William A. Davis, b. 25 Feb 1856

LANCASTER, SUTTON, COUGER, EVERETT, HUMES, CROPSEY

Posted By: Donna Moldt Walker (email)
Date: 2/21/2004 at 10:59:42

Among the competent and wide-awake young farmers who are active in maintaining the immense agricultural interests of Jackson County, the subject of this biography occupies no mean position. He now owns and is successfully managing a part of the old homestead, in South Fork Township, which his father, a pioneer of Jackson County, reclaimed from the wild prairies.

Mr. Davis was reared in this county, and most of his life has been passed within its limits; but he was born in Indiana, his birth taking place in Napoleon, Ripley County, Feb. 25, 1856. His father, Asa Davis, was born near Rossburg, Decatur Co., Ind., June 14, 1830; and his grandfather, Henry Davis, was a native of Pennsylvania, and moving from there to Indiana, he became a pioneer of Decatur County, where he cleared a tract of timbered land, improved it into a good farm, and resided on it till death closed his earthly career. His wife also died on the home farm. Her maiden name was Mary Lancaster, and she was a native of Pennsylvania. The Lancasters trace their relationship to Gen. Washington's mother.

The father of our subject was reared and married in his native county, taking unto himself for a wife Elizabeth Sutton. She was also a native of Decatur County, born Feb. 26, 1834, to Isaiah and Susanna (Couger) Sutton, natives of Pennsylvania. Her parents were pioneers of that part of Indiana, where they improved a farm and spent their remaining days. Shortly after marriage the parents of our subject moved to Ripley and spent one season, and then in the fall of 1856 came to Iowa, bringing with them our subject, their eldest-born and then their only child. The journey hither was made with teams, and they took their cooking utensils along and camped and cooked by the wayside, four other families accompanying them. After three weeks travel they arrived in Jackson County, and Mr. Davis invested in a sixty-acre tract of land, near Fulton, in Farmers' Creek Township. After residing on it eight years he sold it and bought the place where our subject now lives. It was at the time timbered land, but by industry and the assistance of his sons, Mr. Davis cleared a large and valuable farm, and accumulated a competency by judicious management of his property. In 1885 he bought real estate in Maquoketa, erected a large, fine brick residence, and there he and his wife spent the short time remaining to them on earth in retirement, free from business cares and hard labor, and in their attractive home they peacefully passed to the rest that knows no waking. They were not long divided by death, the mother closing her eyes to the scenes of earth Feb. 17, 1887, and the father the 15th of the following April. Their marriage had been blessed to them by the birth of six children, as follows: William A.; David Marshall, of Farmers' Creek Township; Asa F., of South Fork Township; Emma E., deceased; John K. and Fred C., both of whom are single and reside in Farmers' Creek Township.

The subject of this sketch was but an infant when his parents brought him to Iowa. He gleaned his education in the district school, and as soon as large enough began to assist his father on the farm in clearing the land and tilling the soil, and he remained with him thus engaged until he was twenty-three years old. At that age he began life for himself, on a small tract of land in Farmers' Creek Township, cultivating it very profitably for some years. In 1888 he settled on the part of the old homestead that he had inherited from his father. It is provided with a neat set of buildings, the land is under admirable tillage, and is very productive, and there is a general air of thrift and orderliness about the place that betokens method and industry in the owner.

Mr. Davis was married March 18, 1884, to Miss Clara L. Everett, and in their pleasant home three children gladden their lives - Nellie, Arthur, and Myrtle. Mrs. Davis was born in Monroe County, Mich. Her father, Hamilton Everett, was a native of the same county, and was a son of Cyrus Everett, a pioneer of that part of Michigan. Mrs. Davis' father was reared and married there, and continued to reside there until the breaking out of the war. He then enlisted in the 4th Michigan Infantry, and gave up his life for his country. The maiden name of his wife, Mrs. Davis' mother, was Charlotte Humes. She was also a native of Monroe County, and was a daughter of Charles Humes, a native of Pennsylvania, and an early settler of Monroe County, Mich. She married a second time, becoming the wife of Gilbert Cropsey, and in 1881 they came to Jackson County, and now live in Farmers' Creek Township.

Our subject is a young man of good habits and principles, and possesses in a good degree those characteristics that are essential to success in any walk of life, and it is to such young men that Jackson County looks for the continuance of her prosperity.

("Portrait and Biographical Album of Jackson County, Iowa", originally published in 1889, by the Chapman Brothers, of Chicago, Illinois)