Part of the Indiana Biographies Project
William Henry Davis
William Henry Davis, farmer and horticulturist, is the sixth of eleven children of Lewis and Sarah (Harman) Davis. His father was born in Somerset County, Penn., in 1776, of Welsh ancestry, and his mother a native of Pennsylvania, of German ancestry. His parents removed to Preble County, Ohio, in an early day and settled on Elk Creek, near Jacksonburg, where W. H. was born Aug. 9, 1820. In 1835 they removed to Wayne County, Ind., where the mother died, aged fifty-two years. The father subsequently moved to Shelby County where he died in 1844, in his seventy-fourth year. Their children were — Mary, Sarah, John, Hiram, Elizabeth, William H., Hezekiah, Matilda A., Ira, and two who died in infancy. The mother was of the New Light faith. The Davis family have an estate due them in Somerset County, Penn., and Lewis Davis returned there in 1819 to claim his interest, but the business was unsettled and he died without further prosecuting the claim. W. H. Davis obtained but a limited education. He worked for the farmers for wages, working steadily with a view of owning a farm of his own, and from his savings purchased the farm of 102 acres, where he resides. When purchased it was a swamp, with a standing pond of water on a portion of it. He has drained it and made it a most valuable farm. He has seventy-two rods of hedge fence, and has put down 383 rods of tiling. He is a practical farmer, and a producer of fine fruits, preserving apples from season to season. He also makes bee culture a special and successful feature of his business. He has been a close observer of atmospheric phenomena, and predicts changes with remarkable accuracy. In December, 1842, he was married to Jane A., daughter of William and Sarah Wilson, of Shelby County, Ind. Five children were born to them, but two of whom are living — George W. and Matilda A., wife of George Irwin. The deceased are — Jane, William T., and Lovina, wife of Albert Peelle. Mrs. Davis died at the age of thirty-three years. June 19, 1855, Mr. Davis married Jane, widow of John C. Clark, and daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Whan) Armstrong. She was born near Washington, Fayette Co., Penn., March 7, 1815. They have no children. Mr. Davis is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Source:
History of Wayne County, Indiana Chicago: Inter-State Publishing Co. 1884. Volume 2