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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Desha County, Arkansas published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1890.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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John W. Davis, postmaster of Arkansas City, and one of the leading hardware merchants of the city, was born in La Grange, Mo., in 1854, and is the fifth of a family of six children born to the union of Franklin and Mary A. (McNeil) Davis, natives of Kentucky and Mississippi, respectively. The father moved to Missouri in 1850, settled in Lewis County, fifteen miles from La Grange, and there cultivated the soil and followed stock-raising. In 1852 he went to California, and, although he remained only one year, during that time was engaged in mining. He returned to Missouri, and in 1857 moved to this State and settled in Napoleon, where he was engaged in merchandising, and also kept hotel. Here his death occurred in the latter part of 1858. Previous to leaving Mississippi, where he had resided for some time, he had been sheriff of Hinds County. He was a prominent man, and a pioneer settler of La Grange, Mo., was also an early settler of Napoleon, and was a soldier in the War with Mexico, being an officer in the same. He had been a member of the Masonic fraternity for a number of years, and was a prominent member of that body. His wife died in 1876. She had been a member of the Episcopal Church for many years, and was a consistent Christian, a good mother and a warm friend. John W. Davis was educated in this county, was reared in the city of Napoleon, Ark., and at the age of eight years was thrown on his own resources. At the commencement of his career he was collector on a wharf-boat for $8 per month, and from that time until he was twenty-one years of age, was in various occupations. From the age of sixteen to nineteen he was learning the tinner’s trade, of which he has since made a profession from time to time, and from nineteen to twenty-one he filled the position of deputy sheriff of the county. After that has cultivated the soil for three years, and when twenty-five years of age, or in 1881, he engaged again in the tinner’s trade at Arkansas City in partnership with Charles Harding, under the firm title of Davis & Harding. They continued together for two years, when Mr. Davis bought his partner’s interest in the business and conducted it alone for two years, after which William Tobias became his partner, under the firm name of Davis & Tobias. This company carries everything to be found in a first-class hardware store, and are doing an immense business for the population of the county, $10,000 annually. Mr. Davis is an enterprising business man, and in 1885 was appointed postmaster of Arkansas City, which office he has since filled in a very satisfactory manner and with credit to himself. He commenced life quite a poor boy, but by his honesty and industry he has surmounted all obstacles, and is considered one of the much-esteemed and respected citizens of the city. His marriage took place in 1886, to Miss Mollie A. Bowles, a native of this county, and the daughter of W. W. Bowles, the oldest living native citizen of this portion of the State. Mrs. Davis has always seconded the efforts of Mr. Davis, and to her he owes, in a great measure, his success in life. She is a lady of high social standing, and one of superior business capacity. Mr. Davis is a member of the K, of P., Valley Lodge No. 21, and of the Grand Lodge, Arkansas jurisdiction, and is a member of the Endowment Rank, Section 673. He is the owner of his business house and residence, and is one of the leading business men of the city. He favors all laudable enterprises for the good of his city and county, and contributes liberally to the same.

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This family biography is one of 80 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Desha County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Desha County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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