EDWARD AMES DAVIS, M. D., a prominent practicing physician of Ava, and
one of the leading citizens of that place, is so widely and favorably known
that he needs no special introduction to our readers, yet this volume would
be incomplete without the record of his life. He was born in Red River
County, Tex., June 17, 1849, and is of Welsh descent. His grandfather, Amos
Davis, was a pioneer farmer of Indiana, having made settlement there when
the entire country was a wilderness infested by Indians and wild animals.
The father of our subject, Rev. Absalom Looney Davis, was born in
East Tennessee in 1812, and at the age of two years was taken by his parents
to southern Indiana, near the present site of New Albany. Two of his uncles
were participants in the battle of Tippecanoe, and one of them, William
Davis, was killed in that engagement. During the Mexican War, and prior to
the annexation of Texas, Rev. Mr. Davis removed to the Lone Star State, and
visited Dallas when that now flourishing city contained but a few log
shanties. He was licensed as a local preacher in the Southern Methodist
Episcopal Church, but while he followed that profession, his occupation in
life was that of farming.
Removing to Illinois in 1859, Rev. A. L.
Davis engaged in the mercantile business for a few years, and afterward
devoted his attention exclusively to the ministry. He was the principal
factor in the organization of the Southern Methodist Church in Illinois. In
youth his advantages were meagre, and he attended school only a few days,
yet by diligent study, by the reading of good books, and by the exercise of
determination, he obtained considerable knowledge of the English language,
which he spoke fluently and wrote correctly. He was an eloquent speaker, a
perfect judge of the Methodist doctrine and law, and a leading member of his
chosen denomination. His wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth C. Lidaka,
was born in East Tennessee in 1816, and was descended from an old
Pennsylvania Dutch family. When about three years old she was taken to
Indiana by her parents. A lady of devoted Christian character, she was loved
by all who knew her, and her death in 1864 was widely mourned.
Of a
family of ten children, four are yet living: Green Berry, Postmaster and
druggist of De Soto, Ill.; Amos J., a farmer of Texas; Edward A., of this
sketch; and John L., a carpenter of De Soto. Rev. Mr. Davis was a second
time married. His death occurred in April, 1882, and his remains were laid
to rest in De Soto, where he had made his home since 1859. He was a man of
great energy, yet was modest, kind-hearted and charitable to a fault. He
loved his family and humanity, and endeavored to make the world better for
his having lived in it.
At the time of coming to Illinois, the
subject of this sketch was a lad of ten years. The trip was made overland
with sixty horses and one hundred and fifty cattle, and he rode horseback
the entire distance of one thousand miles. Upon his pony he swam the
Canadian River, a very wide and swift stream of water. After settling in
Illinois he suffered for some time from chills, and during the first
eighteen months in this state was accustomed to attend school two days and
"shake" at home the third day. However, he had a splendid constitution, and
although he was sick a great portion of the time in boyhood and for three
years suffered from rheumatism, he is now quite robust.
The Doctor
was educated in Illinois and one of his teachers was Cyrus Thomas, now
entomologist in the Smithsonian Institute of Washington, D. C. He taught
school one term, then engaged in clerking, also worked at the carpenter's
trade and in a drug store. In 1869 be began the study of medicine under Dr.
Robinson, of De Soto, and after attending a course of lectures in the
Missouri Medical College of St. Louis, he located at Ava and began the
practice of his profession. He passed the examination before the State Board
in 1880, carrying off the highest scholarship in the class of fifteen. He
was graduated from the Missouri Medical College in 1887, and has since
continuously engaged in practice at Ava.
As a physician, surgeon and
gynecologist, Dr. Davis has acquired a more than local reputation, and in
many surgical operations, such as herniotomy, tracheotomy and laparotomy, he
has been uniformly successful. While he does not fear to undertake any kind
of an operation, he is yet cautious and sympathetic to an unusual degree.
One of the most difficult operations undertaken by him was the removal of a
five-pound tumor from the right lumbar region, the patient being a lady
sixty years of age. She neither lost rest nor appetite, and the wound healed
by first intention. The Doctor is a man of large heart and the utmost
generosity, and never collects a bill for medical services from dependent
widows, girls that depend upon their own labor for support, and charitable
subjects. Realizing that the road of life is brief and will be traveled but
once, it is his desire to do all the good possible while passing. In his
practice he does not use alcoholic liquor, and is an enemy of the liquor
traffic.
Politically, the Doctor adheres to the principles of the
Prohibition party, and in 1890 was their candidate for Congress, and in 1888
was nominated upon that ticket for the office of Coroner. He opposes
monopolies, and believes that railroads and telegraph lines should be under
the control of the Government; that emigration should be restricted; that
the Government should issue all money's direct to the people; that both
sexes should have equal rights of suffrage; and that the American public
school system should receive the support of every true American citizen. He
opposes the bond system and national banks as banks of issue, and also
opposes alien ownership of land.
Dr. Davis has been alike prominent
in church work, has been Superintendent of the Sunday school, is an earnest
worker in the cause of temperance, and has served as Worthy Chief and is now
financial secretary in the Good Templars' lodge. He also belongs to the
Masonic fraternity and is now Junior Warden. In politics he is a stalwart
advocate of the Prohibition party, and does all in his power for its
advancement. He is a friend to the public schools and to the best interests
of his town. In 1893, he was elected President of the Village Board of Ava,
and we can thus sum up the opinions of his fellow-citizens by quoting what
one paper said of him: "Dr. Davis, the newly elected President of the Board,
is a man of whom nothing but the best can be said. He is a man to be
admired, loved, honored and respected, and one who can only be appreciated
most by those who are familiarly acquainted with him. Honest, and true to
the dictates of his conscience, he stands boldly before the people of Ava as
a genuine specimen of true manhood."
May 7, 1871, the Doctor married
Miss Lucy C. Walker, who was born in Somerset County, Pa., July 18, 1846,
and was a daughter of Gabriel and Eiizabeth Walker, noble Christian pioneers
of German blood. Lucy C. was educated in English and German in Pennsylvania,
and when a girl at home was noted for many kind acts, one of which was to
carry food to a family afflicted with smallpox, she and one of her
associates being the only persons in the community that dared venture near
the house. Coming to Illinois in 1869, she made her home with her brother,
Samuel Walker, until her marriage. She was a girl of noble character, lovely
and pleasant in her daily life, gentle and tender in heart, and of an
energetic disposition. Her face was beautiful, but not less so than her
character. She was never idle, and won the Doctor's heart one day as he was
passing while she was at the wash tub. Her home, though plain and humble,
she made a paradise of love, peace, happiness and harmony. In Pennsylvania
she was a member of the Lutheran Church, but after coming to Illinois was
identified with the Presbyterian Church. Her only child, May L., was born
February 18, 1872, and is an amiable and accomplished young lady and a
talented musician; she is the wife of Charles Brett, a young man of noble
principle and character.
Mrs. Davis was called to her final rest
April 13, 1893. In an obituary notice was written the following:
"Notwithstanding the fact that robust health was never hers, few women have
done more in the cause of good in every walk of life than she did. A
persistent worker in the church, a true friend, an untiring helper of her
husband and a most tender mother, she united in herself those virtues which
made her so lovely and lovable."
The following resolutions were
passed by the Ava Presbyterian Sabbath-school:
"Calm on the bosom of
thy God,
Dear sister, rest thee now.
E'en while with us thy
footsteps trod,
His seal was on thy brow.'
"Resolved, That in
the death of his beloved wife and companion, our worthy brother and his
daughter have sustained one of the greatest sorrows that fall to the lot of
man.
"Resolved, That we tender to our esteemed brother and his
daughter our heat-felt love and sympathy in this their darkest hour, and
hope they may be sustained and soothed by an unfaltering trust in Him who
doeth all things well.
"Resolved, That in the death of our esteemed
sister, Lucy C. Davis, this school has lost a worthy teacher and consistent
worker, a kind and loving friend, whose presence was a bright ray of
sunshine, dispelling the gloom from our hearts; her husband, a devoted
companion; her daughter, a loving, kind and gentle mother."
Her
Sunday-school class passed the following:
"Whereas, The all-wise God
has called our beloved teacher, Mrs. Lucy C. Davis, from earth to Heaven, we
as a class have lost a very earnest and devoted teacher, but our loss is
Heaven's gain. Her place in the class will never be forgotten. The tender
love and kindness she had for us will never die. We extend our great love
and sympathy to her husband, Dr. E. A. Davis, and daughter, Mrs. Charles
Brett."
The Woman's Christian Temperance Union also passed
resolutions speaking of her untiring service
in the cause of
temperance, and closing it with these words:
"Resolved, That we
tender our deepest sympathy to the husband and daughter and commend to them
her glorious awakening from the bed of pain and suffering to regions of
perennial sunshine and glory in full communion with her Savior. We commend
to them as a rich legacy the blessing of her memory, which will rest upon
all who knew her. We commend to them the tender welcome which must have been
hers as she entered the sunset gate and the Master's smiling approval as He
said:
" 'Thine is the crown of the toilers
Who gathered for Me
in thy name.
And the bells of Heaven were ringing
While the angel
choirs were singing,
She has come.' "
Extracted 26 Mar 2020 by Norma Hass from 1894 Biographical Review of Jackson, Massac, Pope, and Hardin Counties, Illinois, pages 621-623.