Los Angeles
County
Biographies
HOWARD
WOSTER DAVIS
Howard Woster
Davis, leading citizen of Los Angeles, represented his district in the state
legislature prior to his election to the city council, of which he has been a
member during the past six years. He was
born in Wayne county, Pennsylvania, November 11, 1885, his parents being John
C. and Josephine (Chamberlain) Davis, the former of Welsh-Scotch descent and
the latter of English lineage. John C. Davis, who was born on Long Island, New
York, October 2, 1860, engaged in the contracting and building business prior
to 1908 and has since lived retired at Los Angeles. His wife, a native of Wayne county,
Pennsylvania, born December 2, 1860, is deceased.
Howard W. Davis acquired his
education in the public schools of New York city and after putting aside his
textbooks was associated with the Weber Piano Company for four years. It was in 1906, on attaining his majority,
that he came to Los Angeles, California, where he founded the Howard W. Davis
Company for the conduct of a general real estate business. He is an ex-official of the Los Angeles Real
Estate Board and a member of the Southwest Branch Realty Board and National
Association as well as a member of the advisory board of the Southside Chamber
of Commerce. His activity in public
affairs led to his nomination to the state legislature as a republican [sic]
assemblyman from the seventy-third district in 1925 and again in 1927. At the primary election on the 3d of May,
1927, he was chosen a member of the city council, on which he has served
continuously since, having received the endorsement of his fellow citizens at
the primary elections of May 7, 1929, and May 5, 1931. In July, 1934, he was chosen president of the
City Council, and served one year with honors.
He was not a candidate for reelection to the council. Mr. Davis has attained the thirty-second
degree of the Scottish Rite in Masonry, is a member of the Mystic Shrine and
also belongs to the Masonic Club, the Moose Lodge, the Elks Club, the Jonathan
Club, the California Breakfast Club, the Southwest Optimist Club and the Potrero Country Club.
His religious faith is indicated by his membership in Knox Presbyterian
Church.
In July, 1915, in Los Angeles,
California, Mr. Davis married Miss Marion L. Smith, daughter of Homer A. and
Nora E. Smith. Her father is deceased,
but her mother still survives and makes her home at 308 West Santa Barbara
avenue in Los Angeles. Mr. and Mrs.
Davis are the parents of two children, Mary and Howard W. Davis, Jr.
Transcribed by K.V.
Bunker 7 Nov 2012.
Source: California of the South
Vol. V, by John
Steven McGroarty, Pages
461-462, Clarke Publ., Chicago, Los
Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 K.V. Bunker.
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BIOGRAPHIES