John W. Davis

More about this item

Identifier

ghs20220200002

Description

Black and white photo of John W. Davis, an elderly man with a long beard, seated in a chair in front of a wooden house amidst tall grass. He is wearing a long coat and a bowler hat. The cellar door and steps of the house are visible in the photo.
Postcard markings on back. Inscribed on back in pencil: "J.W. Davis | Born April 7. 1828 | taken by Mr. Cotten [sic] Spring 1910 | We were living in our own house on the Cotten Farm | (Mother) | for Nettie Carr".

Rights

No Copyright

Location

Gresham, Multnomah County, Oregon, United States

Date

1910

Creator

Cotton, William W.

Names

Davis, John W.

Davis, Elizabeth Shaw

Carr, Nettie

Subject

Farmers

Farms

Provenance

John W. Davis was born in Kentucky in 1828 and spent most of his life in Illinois and Kansas, serving in the Kansas Home Guard during the Civil War. He also worked as a temperance advocate while living in Kansas. He was a longtime member of the GAR, Masonic order, and the Grange. In 1906 he and his third wife, Elizabeth Shaw Davis, moved to Gresham to live near his son Harvey E. Davis. She survived him on his death in 1912 and likely later wrote the inscription on this photo to Nettie Carr (possibly a daughter or granddaughter).
Mr. Cotton is likely William W. Cotton, a prominent Portland railroad attorney who owned property and a country home south of Gresham on the Springwater rail line.
Timothy W. Mortimer retains ownership of the original photos, which he brought to the museum for scanning in 2022.

Type

StillImage

Medium

Photograph

source resource

https://www.northwestdigitalheritage.org/legacy/api/items/166482

Item sets

Gresham Heritage