Timothy Davis (Iowa politician)

Davis was born in Newark, New Jersey to Sylvanus Davis and Polly (Carnes) Davis. After the War of 1812, lawyers from Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, and North Carolina, migrated to Missouri. Timothy Davis migrated to Kentucky in 1816 and passed the bar in 1817. Among the lawyers settling in Missouri was Timothy Davis, who came to Jackson, Missouri in 1818, where he lived for 18 months, later to relocate to St. Genevieve, Missouri. In 1818, his nephew, Greer W. Davis, who later became a prominent attorney on the Missouri circuit court, practicing law for 54 years. In 1823, he married Nancy Wilson, and together they had five children: Louis Valle, Wilson Scott, Mary Elizabeth, Emily, and Juliette. In 1827, he purchased land from August St. Marie, who had established a woodyard in 1809, and platted Ste. Marie's Landing, where he served as postmaster. He owned slaves. In 1836, he moved to Dubuque, where he established the Davis & Crawford law firm. He continued to practice until his partner died in 1849, at which point he took Frederick E. Bissell as a law partner In 1838 he built a saw mill with George H. Walworth and Gideon Ford at the Buffalo forks on the Wapsipinicon River, the first settlement near Anamosa. == Elkader and The Elkader Flour Mill Company ==

In 1844, John Thompson purchased land on which a flour mill would later be erected (Today at the location of the public library at 130 N. Main St.). In 1845, John Thompson, along with Davis and Chester Sage, had the town of Elkader, Iowa surveyed, later to be platted on June 22, 1846. In 1856 Sage sold his interest in the Elkader Flour Mill Company to Thompson and Davis, who continued to operate the company. == Politics ==

Davis began his career in politics in St. Genevieve, Missouri where he practiced law and established the town St. Mary, Missouri. He won the November 1856 general election by defeating veteran ex-Congressman Shepherd Leffler, a Democrat who was the Second District's original representative. After completing his term, he resumed the practice of law and also engaged in business activities in Dubuque. == Later life ==

In fall 1857, after Nancy's passing, he married Jane B. O'Farrell with whom he lived until Sunday, April 27, 1872 when he died. He was on his front porch, having a lively discussion with John Thompson when he suddenly fell back in his chair, threw his hands up, and exclaimed "Oh!", immediately expiring. He was interred the following Tuesday at Elkader Cemetery. ==References==