Sacramento County
Biographies
WILLIAM B. DAVIS
WILLIAM B.
DAVIS. Four generation of the Davis
family have been represented in the state of Ohio,
whither the great-grandfather settled at a very early day in the history of
that state. He was a soldier in the
Continental army and was associated with Charles C. Hood as associate justice
during the early days, and in 1827 assisted Bishop Chase in establishing Kenyon
College at Gambier, Ohio. The
grandfather, William B. Davis, was a soldier in the war of 1812. His son Thomas was born in Ohio
in the year 1819 and took a prominent part in the upbuilding
of that commonwealth. For many years he
was a merchant in Hocking and Vinton counties, that state, and also engaged in
farming in the latter county. His death
occurred in 1889.
William B.
Davis was born in Hocking county, Ohio,
June 17, 1844, the son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Hood) Davis. His earliest recollections are associated
with life on his father’s farm, where as a boy he discharged the duties that
fell to his lot as the son of a pioneer agriculturist. His knowledge of books was gleaned in the
district school in the vicinity of his father’s farm, the sessions consisting
of short winter terms only. His school
days over, he felt obliged to look about for a means of self-support, and for a
time was a clerk in a general store.
With the idea of enlarging his opportunities he started for the west in 1871,
locating in Sacramento, and for one year was employed
by the Southern Pacific Railroad Company.
Subsequently he engaged in the stove and tinware
business under the firm name of Davis &
Smith. In 1875 he entered the employ of
the government and held a position as clerk in the postoffice
at Sacramento for seven years. He afterward was employed as bookkeeper by
A.H. Powers, but later withdrew to associate himself in the same capacity with
the firm of James Woodburn & Co.
Mr. Davis’
identification with the fish business dates from the year 1888, when in a
unpretentious way he began in business on his own responsibility in Sacramento. By carefully watching the details of his
growing enterprise he soon found himself at the head of one of the largest fish
markets in Sacramento, from the wholesale department supplying towns and cities
throughout the state; as well as doing a large wholesale and retail business in
his home city. In November, 1898, Mr.
Davis formed a co-partnership with Alexander Johnston, and under the firm name
of Davis & Johnston the business has continued to grow and prosper, until
today it enjoys the reputation of being one of the foremost enterprises in the
flourishing city of Sacramento.
Mr. Davis
formed domestic ties in 1880, in which year he was united in marriage with Miss
Hattie E. Mitchell, a native of California. Mrs. Hattie Davis died January 28, 1883, and
February 13, 1895, Mr. Davis married Mary J. Newton, who was born in Woodland,
Yolo county, this state. Two children blessed this marriage, Mary I.
and Thomas W. At the opening of the
civil war in 1861, Mr. Davis volunteered as a member of Company G, Eighteenth
Ohio Infantry, in the first three months’ call for seventy-five thousand
men. At the expiration of his term he
re-enlisted and was assigned to the Eighty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry,
receiving the appointment of bugler and for three years shared the dangers and
privations which fall to the lot of the soldier. To keep green the memory of the days spent in
the service of his country he has associated himself with Warner Post No. 54,
G. A. R., around whose camp fires comrades for forty years ago grow young in
the recounting of events of former days.
In Masonic affairs Mr. Davis is well known, being a member of Tehama
Lodge No. 3. F. & A. M.; Sacramento Chapter No. 3, R.
A. M.; Sacramento Commandery No. 2, K. T.; and of Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M.
S., at San Francisco. In politics, he has
always supported Republican principles.
Transcribed
by Kathy Porter.
Source: “History of
the State of California and Biographical Record of the Sacramento Valley,
California” by
J. M. Guinn. Page 667.
Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago 1906.
© 2007 Kathy Porter.