San
Joaquin County
Biographies
DAVIS BROS.
(George R. & Harold T.)
Twelve years ago the Davis brothers
came to Ripon for the purpose of establishing a hardware store. The first store building they occupied was of
small proportions and as their business has grown three additions have been added until their floor space amounts to 14,800
square feet and the business is steadily increasing each month. Their large success has been realized
entirely through their steady industry and good business management. George R. Davis, the senior partner, was born
at San Francisco, July 30, 1880, while his brother Harold T. Davis, the other
member of the firm, was born near San Juan, California, August 9, 1882. These enterprising young men are sons of
Henry Clay and Emma (Thrush) Davis, the former a native of Ohio and the latter
of California. Henry Clay Davis
accompanied his parents to California in ’49, crossing the plains with ox teams
in search for gold. They engaged in mining in Nevada County and the young man
Henry C. drove stages in the mountains and later in the ‘80s located in San
Joaquin County, where he was employed in Dr. Bentley’s store at
Woodbridge. Henry Clay Davis married
Miss Emma Thrush, a native of Rio Vista, California, a daughter of Richard
Thrush, now deceased, who came to California in 1849 and engaged in farming. Three children were born to this pioneer
couple: George R., Harold T., and Mrs.
O. V. Freeman, who resides at Visalia.
About 1887 Henry Clay Davis removed to Fresno where he purchased a tract
of land about six miles southwest of Fresno, which he developed to orchard and
vineyard and the family resided there about twenty years. Mrs. Davis passed away in the Fresno home in
1917. After his wife’s death the father
removed to Visalia where he makes his home with his daughter, Mrs. Freeman.
George R. Davis received a good
education in the schools of Fresno County, graduating from the Fresno high
school in 1899, then entered Heald’s Business College
where he completed a short business course.
He then went to Spokane, Washington, where he spent about a year and a
half in clerical work, then returned to Fresno, where he took charge of the
circulation department of the Fresno Herald, handling it successfully until
1910 when he resigned to enter the hardware business in conjunction with his
brother in Ripon. Harold T. Davis, the
junior member of the firm, was also educated in the Fresno schools, then was apprenticed to learn the plumbing business at
Sacramento, where he served four years, his first wage being three dollars per
week, but at the end of four years was an expert plumber. He then went to Goldfield, Nevada, where he
followed his trade from 1903 to 1908, having charge of plumbing inspection of
the Goldfield Hotel and Elks building at that place; later he returned to the
San Joaquin Valley and followed his trade in Turlock for two years. In March, 1910, in partnership with his
brother, George R. Davis, a hardware and plumbing establishment was
opened. For a number of years Harold T.
Davis handled the plumbing work himself, but the business has grown to such
proportions that he has turned that part of the business over to others and is
busy now with the management of his affairs.
The Davis Brothers carry the John Deere line of farming implements and
the Winchester hardware specialties in which company they are
stockholders. They are members of the
California State Hardware Association and directors in the First National Bank
of Ripon, and Harold T. Davis is president of the Ripon Merchants’ Association. Both brothers are prominent lodge members and
own valuable property in Ripon.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
1459-1460. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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