Chariles E. Davis

CHARLES E. DAVIS, a well known resident of Lola township, where he owns over 78 acres of good land, in section 34, township 33, range 22, resides at Sherwin Junction, where he was engaged in the grocery business for a number of years. Mr. Davis was born in Fountain County, Indiana, October 14, 1844, and is a son of Henry and Pboebe (Curtis) Davis.

Stephen Davis, the grandfather of Charles E., was born in North Carolina, and went as a pioneer to Indiana, where he entered land and founded a family. Henry Davis, the father, was born in Indiana in December, 1818, and died there on his farm in 1897, age 78 years. The mother was also born in Indiana where she died in 1852, aged 30 years. They had the following children: William, of Clay County, Kansas; Stephen and Joseph (twins), the former, living in Indiana and the latter, deceased; Charles E.; George W. and Mrs. Parthenia Shoemaker, deceased; and Mrs. Susan Shade, of Indiana.

The subject of this sketch remained at home until he enlisted for service in the Civil War, in September, 1862, entering the 18th Indiana Light Artillery, under Capt. Eli Lilly, in which he served faithfully for three years until the close of the war. He took part in many very important battles, including Stone River and Hoover's Gap, and participated in all the fighting until General Rosecrans captured Chattanooga. His command was then with General Sherman until the fall of Atlanta, when his battery was sent with General Thomas to Nashville. Later he was transferred to General Wilson's cavalry corps, and Mr. Davis saw almost continual skirmishing until the end of the war, taking part in 65 different engagements. He was never absent from his regiment and reached Indianapolis safely, where he was honorably discharged June 30, 1865. Under the old law, Mr. Davis was accorded a pension of $8 per month. He belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic, and has a record in which he may take justificable [sic] pride.

After the end of the war, Mr. Davis returned to his home in Indiana, and remained there until he came to Kansas in 1879. After farming about six years, he went to work on the railroad and for two years of that time was section foreman. Then he embarked in the grocery business at Sherwin Junction. This business he conducted for 11 years, and also served as postmaster for nine years, under the administrations of both Cleveland and McKinley. In addition to his good farm Mr. Davis owns two dwellings and eight lots at Sherwin Junction, and is a man of ample means.

In 1872, Mr.Davis was first married, to Minerva Beaver, who was born in Indiana and died there aged 21 years, leaving one child, Franklin E., who resides at home, being a widower with three children,—Gertrude M., Floyd and Goldie May. Mr. Davis married. for his second wife, Mrs. Ellen (Moore) Wright, who died December 30, 1903, aged 55 years, three months and four days. She left one daughter,—Lillie O. Wright.

In politics, Mr. Daves [sic] has always been a strong supporter of the Republican party. He has taken a very active part in local affairs, and has served four years as justice of the peace, and eight years as a notary public. Fraternally, he is an Odd Fellow. Mr. Davis belongs to the United Brethren Church. He is a man who is held in very high esteem in the village, and is known to almost every one.

History of Cherokee County Kansas and its representative citizens, ed. & comp. by Nathaniel Thompson Allison, 1904, transcribed by John Miller, student from USD 508, Baxter Springs Middle School, Baxter Springs, Kansas, April 18, 1997.