Biographies For Muscatine County Iowa 1889

Source: Portrait and Biographical Album, Muscatine County, Iowa, 1889, page 521
ISAIAH DAVIS, formerly of Sweetland Township, is a native of Botetourt County, Va., and was born Feb. 10, 1816. His parents were Benjamin and Catherina (Thomas) Davis, and with them, when thirteen years of age, he went to Madison County, Ind. The father secured a claim in the forest, but the entire farm had to be cleared of the timber before crops could be planted. Isaiah aided in the labors of the farm, and there resided until 1837, when he emigrated to Iowa, which was then a part of the Territory of Wisconsin, and settled in Muscatine County. For over half a century he resided in Sweetland Township, where he yet owns a highly cultivated farm of 160 acres. He has not only witnessed the entire growth of the county, but has participated in the great changes which have transformed its wild prairies into beautiful homes and farms, and has largely aided in other ways in the work of progress and development.

On the 27th of May, 1844, in Muscatine County, Mr. Davis led to the marriage altar Miss Hannah Drury, a daughter of John and Polly Drury. Their union has been blessed with a family of eleven children, eight of whom are now living: Shepherd, bon March 10, 1845, enlisted when seventeen years of age in the service of his country, becoming a member of Company B, 35th Iowa Infantry, but after a short time was taken sick, and placed in the Adams General Hospital, at Memphis, Tenn., where the life of the brave boy went out, his death occurring in 1863; Richard, who was born Jan. 14, 1847, is also deceased; John, born May 5, 1849, is now residing in Shelby, Iowa, where he holds an interest in the Citizens' Bank; Benjamin, born Feb. 10, 1851, is a resident of Challis, Idaho; Charles, born April 28, 1853, is now engaged in mining in Custer City, Colo; James, born June 23, 1855, died in infancy; Frank, born June 7, 1856, is now living in Washington Territory; Lucy, born July 28, 1858, became the wife of Andrew Cockshoot, a farmer of Wilton Township, in 1882, and three children have been born of their union; Lincoln, born Sept. 27, 1860, is located in Washington Territory; Dell, born in September, 1863, is now the wife of George Ashby, of Shelby, Iowa, and two children have been born unto them; Isaiah, the youngest, born June 16, 1865, is now married, and resides on the old homestead, where he is engaged in farming.

Mr. and Mrs. Davis were numbered among the most highly respected citizens of Sweetland Township. He has held nearly every local office, and has served as Deputy Sheriff of Muscatine County. Mrs. Davis was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Sweetland for about twenty years, and was one of the active workers in that body. Mr. Davis went to Washington Territory in the spring of 1889.

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