Los Angeles County
Biographies
GILBERT AUBREY DAVIDSON
DAVIDSON, GILBERT AUBREY,
Banker, San Diego, Cal., was born in Kentville,
N. S., June 21, 1868, the son of George A. Davidson
and Eliza (Palmeter) Davidson. He married Rosetta Harben at Los Angeles, Cal., Oct. 21, 1896. They
have a son, G. A. Davidson, Jr. He is descended of one of the
Colonial Governors of Massachusetts.
Mr. Davidson was educated in Kings County Academy, Nova
Scotia, and in 1886 moved to San Diego, Cal. He became head bookkeeper for the
Santa Fe Railroad and in 1888 was appointed Cashier and Paymaster at Los
Angeles. In 1905 he became Auditor for the Santa Fe coast lines.
Resigning in May, 1907, Mr. Davidson went to San Diego
and there organized the Southern Trust & Savings Bank, a corporation
capitalized at $250,000, he being President. The bank was licensed for business
July 1, 1907, and on Oct. 1, 1907, began business with
deposits of $278,515.24. Within a year the deposits had nearly tripled, and on
April 18, 1912, about four and a half years after the bank had
opened, the deposits amounted to $2,020,919.51, a total increase of nearly
700 per cent.
Mr. Davidson was elected President of the San Diego
Chamber of Commerce in 1909 and during that year originated various progressive
projects, among them the Panama California Exposition. The citizens raised
several million dollars for this project, and Mr. Davidson, as Second Vice
President and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Panama California Exposition
Company, has been one of the enthusiastic workers for the success of the great
fair in San Diego in 1915.
Mr. Davidson is President of the
Y. M. C. A., Trustee of the First Presbyterian Church and a
member of the Cuyamaca Club, San Diego Country Club,
University Club, Order of Panama, B. P. O. Elks and the San
Diego Aero Club.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard
12 October 2011.
Source: Press Reference
Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 692, International News Service,
New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta. 1913.
© 2011 Marie Hassard.
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