Ivor D. Davis Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1284-1285 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. II (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

	This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit 
	organizations for their private use. 

	Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval 
	system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other 
	means requires the written approval of the file's author.


	IVOR D. DAVIS is one of the popular citizens and representative 
business men of Aberdeen, where he has been engaged in contracting and 
building for more than twenty years, within which period he has erected 
many notable buildings in this city and in other sections of the state, 
having gained a high reputation in his chosen vocation, not less by 
reason of his technical knowledge of its details than on account of his 
invariable fidelity to the terms of his contracts and his inflexible 
integrity of purpose in all the relations of life. 

	Mr. Davis comes of sturdy Welsh lineage and was born in the 
beautiful little city of Racine, Wisconsin, on the 5th of March, 1854, 
being a son of Samuel and Maria (Thomas) Davis, both of whom were born 
in Wales. The paternal grandfather of the subject emigrated with his 
family from Wales to America in the thirties and located in Racine, 
Wisconsin, becoming one of the honored pioneers of the town. He was a 
splendid Welsh scholar. There also his son, Samuel, became a prominent 
carpenter and builder, continuing his residence in Racine until his 
death, while his wife also died there. They became the parents of four 
sons, the two youngest being deceased, while the subject of this review 
was the second in order of birth. 

	Ivor D. Davis received his educational discipline in the public 
schools of Racine and there learned the trade of brick-mason, being 
engaged in the active work of the same in Wisconsin until 1883, when he 
came to Aberdeen, South Dakota, arriving on the 20th of March, and 
forthwith establishing himself in business as a contractor and builder, 
while the many fine buildings which have been erected by him in the 
intervening years, offer adequate testimony to the success and prestige 
which he has attained. He has erected many of the finest buildings in 
his home city, including the Mead block, the McArthur building, the 
Jackson block and the Ward hotel. In Huron he built the Groton building, 
and in Bowdle the Mason block, while in a number of other towns are 
found fine modern buildings which testify to his skill and ability. His 
own residence in Aberdeen is one of the many attractive and thoroughly 
modern homes which grace the city. In politics Mr. Davis is a staunch 
supporter of the principles and policies of the Republican party, and 
while he has never sought office, he served four years as a member of 
the board of aldermen and has at all times shown himself to be a loyal, 
progressive and public-spirited citizen. Mr. Davis has attained 
prominence in the time-honored Masonic fraternity, with which he has 
been identified since 1879, and in which he has received the thirty-
second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, being thus 
affiliated with South Dakota Consistory, No. 4, at Aberdeen, while he is 
also a member of El Riad Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of 
the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the Ancient Order of United 
Workmen, in which latter he was made a knight commander in the Court Or 
Honor, at Washington, D. C., in October, 1903. Mrs. Davis has been a 
leading member of the Order of the Eastern Star and a representative of 
the local organization in the grand chapter of the state. It may be 
consistently noted in the connection that our subject and the members of 
his family all have the inherent musical taste and ability typical of 
the Welsh stock, and that he became a member of the first cornet band 
established in Aberdeen, this being April, 1883, while Frank Dilly was 
leader of the same. Mr. Davis continued an active member of this 
organization until 1889. 

	On the 17th of July, 1878, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. 
Davis to Miss Winifred Griffith, who was likewise born and reared in 
Racine, Wisconsin, and of Welsh extraction, being a daughter of Evan R. 
Griffith, one of the early and prominent settlers of the town. Mr. and 
Mrs. Davis have four children, Marie, Arthur, George and Jeannette. The 
elder daughter is at the time of this writing incumbent of the position 
of bookkeeper in the office of the Aberdeen News.