Eugene E. Davis, of Greenfield, was born at Ft. Scott, Bourbon county, Kansas, on January 12, 1867, and is the son of Dr. Benjamin L. and Albina C. (Wilson) Davis. Benjamin L. Davis, who was the son of James and Huldah (Swett) Davis, was born at Strong, Franklin county, Maine, on February 3, 1840, and was of Welsh-English stock. He was a graduate of Waterville (now Colby) College and, later, of Hanemann Medical College, New York City. He entered upon the practice of medicine at Ft. Scott, Kansas, but in 1873 located in Petrolia, Pennsylvania, then the center of the great oil field, where he resided until 1889, when he removed to Pittsburgh, and there was actively engaged in the practice of his profession up to the time of his death, which occurred on May 13, 1907. He was a Mason and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He was very active in church matters, serving as trustee and chorister for many years. His wife, Albina (Wilson) Davis, was born near Solon, Somerset county, Maine, on May 4, 1840, the daughter of Daniel and Mary (Goodrich) Wilson. On the paternal side she traced an unbroken line of descent from Benjamin Wilson, who emigrated from Paisley, Scotland, to Prince Edward Island, and thence to Massachusetts, where he landed in 1650. From there he went to Maine, where, during subsequent years, members of the family became prominent in the political and religious life of the state. To Benjamin and Albina Davis were born two children, Eugene E. and Mary Gertrude, of Butler, Pennsylvania, the widow of H. W. Daugherty and the mother of four sons.

Eugene E. Davis received his education in the public schools of Butler county, Pennsylvania, where the family had located in 1873. His first employment was as a messenger for the Western Union Telegraph Company at Petrolia for a few months, quitting that job to enter the office of the Petrolia Record, where he learned the printing trade. In 1887 he went to Pittsburgh and entered the job printing establishment of Stevenson & Foster where he remained until 1892, when he went to Logansport, Indiana, and entered the employ of Wilson, Humphreys & Company, at that time one of the largest printing houses in the state. In 1902 Mr. Davis entered the employ of B. F. Bowen, publisher of state and county histories, at Logansport, in the capacity of editor. In 1904 the business was moved to Indianapolis, and, later the same year, to Greenfield. Two years later Mr. Davis severed his relations with Mr. Bowen and became a stockholder and secretary-treasurer of the Greenfield Printing and Publishing Company, with which he was identified until 1909, when the plant was sold and he again joined B. F. Bowen, at Indianapolis, as editor of histories. In 1913 B. F. Bowen & Company was incorporated, Mr. Davis becoming a stockholder and secretary-treasurer. He is still identified with this company and is also president of the Federal Publishing Company, which is issuing the present history of Hancock county. He resides in Greenfield, his business headquarters being in the Occidental building, Indianapolis.

Mr. Davis is a Republican in politics, though he was recently aligned with the Progressive movement. Fraternally, he is a member of Hancock Lodge No. 101, Free and Accepted Masons; Greenfield Chapter No. 96, Royal Arch Masons; Logansport Council No,. 11, Royal and Select Masters; Greenfield Commandery No. 39, Knights Templar, of which he was recorder for ten years; Indianapolis Consistory, Scottish Rite; Murat Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and the Modern Woodmen of America. Religiously, he has long been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, being now a trustee of the church at Greenfield. He has been chorister of this church for eleven years and is a teacher in the Sunday school.

On December 25, 1890, Mr. Davis was married to Mary Elizabeth Kimmel, of Butler, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Thompson and Elizabeth Kimmel. Mrs. Davis died on October 28, 1902, and on May 4, 1904, Mr. Davis married Iza G. Hunnings, who was born on August 2, 1871, at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the daughter of March and Victoria (Vandergrift) Hunnings. To this union were born two children, Alice Gertrude, born on September 16, 1905, and March Benjamin, born on November 28, 1907, but who died seven days later. Mrs. Davis is active in local church and club-work, being a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and of the Ladies' Reading Club.

Transcribed from History of Hancock County, Indiana, Its People, Industries and Institutions by George J. Richman, B. L., Federal Publishing Co., Indianapolis, Indiana, 1916. Pages 1136-1138.

Submitted by Sylvia (Rose) Duda, Laingsburg, MI November 28, 2001.

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