FRANK DAVIS.
Frank Davis, the owner of a rich and well-tilled farm of two hundred and eighty acres in Audubon township, which he purchased mostly in 1906 and for which he paid sixty dollars an acre, was born on March 31, 1870, in Henry county, Illinois, the son of William E. and Martha (Davis) Davis, both natives of Wales. The former came to America with his parents, David and Lucy Davis, when five years old. David and Lucy Davis first settled in Pennsylvania near Minersville, where they lived for several years and where he was a coal miner for more than forty years. He followed his occupation, however, in different parts of the country. The father of Frank Davis was married twice as was his mother also. Each had one child by their former marriages. David, the father's son by his first wife, lives near St. Louis, and Mrs. Elizabeth Hill, the mother's child by her first husband, lives near Exira. Frank Davis was one of four children, three of whom, William, Frank and Mrs. Leona Cline, are living in Audubon county. The other child is deceased.
About 1879, the family came to Audubon county and purchased land from the Rock Island Railroad Company, paying five dollars an acre for the first eighty-acre tract. This farm was subsequently increased and as new land was added the price per acre increased, sixty-five dollars an acre, having been paid for the last purchase.
Frank Davis lived at home until about twenty-one years old and after leaving school rented land from his father for ten years. He had meager opportunities for an education and had been permitted to attend school but very little. In 1898 he purchased eighty acres of land just north of Exira, paying thirty dollars an acre for it and after owning it for a few years he sold it for seventy-five dollars an acre. In September, 1906, he purchased two hundred acres of land in sections 23 and 24, of Audubon township and paid sixty dollars an acre for this tract. Mr. Davis has built practically all of the buildings now standing on the farm and erected practically all of the fences. Approximately seven thousand dollars has been invested in improvements. It is one of the best farms in Audubon township. Since 1906 Mr. Davis has added eighty acres more to the farm and now owns two hundred and eighty acres in all.
When twenty-three years old, on June 11, 1893, Mr. Davis was married in Audubon county to Jennie Struthers, the daughter of James and Lucy Struthers, the former of whom died when Mrs. Davis was a small girl. After her father's death, she lived with her uncle, Enos Struthers.
One child born to this union died in infancy and after the death of the mother, on October 9, 1894. Mr. Davis was married, secondly, on April 26, 1899, to Eva Kritch, who was born in Pulaski county, Indiana, and who is the daughter of Jacob and Nancy (Nichols) Kritch, natives of Germany and Indiana respectively. Both are now living in Indiana, where they are farmers. Of their four children, only two, Henry and Mrs. Davis, are now living. By his second marriage, Mr. Davis has had five children, four of whom are living: Martha, born on September 10, 1900; Bennie, December 8, 1903, died January 25, 1914; Dannie, November 4, 1905; William, March 29, 1906; and Edith, July 20, 1909. All of these children live at home with their parents. Mr. and Mrs. Davis have a delightful family and they are not only intelligent farmers but highly esteemed citizens of this community. The Davis family is very popular in Audubon township.
Although Mr. Davis is identified nominally with the Republican party, he is not what may be called a hide-bound partisan, but votes for men and measures rather than for parties and party emblems. He has never held any political office. The Davis family are members of the Methodist church at Adair.
Not only has Frank Davis been a successful farmer, but he has taken a most commendable interest in public affairs in Audubon township and, having inherited capacity for leadership from his father, and cultivated it in relation with his neighbors, he is today regarded as one of the leading citizens of the township.
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Transcribed from History of Audubon County, Iowa Its People, Industries and Institutions With Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families, by H. F. Andrews, editor, Indianapolis: B. F. Bowen & Company, 1915, pp. 625-627.
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