.

Captain Davis was one of the advocates of extensive street 
paving and much of the paved streets in Ebensburg belongs 
to him.

In politics, Mr. Davis was a Republican and while he was in 
health, there were few campaigns in which he did not take 
an active part.  His capabilities in the line of politics 
were generally recognized and the influence of "Thomas 
Davis Jackson," as he was called to distinguish himself 
from other Thomas Davises, was always a factor to be 
reckoned with.  Early in life he served as a jury 
commissioner of Cambria county and in 1876 was nominated 
for Sheriff by the Republicans, but failed, of election by 
211 votes, a narrow margin for a Republican candidate of 
those days.  In 1900 he was elected to the Pennsylvania 
legislature as one of the members from Cambria county and 
served two terms.

December 20, 1864, Mr. Davis married Susan Burkhart, who 
survives and to this union were born four children – Izora, 
wife of Lester Larimer; Schuyler C. and T. Stanton, all of 
Ebensburg and Fred, who died in 1893.  Besides the above, 
Mr. Davis is survived by the following brothers and 
sisters: David of the Seventeenth Ward, Johnstown; Mrs. 
Milton Jones of Ebensburg; Mrs. Mattie Ross of 
Reynoldsville, Jefferson county; and Mrs. Mary Stiles of 
Ebensburg.  The late Timothy Davis of Conemaugh was a 
brother.

The funeral took place Monday afternoon at 2 o'clock and 
was largely attended by relatives and friends of the 
deceased from over the county.  After services at the house 
the cortege proceeded to the Congregational Church, where 
the services were in charge of the Rev. J. Twyson Jones, 
assisted by the Rev. W. S. Bell, pastor of the Progressive 
Brethren Church of Johnstown.

The pallbearers were the Hon. A. V. Barker; A. J. Darragh; 
F. H. Barker; William Davis, Esq.; Ex-Sheriff Joseph A. 
Gray of Spangler; James M. Singer of Vinco; Herman Apel; M. 
D. Kittell, Esq.; J. B. Denny; the Hon. Edmund James; the 
Hon. J. D. Hicks of Altoona and Neal Hunt of Conemaugh.

Burial was made in the family plot in Lloyd Cemetery.  
Members of the Grand Army and the firing squad of the Sons 
of Veterans attended the funeral in a body.