Santa
Clara County
Biographies
WILLIAM
KING DAVIS, M. D.
The genealogy of the Davis
family, of which Dr. Davis, of San Jose, is an honored representative, may be
traced back to the colonial period of American history, when a family of that
name came from Wales and settled in Maryland. The records show that Moses
Davis, who married Susanna Rees, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. The
year after that historic struggle with England began, on the 7th of
December, 1777, his son, Rees Davis, was born in Maryland, and the latter, upon
attaining maturity, married Sarah Sackett. Their son,
Philip Rees Davis, was born in Harford county, Md., May 27, 1811, and during
early business life conducted a woolen mill on Winter’s Run in Harford county.
From there, in 1855, he removed to Fairmount, Vermilion county, Ill., and set
about the task of breaking up wild prairie land with the assistance of ox
teams. When he came from the east he brought carpenters to erect his house and
barn, so that in a short time his family and sock were comfortably provided
for. In time he acquired one thousand acres of land, much of which was the
highest quality of tillable soil. On selling out that large estate he removed
to Barry county, Mo., and again became interested in
farm pursuits. Later he settled in Kingman county,
Kans., and conducted a mercantile business at Waterloo. There his death
occurred at eighty-two years.
The marriage of Philip Rees Davis
united him with Louisa B. King, who was born at New London Cross-Roads, Chester
county, Pa., and was a daughter of Samuel King, a
native and lifelong resident of Pennsylvania. At the time of her death, which
occurred in Kansas, she was seventy-eight years of age. In religion she was
identified with the Baptist Church. Of her marriage the following-named
children were born: Rees, an attorney residing in Memphis, Tenn.; Samuel K, a
planter, who died in Arkansas; Sallie Ann, Mrs. Carr, who died in Illinois;
Henry Clay, who died at two years of age; Mary R., who was accidentally drowned
at the age of six years; William King, of San Jose, Cal.; Alice Lee, Mrs. Allman, living in Missouri; Charles Henry, who is engaged
in the stock business in Kingman county, Kans.; Amanda F., Mrs. Wite, who died in Arkansas; Catherine K., Mrs. Frank, and
George P., a cattleman, the two latter being residents of Kingman county, Kans.
At Jerusalem Mills, Harford county,
Md., William King Davis was born September 20, 1847. He was almost eight years
of age when the family removed to Illinois, and therefore retains a distinct recollection
of that long and tedious journey. From boyhood he cherished an ambition to
enter the medical profession, and it was the intention to educate him
thoroughly with that end in view. Unforunately, (sic)
when he was fourteen years of age his father lost very heavily through
endorsing and he was forced to seek a position affording means of livelihood.
He became a clerk in a drug store at Fairmount and while there studied
pharmacy. His earnings were carefully hoarded and helped him to secure a
high-school education. At the age of nineteen he was given a certificate to
teach school and followed the occupation for a year in Vermilion county. Later he resumed work in the drug store. In 1868 he
went to Barry county, Mo., where he taught for a year,
and then spent two years in Newton county, same state. Meanwhile his leisure
hours were devoted to medical study, his preceptor being Dr. George F. Perry.
From 1871 until 1874 he engaged in the drug business at Rocky Comfort, Mo., and
during the latter year passed a medical examination in Missouri, receiving a
certificate to practice. Combined with his practice, he conducted a drug
business in Seneca, Newton county, Mo. There, in 1875,
he married Miss Marietta Veatch, who was born in Iowa, a daughter of Elias and
Sarah (Cole) Veatch, the former a druggist for several years before his death.
Mrs. Sarah Veatch, who was born in Kentucky, came to California in advanced
years and spent her last days in the home of her daughter, Mrs. Davis. The two
children of Dr. and Mrs. Davis are Estelle, wife of J. F. House, of San
Francisco; and Roy Veatch Davis, manager of the Bakersfield Drug Company, of
which his father is the president.
Desiring to further perfect himself
for professional work, in 1879 Dr. Davis entered the medical department of the
University of Louisville, from which he was graduated in 1883, with the degree
of M. D. In 1884 he was appointed physician at Quapaw agency in the Indian
Territory, but matters relative to the work there and difference of opinion
with the agent caused him to resign before he had moved to the agency. Under
President Cleveland, in the spring of 1885, he was again appointed to the
position and removed to the agency, where he was physician to the two Indian
schools in the Quapaw and Seneca country and practiced among eight tribes, viz: Quapaws, Shawnees, Wyandottes, Senecas, Ottawas, Modocs, Peorias, and Miamis. During a
visit to the Pacific coast in 1888 Dr. Davis was so favorably impressed with
the country that he resigned at the agency and removed to California. For six
months he practiced in Santa Rosa, but his wife’s health being injuriously
affected by the location, he removed to San Jose, where he has since engaged in
practice. He is identified with the State Medical and Santa Clara Medical
Societies, and at one time acted as secretary of the latter. In politics he is
a Democrat and fraternally is a demitted Mason, having been initiated into that
order in Rocky Comfort Lodge, F. & A. M., in September of 1868.
By nature no less than by training
Dr. Davis is well adapted to the medical profession. His kindly, genial face
inspires confidence on the part of patients. With his keen and well trained
mind, he analyzes disease and seeks to discover the remedial agencies best
adapted to each particular phase. In diagnosis he has a high reputation. While
a superficial observer might rest contented with an examination of outward
symptoms, he penetrates into causes and those hidden symptoms which, when
controlled, soon render recovery possible. Among those of his own profession in
San Jose and Santa Clara county, he is held in the
esteem which his talents merit and his broad medical knowledge justifies.
Transcribed By: Cecelia M. Setty.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 482-483. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2015 Cecelia M. Setty.