Lucy Ellen (
nickname "Nellie") Verrill was born in
Greenwood, Maine, on September 10, 1844. In 1866, she married
Henry Rust Mighels, owner and
editor of the
Nevada Appeal in
Carson City, Nevada. They had three sons and two daughters. In 1877 and 1879, Davis was the first woman to report to the state Legislature, which is located in Carson City. Their son, Henry R. Mighels Jr., eventually took over as editor of the
Appeal in 1898. Widowed at the age of 35, she hired
Samuel Post Davis, of the
Virginia Chronicle as her editor and she took the role of
publisher. She married Davis in 1880, and he took over operations of the
Nevada Appeal. They had two daughters. In 1897, she was the first woman to report a
prize fight (
Fitzsimmons/
Corbett) as
Nevada at the time was the only state in the US where prize fighting was legal. She was also the organizer and first state president of the American Red Cross in Nevada. ==Death and legacy==