My Genealogy Hound

MILES DAVIS, a retired agriculturist and highly respected pioneer citizen of Eau Claire, Berrien County, Mich., began in 1851 the cultivation of his homestead, located upon the west half of the northwest quarter of section 34, and for nearly two-score years a constant resident of his homestead, has been intimately associated with the growth and prosperity of the county. Mr. Davis was born September 12, 1830, in Cambria County, Pa. His father, Benjamin Davis, born in 1796, was a native of Wales and a farmer by occupation. The mother, also a native of Wales, was born in 1790. The Davis family emigrated to America in 1800, and made their home in Pennsylvania. The Williamses, crossing the broad Atlantic, became citizens of the United States in 1802. They likewise located in the Quaker State, where in due course of time the parents of our subject were married. They remained in Pennsylvania until 1844, when they removed to Ohio, and settled in the woods of Ashland County, upon the Western Reserve. For four years Benjamin Davis industriously cleared land and tilled the soil of the Buckeye State, and then journeyed with his family farther West, settling in 1848 in Pipestone Township, Berrien County, Mich., upon the farm now owned by R. J. Tuttle.

The mother died in 1848, the father surviving until 1879. Energetic and industrious, they were highly regarded by all who knew them, and were devout members of the Christian Church, and in Pennsylvania the father had been an “exhorter.” The children who clustered about the pioneer hearth were Timothy, Hannah and John, deceased; Rachael, Mrs. Fisher; William and Benjamin, deceased; Miles, our subject; Mary DeLong; and Margaret. Miles Davis, the seventh child, attended the school of the district, but at fourteen years of age steadily devoted himself to the daily round of agricultural labor upon his father’s farm. At twenty-one years of age he began life for himself and, a thoroughly practical farmer, entered with resolution into the clearing and cultivating of the land, now under a high state of productiveness. His first house was a modest log habitation, but in 1871 he erected his attractive and commodious residence at a cost of $2,000, and from time to time has added other substantial improvements. Mr. Davis owns two hundred and forty acres of valuable land in Pipestone Township, and also has a house and lot in Eau Claire, having accumulated a comfortable competence, gained in the pursuit of farming.

In 1856, Miles Davis and Miss Phoebe Fisher were united in marriage. Mrs. Davis was a daughter of Ambrose and Maria (McDaniel) Fisher, who removed from Ohio to Michigan in 1846, and settled in Berrien Township, where they both died. Mr. Fisher was an honored pioneer farmer and a man of sterling integrity. Mrs. Davis is a native of Ohio, and was born in Portage County in 1838. Our subject and his estimable wife were the parents of three children. Effie A., wife of Thomas Ferry, is the mother of three children, and resides in Pipestone Township; William B., married to Mary Peterbaugh, is the father of one child and is living in the township; the eldest child died in infancy.

Mr. and Mrs. Davis are valued members of the Christian Church at Eau Claire, of which church our subject is an Elder and has taken an active part in the work of the Sunday-school. The daughter and sons enjoyed the benefit of a good common-school education, and for a number of years Mr. Davis was an efficient member of the School Board of the county. Politically, our subject has always taken a deep interest in local and national issues. He is a strong Democrat and has been a delegate to numerous conventions. He has likewise occupied with able fidelity various offices of trust, and has discharged the duties of Clerk of Pipestone Township, Treasurer of the township, and Supervisor of the township to the universal satisfaction of the community, whose interests he so materially advanced by his enterprise and business methods. Now retired from the daily routine of agricultural life, he enjoys a well-earned rest, but, as yet in the vigor of manhood, is one of the substantial and liberal-spirited citizens, ever ready to aid in all matters of mutual welfare, and, widely known in Berrien County, enjoys the best wishes and thorough confidence of a large circle of old friends and acquaintances.