Happy 139th Birthday, today, George Decatur Davis! George Decatur Davis was born December 14, 1875, in Maryville, Tennessee, and graduated from Maryville College. When he came to Cassville, Missouri, he planned to sell barbed wire fencing and teach school. There, on December 25, 1900, he married Frances Josephine Bayless and became the son-in-law of John Melville Bayless, builder of the Belvidere Mansion. The Davises moved to Claremore in 1901 to help establish the Bank of Claremore. The Claremore Messenger states, “His high character and integrity is recognized by all while his business judgment is so well regarded as to make his advice on such matters eagerly sought.” (1) G.D. Davis worked as the cashier at the Bank of Claremore, which was established by J.M. Bayless when Claremore was still Indian Territory. G.D. Davis served as President of Claremore’s Commercial Club, as President of the Oklahoma Bankers Association, and as a member of the Executive Committee of the American Bankers Association. One of the pillars of the First Baptist Church, he was active on the finance and building committees when a new building was built in 1914-1915. (3) Mrs. Evan L. Davis, Mary Ella, his daughter, writes, he was instrumental in organizing the Chamber of Commerce whose President he was several times; was a member of the Library Board, the Rotary Club, the Akdar Shrine and Knights Templar lodges. His paramount interest, beside his profession, was the growth and development of Claremore.” (2) We celebrate, today, the life of G.D. Davis, one of Claremore’s leading citizens of the early 1900s when Oklahoma was a brand new state. G.D. Davis died in Tulsa, Oklahoma, July 1943, and is buried beside his wife in the Bayless family plots of the Woodlawn Cemetery, Claremore, Oklahoma. (1) Williamson, F. E., editor. The Claremore Messenger. (Claremore, Indian Terr.), Vol. 11, No. 20, Ed. 2 Friday, May 19, 1905, Newspaper, May 19, 1905; (gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc178054/ : accessed December 03, 2014), Oklahoma Historical Society, The Gateway to Oklahoma History, gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (2) Davis, Mary Ella. “Davis-Bayless.” The History of Rogers County, Oklahoma. Claremore College Foundation, Copyright 1979. Selection 131. (3) Corley, Edna. The History of The First Baptist Church, Claremore, Oklahoma, 1891-1976. p. 59-60, 63-64. ~rice
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 19:53:43 +0000
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