Davis Family

After the American Revolution, Willin Davis and his wife, Sarah Trotter, were living in Maryland. In 1793 their newly born son was named Ishmael and in the next year the family moved west across the mountains to Lewis County, Kentucky. The children included four sons; Ishmael, James, Truitt, and Thomas, and two daughters, Charlotte and Malinda. Willin Davis operated his tract of land in Kentucky with his negroes, and he lived there until 1849, dying at the age of eighty-eight.

Ishmael Davis lived in Kentucky until he was forty years of age. He had married in 1831 Nancy McDaniel, whose father had come from Scotland, where his name was John McDonald. Their son John Caldwell Calhoun Davis was born in Lewis County, Kentucky, in 1832. In 1833 Ishmael moved his family to Hannibal, Missouri, and in 1834 they set out again with ox-teams and wagons to Clinton County, Missouri, near Plattsburg. The Platte Purchase was added to the state of Missouri in 1836 and opened for white settlement on February 1, 1837. Ishmael Davis was one of the first to cross the boundary line into the new purchase. He selected a Corner of Buchanan County in the region known as 'Rockhouse Prairie' near the present town of Frazier. He built a log house and covered it with boards sawed by hand.

In December 1837 a son was born to Ishmael and Nancy whom they named Randolph Truitt Davis. He was reputed to be the first white child born in that area. In 1840 another son, William Franklin Davis, was born at the Rockhouse Prairie home. In 1856 Ishmael lost his farm because he was one of the bondsmen of a defaulting sheriff of Buchanan County. To satisfy the claims against him, he gave up his property and moved to Platte County, near Union Mills, where he lived until 1866. He then moved to St. Joseph where he died January 17, 1868. Mrs. Nancy Davis died on September 6, 1875, having been the mother of eight children: Robert, John C. C., Edna Ann, Randolph T., William F., Ishmael, Marshall, and Nannie T.

Ishmael and Nancy are buried in the hilltop cemetery at Davis Chapel not far from their old home. This is one of the oldest cemeteries in the Platte Purchase and is known for the beautiful views: Rockhouse Prairie to the north, Gower to the northeast, Nashua to the southeast, and the new Mid-Continent International Airport to the south. The horizon extends over parts of Buchanan, Clinton, Clay, and Platte Counties.

Several of the children of Ishmael and Nancy died young, so the families of three of the sons will follow: John Caldwell Calhoun Davis (1832-1875), Randolph Truitt Davis (1837-1894), William Franklin Davis (1840-1919).

JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN DAVIS 1832-1875

John C. C. Davis was born in Lewis County, Kentucky, the son of Ishmael and Nancy McDaniel Davis. When he was a year old the family moved to Hannibal, Missouri, and in 1837 when John C. C. was five, to the log cabin home at Rockhouse Prairie, in what was to become, in 1839, the southeast corner of Buchanan County.

Rockhouse Prairie is a broad expanse of land near the eastern line of the Platte Purchase, so it was easily accessible to the early settlers. It was crossed by an Indian trail which ran from Clay County on to King Hill and the Blacksnake Hills, where the Robidoux Trading Post was located. The Indians had marked the trail by a stone cairn on a hilltop overlooking the prairie, and they had shaped it like a white man's house. That is how the name originated. There was ΠΟ St. Joseph at that time and many of the early settlers originally stopped in the Rockhouse Prairie region. The present town of Frazier is near it.

John C. C. Davis was married to Mary G. Clay, daughter of Johnson and Rebecca (Collett) Clay, who had been born in Lewis County, Kentucky. The family was related to that of Henry Clay, United States senator.

John C. C. Davis was a pioneer minister of the Methodist Epis copal Church, South. He filled numerous pastorates in ñorflows: Missouri and was a member of the Missouri Annual Conference, 1853-1875.

There were four sons and two daughters: Robert Lee Davis, F Claude Davis, Dr. W. B. Davis, Marvin M. Davis, Mrs. Edna Ản Ray, and Mrs. Byrd McMurry. She was the wife of Rev. W. McMurry, presiding bishop of the Methodist Church, founder of Central College, Fayette, Missouri, and trustee of Southern Methodist University.

John C. C. Davis died in St. Joseph on March 11, 1875, and Mrs Davis died in Louisville, Kentucky, at the home of her daughter in 1917 at the age of eighty-eight. He is buried at the Davis Chapel Cemetery between Dearborn and Edgerton, Missouri, near his ents. John C. C. Davis had been pastor of the little church and it was named for him. The stone marking his grave is carved in the shape of a pulpit with an open Bible on the top.

F. CLAUDE DAVIS, 1858-1947

Son of John C. C. Davis and Mary G. Clay. At the age of twenty-two he was sales manager of the Davis Milling Company in St. Joseph and introduced Aunt Jemima Pancake Flour. In 1900 he organized the real estate firm of Davis Brothers. He married Miss Fannie Dean Poppel. The children were: F. Claude Davis, Jr. (1900-1955) who served as president of the St. Joseph Police Board; Mrs. Ruth Kinnison; and Mrs. Fannie Lee Connett. He had one grandchild Mrs. Edna Mae Martin-and one great-grandson-Davis Martin.

MARVIN M. DAVIS, 1870-1907

Son of John C. C. Davis and Mary G. Clay, he was a partner in Davis Brothers, a real estate firm. Marvin Middleton Davis married Miss Annette McDonald, daughter of R. L. McDonald. Their children were: Marvin McDonald Davis, Mrs. J. K. (Annette) Dabney of Richmond, Virginia, Mrs. Charles F. (Dorothy) Strop, Jr. The grandchildren were: Charles F. Strop III and Mrs. James A. (Ann) Ringer.

RANDOLPH TRUITT DAVIS 1837-1894

R. T. Davis was born December 26, 1837, at Rockhouse Prairie in what was to become, in 1839, the southeastern corner of Buchanan County, the son of Ishmael and Nancy McDaniel Davis. His early schooling prepared him to enter the Weston, Missouri, High School in 1853 when he was sixteen. His father's financial embarrassment, as bondsman for a defaulting sheriff, however, forced his withdrawal from school. He engaged in farming and livestock dealing for about five years.

In 1859 Davis married Miss Catherine Louisa Boydston of Platte County. They had one child, a daughter, and Mrs. Davis died in 1861. Davis, in 1863, married her sister, Mary J. Boydston. They had six children.

In 1866 Mr. Davis purchased the Platte County Union Mills, near Edgerton and found the milling business to his liking. However, he decided that a country mill was too narrow a field for his ambition, so he moved to St. Joseph and purchased a half-interest in the City Mills there from William F. Ridenbaugh. This was a small grist mill on Blacksnake Creek, near Third and Louis Streets. The other half interest in the mill was purchased by Isaac Van Riley and the firm of Davis & Van Riley was in successful operation. In 1869 Armstrong Beattie purchased the Van Riley interest and in 1873 Mr. Davis bought out Beattie. From 1876 Davis operated the mill as sole proprietor. His favorite flour, “St. Joseph Number One, was so highly regarded that in 1877 the citizens of Buchanan County presented him a gold watch and at the St. Joseph Exposition in 1879, in similar testimony to the excellence of his product, he was presented with a cane. In 1878, and again in 1880, Mr. Davis was elected Buchanan County Collector by large majorities. He also served in the Missouri State Senate. In 1888 he erected a completely modern flour mill at Second and Edmond Streets with a capacity of eight hundred barrels of flour each day.

In 1889 Chris L. Rutt, a newspaper man, and Charles G. Underwood, in the milling business, had purchased a small and ailing flour mill which they called the Pearl Milling Company. They thought that if they could devise a pre-mixed self-rising pancake flour, they might help the mill operations. They experimented at the Rutt kitchen and finally devised a mixture of hard wheat flour, corn meal, phosphate of lime, soda, and a trace of salt. They called in Purd B. Wright, St. Joseph librarian, who approved the product. Mr. Rutt happened to attend a minstrel show in which there was a cakewalk performed to a tune called “Aunt Jemima. He thought that would be the perfect name for the product, so they organized the Aunt Jemima Manufacturing Company.

R. T. Davis, in 1891, purchased the Aunt Jemima Manufacturing Company and improved the pancake mix by adding rice flour, corn sugar, and powdered milk. The housewife had only to add water. The World's Fair at Chicago in 1893 gave a great opportunity for advertising. Mr. Davis had a booth built like a giant flour barrel and a friendly colored woman, Nancy Green, aged fifty-nine, was in costume turning out free pancakes for the many visitors. Nancy Green was awarded a medal and certificate for her showmanship, and merchants sent in more than fifty thousand orders for the pancake mix. Mr. Purd Wright devised the advertising which featured a picture of the smiling Aunt Jemima and the statement: "I'se in town, honey.”

About 1890 Mr. Davis had built the imposing home on the south-east corner of Twentieth and Faraon Streets. For a few years it was the center of large family gatherings. Mr. Davis died there on December 14, 1894. He was survived by his widow, three daughters, Mrs. W. H. Whimple, Mrs. R. L. Beaumont, Miss Nannie Davis, and two sons, R. T. Davis, Jr., and R. M. Davis.

After the death of R. T. Davis, his business was never again the same. It was reorganized in 1904 by Robert Clark, and in 1914. was renamed the Aunt Jemima Mills Company. Sales reached a high point before World War I, but wartime restrictions on the use of flour made great difficulties. Finally, on January 15, 1926, the Company was sold to the Quaker Oats Company.

Mrs. W.H. Whimple was the daughter of Mr. Davis and his first wife. Her sons were Randolph Whimple and Davis Whimple. R. T. Davis, Jr., was a graduate of Harvard Law School and in business in Chicago when he died in 1918. Randolph Milton Davis was married in 1893 to Miss Mary Logan Fairleigh. After leaving the Davis Milling Company, he headed the Metropolitan Paving Company. His children were Randolph Davis and Mrs. Jarrott (Alice) McCord.

WILLIAM FRANKLIN DAVIS 1840-1919

W. F. (“Uncle Frank:) Davis was born in a log cabin at Rockhouse Prairie in southeast Buchanan County on January 12, 1840, the son of Ishmael and Nancy McDaniel Davis. He attended a log schoolhouse and worked on his father's farm. The country was wild and the woods abounded in game. There were droves of deer, thousands of wild turkeys, geese, and ducks. He was nearly grown when the first railroad reached St. Joseph. In 1857 he went to Kansas for a year but returned and completed his education at Plattsburg College.

When the Civil War broke out, his family sympathies and his own were with the Southern states, and in December 1861 he enlisted in Company E of the First Missouri Cavalry under the command of Colonel Elijah Gates and was attached to the command of General Sterling Price. He saw active fighting in Missouri and Arkansas and was wounded at Tupelo, Mississippi. His brother, the Reverend John C. C. Davis, a Methodist minister, drove down to Mississippi and brought him home in a wagon.

In January 1865 W. F. Davis was married to Miss Virginia Byrd Asbury, whose family had left Virginia and had come to Ray County, Missouri, in 1856. In 1866 Mr. Davis engaged in the mercantile business but in 1870 he moved to Clinton County, working as a merchant at Plattsburg and Union Mills for three years. In 1873 he was elected sheriff of Clinton County and in 1876 county collector. After that he was elected to the Missouri state legislature. He was a very popular man and a contemporary account read: “No one can beat Frank Davis if he runs for office. He is a splendid type of self-made man, distinguished for his honesty. He is a good businessman. His word is good and he enjoys the absolute confidence of all his neighbors and acquaintances.

In 1886 W. F. Davis moved to St. Joseph and entered the livestock commission business. His first location was on Hickory Street, but he took an active part in opening the St. Joseph Stockyards in South St. Joseph and moved his office there. He became one of the best known commission men in St. Joseph, but retained his interest in farming and operated a large farm in Holt County.

In 1887 his son, True Davis, at the age of eighteen, became associated with his father in the livestock commission firm of W. F. Davis & Company. In 1911 they joined E. A. Poe in organizing the Anchor Serum Company to produce hog cholera serum.

Mr. W. F. Davis died February 25, 1919, leaving two sons, W. True Davis and Frank A. Davis, and two daughters, Mrs. Henson Seymour and Mrs. Emily Gebhart.

Mr. Davis was a tremendous man-six feet, six inches in height and had a striking resemblance to Abraham Lincoln. He was an impressive figure, standing out in any assemblage.

W. TRUE DAVIS, 1869-1955

W. True Davis was born in Buchanan County on March 25, 1869, the son of W. F. Davis and his wife, Virginia Byrd Asbury. At the age of eighteen, in 1887, he became associated with his father in the livestock commission business in St. Joseph. He was married to Miss Leta Marshall and had two daughters, Mrs. Janey Byrd Beattie and Mrs. Beulah Frances Allen. He was married again in 1919 to Miss Helen Marstella and had four children: William True Davis, Jr., Mrs. Daphne Davis (Muchnic) Oppenheimer, Mrs. Jacqueline Davis Andrews, and Dexter Daniel Davis. He became chairman of the board of the Anchor Serum Company, president of the Livestock Exchange, president of the St. Joseph Belt-Line Railroad serving the stockyards, and vice-president of the Sun Manufacturing Company. Like his father, he became the acknowledged dean of the St. Joseph stockyards community, and when he died on October 2, 1955, he was eighty-six years of age.

W. TRUE DAVIS, J.R.

He was born in St. Joseph December 23, 1919, the son of W. True Davis, Sr., and his wife, Helen Marstella. He attended the St. Joseph schools and Cornell University. During World War II he served as lieutenant in the U.S. Navy and was stationed in Hawaii. He was married to Miss Virginia Bruce Motter in 1948. They had three sons. He succeeded his father as head of the Anchor Serum Company which he sold to the Phillips-Roxane Company in 1959. In 1963 he was appointed U.S. ambassador to Switzerland and in 1965 assistant secretary of the U.S. Treasury. His efforts to secure the Democratic nomination for U.S. senator from Missouri in 1968 were unsuccessful and in 1969 he was elected president of the National Bank of Washington, a position he held until 1973. His wife died in Uganda, West Africa, in September 1969 of sleeping sickness.