Webster Davis
American mayor (1861–1923)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Webster Davis (June 1, 1861 – February 22, 1923) was a mayor of Kansas City, Missouri from 1894 to 1896 and was the Assistant Secretary of the Interior from 1897 to 1898.
Webster Davis | |
|---|---|
| |
| 30th Mayor of Kansas City | |
| In office 1894–1896 | |
| Preceded by | William S. Cowherd |
| Succeeded by | James M. Jones |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 1, 1861 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | February 22, 1923 (aged 61) Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. |
| Party | Republican |
| University of Michigan Law School | |
Early life
Davis was born on June 1, 1861, in Ebensburg, Pennsylvania. In 1868 his family moved to a farm in Chillicothe, Missouri and then to Gallatin, Missouri where his father began a shoemaking operation. He worked on the farm, clerked in a store and worked in his shoemaking business.[1]
In 1881 Davis moved to Lake Forest, Illinois, where he was a lamplighter. He then returned to Gallatin, and resumed shoemaking and clerking.[1] In 1882 Davis became a copyist in the law office of Shanklin, Low & McDougal and studied law while he worked there.[1] In 1884 he attended the University of Kansas and became a lawyer initially practicing in Garden City, Kansas.[1]
Career
Davis became active in the Republican Party.[citation needed] After graduating from the University of Michigan Law School he moved to Kansas City, Missouri where he unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 1892.[1]
Davis was elected as mayor of Kansas City in 1894. In 1897, Davis was appointed by President William McKinley as Assistant Secretary of the Interior.[1]
He was forced to resign after an 1898 visit to South Africa when he sympathized with the Boers. Unable to get a plank supporting them in the Republican Party platform, he switched to being a Democrat.[1][2] He wrote a book about the Boer War entitled John Bull's Crime: Or, Assaults on Republics which was published in 1901.[citation needed]
He died in Kansas City on February 22, 1923,[2] and is buried in Elmwood Cemetery.[3][4]
