John W. Davis in Cabbage Patch

More about this item

Identifier

ghs20220200003

Description

Black and white photo of John W. Davis, an elderly man with a long beard, standing in a field of cabbage. He is wearing a short coat and pants and a felt hat with a brim. Wooded landscape in background.
Inscribed on back in pen: "1911. October 30 | J.W. Davis in his Cabage [sic] patch that he raised himself the summer he was 83 years old. taken by Mr. Cotton. | he has a pack of cabbage on his back."

Rights

No Copyright

Location

Gresham, Multnomah County, Oregon, United States

Date

1911-10-30

Creator

Cotton, William W.

Names

Davis, John W.

Davis, Elizabeth Shaw

Subject

Farms

Farmers

Cabbage

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.
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. John and Elizabeth Davis lived in a house on his farm, where this photo was likely taken.
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/166484

Item sets

Gresham Heritage