Pg 476

         JOSEPH DAVIS, a representative farmer of Columbus City Township, residing on section 6, was born in North Wales in 1844, and his parents, Eva H. and Elizabeth (Evans) Davis, were also born in the same country. In 1852 the father, who was a farmer, emigrated to America in company with his family, and took up his residence in Louisa County, Iowa, where he bought a partially improved farm of 200 acres on section 6, Columbus City Township. He immediately began the cultivation of this land, and made it his home until his death, Jan. 9, 1877, at the age of seventy-eight years. His wife died several years previously, in 1864. They reared a family of eight children: H. E., who died in November, 1880; Evan E., who lives in Columbus City Township; John S., who died in May, 1886; Ed E., who was . . .

Pg 477

. . . a soldier of the 25th Iowa Infantry, is now engaged in farming in Elm Grove Township; Robert, who enlisted in Company F, 25th Iowa Infantry, died while in the service at Black River, near Vicksburg, in 1863; Elizabeth is the wife of William V. Davis; Joseph is the next in order of birth; Catherine is the wife of Edward D. Williams, of Columbus City Township. The parents of this family were both members of the Welsh Calvinistic Church. Mr. Davis was a self-made man financially, having gained all he had by his own efforts, and his life may well be taken as an example by those who receive no pecuniary aid when starting out in life.

In 1852, when a lad, our subject came to Louisa County with his parents, and here grew to manhood. He was married in 1874, becoming the husband of Elizabeth J. Jones, a native of New York, and a daughter of Lewis and Mary (Davis) Jones, who were born in Wales. They have a family of eight children—Edith J., Evan L., Thomas C., Whitfield, Edward M., Mary Elizabeth, Clara and Maggie May. The family circle is yet unbroken, and the children are with their parents. Mr. Davis and his wife are members of the Calvinistic Church, while in his political views he is an advocate of the Republican party, and is now serving on the School Board. His business is general farming, and he is the owner of 240 acres, comprising a part of the best farming district in the county. He has a handsome residence, and all other buildings necessary to the model farm of the nineteenth century, and his work is done systematically and in the best possible manner. Mr. Davis is numbered among the early settlers of Louisa County, and we are pleased to record his sketch in the volume of its history.