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From Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Rock, Green, Grant, Iowa and Lafayette Wisconsin, publ. 1901- page 819-920
THOMAS DAVIES, of British Hollow, Grant county, is not only a well-know pioneer but also one of the most highly esteemed citizens of the county. His birth took place March 1, 1821, at Alberffraw, Island of Anglesea, North Wales, where he passed his boyhood. When he reached his majority, in 1842, he decided to embrace the opportunities offered to young and ambitious men on the other side of the Atlantic ocean. Reaching America, he found his older brother, William, in Marion county, Mo., and there he remained for two years, in 1844, coming to Wisconsin.
Mr. DAVIES was educated in his native land, in the language of his own country, and one of the first necessities that he realized in his new home was that he must familiarize himself with the English language. This he determined to do, and accordingly went to Dubuque, Iowa, entered school, and soon after resolved that he would acquire other knowledge and embrace other advantages for culture. With this end in view he entered the Western Reserve College, in Ohio, eager, ardent and ambitious. Five busy years of mental training followed, and in 1855 he graduated with honor, and still cherishes his membership in the Phi Beta Society of his Alma Mater.
The marriage of Mr. DAVIES was celebrated on Sept. 12, 1859, to Miss Elizabeth LYONS, who was born in England Sept. 26, 1829, a daughter of John and Mary (JOHNSON) LYONS. In 1836 with her mother and sister, she had joined her father in Potosi, and at that time was but a child of tender years, of sensitive disposition and great intellectual capacity which, remarkable as it may appear, developed rapidly, although its environment was that of a rough mining town. As Mrs. DAVIES, under her pen name of "Aunt Lizzie," is so well known and admired through Grant county, a few words from the pen of one who knew well her early surroundings, will prove interesting:
"In June, 1836, the father sent for them (mother and daughters) to come to 'Snake Hollow,' as Potosi was then called. The place was then a mining point, and the father had obtained work there and had built, in anticipation of the coming of his family, a log cabin. At that time there were no churches or schools in the village, and the principal book that Aunt Lizzie had for perusal was the Bible that her mother had brought with her from the old home in England, - the Book for the mind, the conscience, the will and the life. It suits the palace and the cottage, the afflicted and the prosperous, the living and the dying. It is simple, yet grand; mysterious, yet plain; and though from God, it is nevertheless within the comprehension of a child. Her mother was the teacher, who taught her that there is God, and to love the Bible; and thus was laid the foundation of a Christian character that increased from childhood to womanhood, and into more advanced years In school she was unusually bright in her studies. She was finally offered a home with Rev. A. KENT, of blessed memory, at Galena, Ill. She was at this time sixteen years of age. She graduated from the Female Seminary, at Galena, in 1848, and then engaged in teaching the Girl's department of a public school in St. Paul, Minn., where she remained one year. Returning to Potosi she taught a school at this place for two years." Here ends the interesting record, without mention of one of the greatest possessions of this most estimable and lovable lady - that of a voice of wonderful sweetness, volume and capacity. In her youthful days she taught singing for a period, and at all times through life this delightful gift has been at the service of her friends, or ready to be used to further any Christian or benevolent enterprise. Mrs. DAVIES has long been affectionately known as "Aunt Lizzie," this being the signature to her newspaper articles since 1889. Her literary work has been all of an elevating character and she can truly say, with another author, that she has never written a word that dying she would "wish to blot."
Both Mr. and Mrs. DAVIES have always devoted themselves to religious work. Mr. DAVIES joined the congregational Church in Dubuque in 1848, and has been superintendent of the Sunday school at Potosi since 1855. They have a very pleasant home in British Hollow, and are honored and esteemed by all who know them.
This biography generously submitted by Carol Holmbeck