RICHARD G. DAVIS.
New Haven has enjoyed a period of notable growth
along business lines and among those who have been active in advancing
its commercial expansion is Richard G. Davis, who is at the head of the
firm of R. G. Davis & Sons, wholesale and retail dealers in flour,
grain, feed, hay and other products. He was born in Guilford, Connecticut,
July 27, 1850, and is a son of Daniel L. Davis, who was also born in Guilford,
as was the grandfather, Joel Davis. The family is of Scotch origin and
was planted on American soil by Benjamin Davis, who came from Scotland
early in the seventeenth century and settled at Southould on Long Island.
James Davis, the son of Benjamin Davis, was born there May 28, 1726, and
in 1776 removed with his family to Guilford. He valiantly espoused the
cause of the colonists in the struggle for independence and was wounded
at Point Rock. He served as a private under Captain Sage, of Middletown,
Connecticut, and after the close of the war was granted a pension of twenty-five
dollars and twenty-five cents per annum. In early life he became a sailor
and followed seafaring while living on Long Island. He afterward took up
carpentering and became a house joiner, serving a regular apprenticeship
to that trade during the period of the Revolutionary war. Subsequently
he continued to work in that line until his demise. Daniel L. Davis, father
of Richard G. Davis, took up the occupation of farming and also engaged
in mechanical pursuits, building houses, working at the wagon maker's trade
and doing other kinds of labor that called for mechanical skill and ingenuity.
The same spirit of patriotism which prompted the enlistment of his ancestor
in the Revolutionary war led him to join the Union army, with which he
served as a drummer of Company E, First Connecticut Regiment. Illness,
however, soon forced him to return home. He married Lucy Ann Griswold,
a native of Guilford, Connecticut, and a daughter of Joel and, Polly (Bartlett)
Griswold, both representatives of Connecticut families of English descent
which were early established in the new world. Both Mr. and Mrs. Daniel
L. Davis have passed away. The former, who was born July 1, 1820, died
in 1896 at the age of seventy six years, while Mrs. Davis departed this
life in 1904 at the age of eighty-four years. In the family were two children,
Richard G. and Theodore L., both living in New Haven.
Richard G. Davis had the usual experiences
of the farm-bred boy, being reared on the old family homestead, the summer
months being devoted to the work of the fields, while during the remainder
of the year he pursued his education in the public and high schools of
Guilford. When a youth of nineteen he severed home ties in order to start
out in life independently. After serving an apprenticeship of three years
at the carpenter's trade he began work as a journeyman and was thus employed
for three years. On the expiration of that period he began contracting
and building on his own account and continued in that field of labor for
a year. On the 1st of December, 1876, however, he entered the commercial
field as a retail dealer in flour and feed at No. 538 Grand avenue. While
his capital was small and he had to establish the business on a limited
scale, he has since developed his interests until he has now the largest
retail feed business in the state. His present plant at Nos. 353-357 East
street includes the office and warehouse, while the elevator and mill are
at Nos. 552-556 Grand avenue. The latter building has a floor space eighty
by one hundred and thirty-six and a half feet, while the other building
is sixty-nine by one hundred and twenty-two feet. The company employs thirty
people and their trade extends throughout New England, Mr. Davis has admitted
his sons to a partnership and they are now actively associated with him
in the conduct of the enterprise. The firm is miller's agents for the "Ben
Hur" and "Jones Superlative" flours and they handle grain, feed, hay and
straw in addition to flour. Mr. Davis is also a director of the Second
National Bank of New Haven.
It was on the 19th of December, 1876, at Fairhaven,
Connecticut, that Mr. Davis was united in marriage to Miss Minnie R. Hemingway,
a daughter of Harvey F. Hemingway, and they have three children, Harvey
Hemingway, Louie L. and Jessie L. The eldest son has been associated with
his father in business for the past seventeen years.
Mr. Davis is a stalwart republican and for
three years he served as alderman from the fourteenth ward, being elected
to that position when the ward was annexed to the city He has taken an
active interest in politics and in civic affairs and his influence is always
on the side of progress and improvement. He holds membership in the Sons
of the American Revolution, his claim being established through his descent
in the maternal line from Captain Samuel Lee. Fraternally he is a Knight
Templar and a Scottish Rite Mason and his religious faith is that of the
Congregational church. He belongs to the Pilgrim church of New Haven, of
which for the past twenty years he has been deacon. His has been a useful
and well spent life and while he started out in the business world without
actual previous business experience, his well directed efforts have made
him a prosperous and influential merchant.
Modern History of New Haven
and
Eastern New Haven County
Illustrated
Volume II
New York – Chicago
The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company
1918
pgs 409 - 410
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