To the honest and hardworking mechanics, and those who have taken hold with their hands and wrought out the development of the reservation country, we are constrained to grant a prominent place in the history of our County, for we firmly believe that the ones who have done the labor are the ones who should receive the credit of opening any country, regardless of the amount of wealth the laborer has gathered. As a leader in the realm of mechanics in Nez Perce, we mention Mr. Davis, of the firm of Wilson & Davis, doubtless the largest firm lor blacksmithing and wheelwright work in the county, and the operators of as good a shop and as well furnished and equipped as there is in the state. They employ three men besides the proprietors and Mr. Davis attends to the wheelwright department.
Granville O. Davis was born in Ross County, Ohio, on February 10, 1858, being the son of Horatio H. and Lucy (Kuhl) Davis, natives of Fayette County, Ohio, born on February 22, 1833, and 1835 respectively. The father has a large shop in Lyndon, Ohio, where he is a prominent citizen and his ancestors came from the Plymouth Rock pioneers. He was married in 1854. The ancestors of our subject’s mother lived in Virginia for seven generations back.
Granville was educated in his native place, finishing with a course in the South Salem Academy. In 1878 he started in blacksmithing for himself in South Salem, Ohio, and fifteen years he wrought there. It was 1893 that he came to Johnson, Washington, and there operated the best shop until 1961, when he came to Nez Perces and at first entered partnership with S. J. Doggett, but later sold to Mr. Doggett and in November, 1901 formed his present business relations. Mr. Davis has three brothers, Peter K., a traveling salesman for the Gilliam Manufacturing Company of Canton, Ohio; Horatio H. with the same company; Jesse R., a physician in New York City. Mr. Davis also has three sisters, Ogeda V., single, living with parents; Annie, wife of Joseph Rohan, a horseshoer in Jeffersonville, Ohio; Lucy, wife of Amer Wilson, a farmer at Johnson, Washington.
In Ross County, Ohio, on October 30, 1878, Mr. Davis married Miss Vedie L., daughter of Joseph and Louisa (Wilson) Lumbeck, natives of Ohio. The father was an undertaker and died in 1885, aged fifty-eight, while the mother died January 20, 1903, in Burlington, Iowa. Mrs. Davis has one brother Daniel W., a physician at Burlington, Iowa. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Davis, Bonnie L. and Edna W. Mr. Davis is a member of the K. P., McLean Lodge, No. 262 of Greenfield, Ohio; and also of the W. W., at Nez Perce. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church and are highly respected people.
Back to: Nez Perce Biographies
Source: An Illustrated History of Northern Idaho, Embracing Nez Perce, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone Counties, Western Historical Publishing Company, 1903