| Notes |
- HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY (OXFORD)
Benjamin Bassett Davis, mayor of Oxford, is a native of Edgartown, on
the island of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, and was born on the 4th of
April, 1816. His parents were Zadock and Elizabeth Bassett Davis. He was the
third born of a family of nine children, five sons and four daughters, only
three of whom are now living. When Benjamin was three years of age the
parents, with their family, emigrated to the State of Ohio, and settled on a
farm, near the present hamlet of Warsaw, some five miles west of Cincinnati.
Here the elder Davis for a few years carried on a small tannery, but
relinquished this calling and gave his attention more fully to the cultivation
of his farm. In early life Mayor Davis had little, if any, advantages of
school education, but was of an active temperament and a quick, discriminating
mind. As he came to manhood, while busy assisting his father in the care of
the farm, the latter was removed by death, which event occurred in August,
1834. The son remained on the farm with the mother and the rest of the family
for several years thereafter. On attaining his majority, he espoused the
politics of the Whigs, and for many years was active in the local interests
of that party. He was for some nine years made one of the justices of t
peace in the township where he resided. August 6, 1836, he was married to Miss
Rhoda Cullom, who bore him seven sons and one daughter. In 1861 Mr. Davis took
up his residence in the city of Cincinnati, and having early espoused the cause
of the Republican party when it was organized, he was favored by an
appointment to the position of chief local agent in the post-office bla
department of the West, which was then located at Cincinnati. This position he
held with honor to himself and to the interests of the department for over a
year, when, the office being transferred to Buffalo, New York, he resigned his
position and accepted an appointment as superintendent of the local city mail
distribution, a position he held for nearly three years. While residing in
Cincinnati, January 23, 1865, he lost his wife by death. On the 21st of
February, 1867, he was married to Mrs. Sarah (Gath) Horsefall, then of the
city.
In March, 1868, Mr. Davis moved with his family to Oxford, Ohio, which
place has continued to be his residence since that date. Not long after
becoming a resident the community saw fit to elect him to the highest honor
which, as a municipality, it was in their power to bestow, and with so great
an acceptance have the responsible and often arduous and unpleasant duties of
the office of mayor been administered, that he has been repeatedly re-elected,
usually by large majorities, marking no special party distinctions nor lines,
so that his continued term of service in this capacity is now some thirteen
years, marked by only one interim of about three months. Mr. Davis was not
permitted for many years to enjoy the companionship of his wife, Sarah, as she
died on the 14th of May, 1871. On February 21, 1872, he was again married,
choosing for his third and present wife, Mrs. Elizabeth (Wright) Douglass. Of
the children born to the first Mrs. Davis four sons and a daughter are still
living. One of the deceased, Carlos, served as a volunteer in the late war
with much honor and credit, being mustered out of the service at Columbus at
the close, after some three years' enlistment. Mr. Davis has for many years
been a firm believer in the doctrines of the Universalists, and is warm
identified with this organization in Oxford. He is of a naturally quiet,
reflective turn of mind and has those qualities which are needful to make him
a good magistrate and officer of justice. In addition to his official duties,
Mayor Davis is now the proprietor of the "Girard House", on the corner of High
and Poplar Streets, which has recently been remodeled and the entire house
refurnished, making it now one of the most desirable tarrying places for the
traveler or pleasant home for the regular boarder, which can be found in the
county. Wilson, S., the oldest son, is now teaching in Washington, Indiana.
Albert G. is in the TIMES STAR office of Cincinnati. Merrill B., Alexis B.,
and Darwin F. are residents of Cincinnati also. Elizabeth, the daughter, now
Mrs. I.F. Williams, is a skilled music teacher just west of Cincinnati.
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Bassett Family Association Database
1816 - Deceased
d. 13 Jun 1873, Hamilton County, Ohio