My Genealogy Hound

DR. JOHN DAVIS, for more than forty years a practicing physician at Pottstown, is one of the prominent citizens of that place. He is a native of an old Chester county family of Welsh descent and was born near Marshallton, January 19, 1833. He is the son of Aaron and Hannah (Woodward) Davis, who were both natives and almost lifelong residents of Chester county. They had five children, three of whom are now living, as follows: Dr. John Davis and Mary Elizabeth, wife of George Shenk, of Pottstown; and George W. Davis, of Philadelphia.

Aaron Davis (father) was a farmer by occupation. He lived three years in Montgomery county near the close of his life and died there in 1883, aged sixty-three years. His widow survived until June, 1902, and was ninety-four years of age at the time of her death. They inclined toward the faith of the Society of Friends.

John Davis (grandfather) was born in Chester county and was a farmer. His wife was Marjorie Hall, and they had five children. He lived to the age of eighty years.

Jacob Woodward (maternal grandfather) was a well-known resident of Chester county of English descent. He was a wheelwright. His wife was Lydia (Woodward) Woodward. He died at the age of seventy years. The couple had six children.

Dr. John Davis was reared on the farm in Chester county, attending the district schools of the neighborhood. He engaged in teaching school for seven years and in the merchandising in Marshallton for several more years. In 1859 he began studying medicine and in 1862 graduated from the Eclectic Medical College in Philadelphia, beginning the practice of medicine that year in Pottstown, where he has followed it continuously and very successfully since.

On August 26, 1858, he married Sarah A. Hoopes, daughter of Enos and Ruth Ann Hoopes, of Chester county. They had three children, of whom but one is now living, Helena, wife of Dr. Alfred Mullhaupt, of St. Marys, Elk county, Pennsylvania, where she, as well as her husband, is a practicing physician. They have two sons, Alfred and John.

Mrs. Sarah A. Davis died in September, 1865, aged thirty-five years. She was a Methodist in religious faith.

On March 5, 1867, Dr. Davis married (second wife) Elizabeth Missimer, daughter of James and Matilda (Reifsnyder) Missimer. They have had five children, of whom one is now living, Dr. William J. Davis, of Pottstown, who married Clara Linderman, they having three children, Florence, Helena and John. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1889.

Dr. John Davis and wife are members of the Methodist church. He is a steward in the church. Politically Dr. Davis is a Prohibitionist, being entirely opposed to the manufacture, sale and use of intoxicants.

He is one of the directors of the Ellis Keystone Agricultural Works, a director in the Pottstown Power, Heat & Light Company, a director in the Pottstown Security Company, and in the Guardian Building & Loan Association. He is a member of the Montgomery County Medical Society. Dr. John Davis stands high in the medical profession, his practice extending over a large section of Montgomery and Chester counties, adjacent to Pottstown. He is earnest, progressive and highly esteemed by all who know him.