EDWARD H. DAVIS. The ancestors of Mr. Edward H. Davis came from Northumberland county, England, from which place three brothers of that name emigrated to America. Ephraim Davis, his great-great-grandfather, was born in 1697, and in 1720 settled at Concord (then called Pencook), New Hampshire, of which he was one of the original proprietors. His grandfather, David Davis, was a fifer in the American army during the Revolutionary war. His father, Robert Davis, was quartermaster-general of New Hampshire in 1834, and was postmaster at Concord from 1839 to 1845. Mr. Davis was born at Concord, New Hampshire, February 25th, 1821. His mother's name before marriage was Eliza Hall. In 1836 when sixteen years old, he went to Savannah, Ga., and learned the trade of a watchmaker in that city. In 1839 he returned to New Hampshire, and soon afterward came to St. Louis, where he had an uncle living. he found some difficulty in getting employment at his trade, and his acquaintance with John Cavender, in whose company he had come West, and who had laid out the town of bunker Hill, induced him to come to that part of macoupin county and go to farming. he arrived at Bunker Hill in November, 1839. October 5th, 1840, at the house of John Cavender, in St. Louis, he married Jane H. Cavender, daughter of Charles Cavender, who became a resident of Bunker Hill township in the spring of 1838.

In 1840 he bought land on Dry Fork, in the present Gillespie township, and after living there one year removed to Bunker Hill, in which part of the county he has since resided. Since 1852 he has lived on a tract of land adjoining the corporate limits of Bunker Hill. He is widely known throughout the county, and has filled a number of public positions. For seven years he acted as deputy-sheriff - two years under Sheriff Henry Tappan, one under Seymour B. Wilcox, and four under James T. Pennington. He was appointed postmaster at Bunker Hill by James K. Polk in 1845, and resigned after managing the office one year. Andrew Johnson appointed him postmaster again in 1868, and he held the office until Grant's administration. From 1862 to 1867 he was deputy county assessor.

In politics he has always been a democrat and has voted for every democratic candidate for President from the time he was first old enough to exercise the right of suffrage. he has twice been elected clerk of Bunker Hill township on the democratic ticket, though the township is strongly republican. he has twice been a candidate before the democratic county convention for the nomination of sheriff, and at the convention in 1876 was the leading candidate for twenty-one ballots. he has filled every official position he has occupied with fidelity and integrity, and has many friends in all parts of the county. He has nine children.