Biography

12/20/1831 - 09/12/1912

Captain William Tecumseh Davies (R23) Bradford and Wyoming Counties 1877-1884

Early Life: 

Captain William Tecumseh Davies, born December 20, 1831, Glamorganshire, Wales; son of David and Elizabeth Lewis Davies; public school education; valedictorian, Oswego Academy, 1853; teacher, principal; admitted Bradford County bar, 1861, attorney; captain, Civil War, 1862-1863; elected, Bradford County District Attorney, 1865-1868; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1877-1884; elected, Republican, 4th Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania, 1887-1891; married, Mary Watkins, 1861; died September 21, 1912 (age 80 years, 276 days) Towanda, Bradford County, Pennsylvania; Interment, Oak Hill Cemetery, Towanda, Bradford County, Pennsylvania.

Early Career:

Enlisted, private, Company B, 141st Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, August 22, 1862; promoted, Captain, October 8th but was retroactive to August 22; deployed for training and defense of Washington and saw action and at the Mud March, contracted typhoid fever, medical discharge, May 23, 1863. 

Pennsylvania Politics:

Elected Republican, District Attorney, Bradford County, 1865-68. 

Delegate, Republican, Republican National Convention, Exposition Hall, Cincinnati, Ohio, June 14–16, 1876.  

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 23rd district, Bradford and Wyoming Counties, 1877-1884; committee assignments, Judiciary General; member, Appropriations, Banks, Insurance, Judiciary General (Chairman) Legislative and Congressional Apportionment and Vice and Immorality. 

Unsuccessful candidate, State Treasurer, 1881. 

Unsuccessful candidate, Lieutenant Governor, 1882. 

Elected, Republican, 4th Lieutenant Governor with Governor James A. Beaver, 1886-1891.  

Legacy:

October 16, 1884, attended the first meeting of the Association of the Survivors of the One Hundred Forty-First Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers. Lieutenant Colonel Guy H. Watkins, of the 141st Pennsylvania Volunteers Infantry, was his brother-in-law, as he married his daughter, Mary Watkins. 

Cited:

Cox, Harold. "Senate Members D". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

Smull’s Legislative Handbook, (1883). Smull, W.P., (Editor) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pages 764, 770-772, Biographical Sketches of Senators, page 731.

Capt William T Davies (1831-1912) - Find a Grave Memorial