My Genealogy Hound

JOHN H. DAVIS, a prominent real-estate dealer and an efficient Justice of the Peace at Bangor, was born at Chapman Quarries, Northampton County, this state, October 18, 1861, and is a son of Henry and Sarah Ann (Smith) Davis. Mr. Davis is of Welsh ancestry, his father having emigrated from Wales in 1850. The grandfather was a native of North Wales, and during his lifetime followed the occupation of a slater. He was the father of nine children, five of whom still reside in Wales.

The maternal grandparents of our subject, Simon and Caroline Smith, were natives of Mercer County, this state, but during the last forty or fifty years of their lives they resided in Northampton County. Simon Smith was a farmer by occupation, and in politics a Democrat. His father was an officer in the War of 1812; his grandfather served in the Revolution, and shared the hardships of winter with General Washington at Valley Forge. The family is of German ancestry, the first of that branch coming to America from Wurtemberg early in the sixteenth century. Mrs. Caroline Smith was a member of the Lutheran Church, and on her death was buried in Niskey Hill Cemetery at Bethlehem, where also lie the remains of her husband.

Henry Davis, the father of our subject, was born August 20, 1833, in the village of Cwm-y-Grlo, arnarvonshire, North Wales. He had very poor educational advantages and is mainly self-made. A slater by trade, he has followed that occupation all his life, having been one of the pioneers of the slate industry of the country. He is still living and makes his home in Bangor. On coming to this country Mr. Davis located in Philadelphia. He was there on a visit to his uncle, and became so delighted with the country he decided to remain. For a number of years he traveled extensively through the United States, and was engaged in various occupations until the year 1854, when he permanently located at Chapman Quarries, where he remained until 1889. Since then he has been a resident of Bangor. He has always taken a very active part in politics, giving his support to the Republican party. He has been twice married, and became the father of nineteen children, twelve of whom are living, namely: Sarah E., John H., William R., Caroline, Thomas, Walter D., Selma J., Newton H., James G., Robert L., Nellie C. and Gomer E.

The subject of this sketch was educated in the public schools of Chapman Quarries, and has supplemented his elementary training by a course of varied reading, and by continued study and close research in special subjects. Meanwhile he passed the examination for an engineer, and served in that capacity in Philadelphia for two years. In 1879 he came to Bangor and engaged in the slate business. In 1892 he crossed the Atlantic and traveled in the principal cities of Europe. Always active in public affairs, Mr. Davis, in 1891, was elected Justice of the Peace of Bangor, and has continued in that office to the present time. He is extensively engaged in the real-estate business, and also, in connection with Adolphus Smith, deals in monuments, headstones, tablets, etc., and has an excellent trade in that line.

Our subject is a stockholder in the First National Bank of Bangor; the Delaware Hard Vein Slate Company, of Columbia, N. J.; and likewise in the Great Bangor Slate Company. In politics he is a Republican, and takes an active part in the wel- fare of that party. May 22, 1881, he was married to Miss Sallie R., a daughter of Philip and Caroline Deats. Two bright and interesting children have blessed this union, Lottie and Stanley. Mr. and Mrs. Davis are highly respected in the community.