William Winans Davis    

WILLIAM WINANS DAVIS. William Winans Davis was born August 20, 1848, near Jackson, Miss., on a plantation owned by his parents, Robert James and Caroline (Thomas) Davis. His father was a second cousin of Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy.

A few years following Mr. Davis’ birth, his family emigrated to Milam County, Texas, where a plantation was acquired. Here Mr. Davis lived amid typical antebellum surroundings until the age of 17 years. Then, in the fall of 1865, he entered Washington College (later Washington and Lee University) at Lexington, Virginia. Gen. Robert E. Lee had just accepted the presidency of the college at that time. During the next four years, Mr. Davis had the rare privilege of living under the personal influence of this great man whom he revered throughout the rest of his life. He was graduated with honors in 1869, and soon after commenced the study of law in Galveston, Texas, under Judge Asa H. Willie About this time, the trustees of Douglasville College, Cass County, Texas, upon the recommendation of General Lee, elected Mr. Davis to teach in that school and he accepted this position. On October 20, 1871, he married Miss Aurelia Abigail Carlow of Douglasville, one of his former pupils. To this union were born eight children: Robert William and Louis Andrew, who are now partners in a bond and mortgage business in Los Angeles, Calif.; Carrie Maggie, Kate Aurelia, and Abigail, all deceased; Lucy Nellie, Frederick Allison, and Lily Wathen.

In 1872, Mr. Davis taught in the Dallas schools and during the following two years he taught in the school at Weatherford, then in the new Masonic building, which many years later was incorporated in the main building of Weatherford College.

Soon after their arrival in Weatherford, Mr. Davis and his wife became members of the Methodist Church. Thereafter they were active and devoted members of this church and Mr. Davis served as steward throughout the rest of his life and for many years as superintendent of the Sunday School.

After teaching in Weatherford and Denton, Mr. Davis returned to Weatherford in 1875 and entered the practice of law in partnership with Isaac W. Stephens, a farmer schoolmate at Washington and Lee University. Soon he saw that his best opportunities in this growing frontier town lay in the field of business and then he began his business career in the office of Carson and Lewis, the largest mercantile firm here at that time.
A few years later he engaged in the cotton and agricultural machinery business. He was very successful in this and continued in it until February, 1886. Then, with A. F. Starr and others, he purchased the First National Bank of Weatherford, Mr. Davis becoming cashier and manager. Four years later he was elected president. In the banking business he found the greatest opportunity of his life, the one most suited to his talents. The bank prospered under his direction for eight years. He also served as vice president of the Weatherford Mutual Building and Loan Association, director of the Crystal Palace Flouring Mills Company, and as a member of the Board of Trustees of Weatherford College.

Mr. Davis was a man who steadily grew in the estimation of those most familiar with him. His perception was quick and comprehensive, and his judgment exceedingly accurate.

In the midst of his most active period, his life was cut short, and after a brief illness, he died April 20, 1894.

History of Parker County and the Double Log Cabin: being a brief symposium of the early history of Parker County, together with short biographical sketches of early settlers and their trials, Weatherford, Tex.: Herald Pub. Co., 1937, pages 152-153. View the image of this page online.  Search Hundreds of 1880s-1920s Texas History Books for biographies and historical information on your ancestors.  View the book page images on line and print them out for your genealogy file!  Try the family history collection for free for 14 days!