Jefferson A. Davis

JEFFERSON A. DAVIS, M. D., who is a prominent and influential citizen of Kansas City, Kansas, has been engaged in practice here for about eleven years and has risen to high favor among the citizens, enjoying a representative and high class patronage. He has lived in the Mississippi Valley district during practically his entire life and is thoroughly imbued with the progressive spirit and advanced thought of the western country and the present day civilization. He is thoroughly equipped for his profession and up-to-date in his methods of practice and research, so that what he may lack in years of experience he makes up in modern science and skill.

Dr. Davis was born in Marion county, Missouri, the date of his nativity being the 7th of March, 1863, and he is a son of Paris and Mary (Simpson) Davis, the former of whom was born in the state of New York and the latter of whom was a native of England. The father was a farmer during the greater part of his active career, and when the dark cloud of Civil war cast its pall over the national horizon he enlisted as a soldier in the Confederate army, serving with all of faithfulness and gallantry as such until he was taken prisoner by the Federal forces and locked up in the United States prison at Alton, Illinois, where he sickened and finally died, in 1863. The devoted wife and fond mother passed to the life eternal in July, 1907. Mr. and Mrs. Paris Davis were the parents of five children, of whom the doctor was the youngest in order of birth. He received his elementary education in the public schools of Quincy, Illinois, and later, having decided upon the medical profession as his vocation in life, he entered the Keokuk Medical College, at Keokuk, Iowa, while subsequently he attended and was graduated from the medical department of the University of Kansas. He located at Kansas City, Kansas, in the year 1900 and in very short order succeeded in building up a large and lucrative patronage, which he enjoys today and which has increased with the passage of years. He is a member of the Wyandotte County Medical Society and of the Kansas State Medical Society.

On the 21st of September, 1891, Dr. Davis was united in marriage to Miss Mary O'Brien, who was born and reared in Quincy, Illinois, and who is a daughter of Pat and Elizabeth (Farris) O'Brien, both of whom are now deceased. Dr. and Mrs. Davis have two children, Loretto, whose birth occurred on the 26th of September, 1892, and Jefferson W., born on the 1st of November, 1894. Both children have received excellent educational advantages, the son is in his second year in high school, and Loretto is attending St. Mary's in Leavenworth, Kansas.

In politics Dr. Davis endorses the cause of the Democratic party and while he has no aspirations for public office of any description he is deeply interested in the well being of this city and contributes liberally of his aid and influence to that end. In 1905 he was appointed police surgeon of Kansas City by Mayor W. W. Ross, and he continued the efficient incumbent of that office for a period of two years. In 1909 he was elected county coroner, serving in that capacity with credit to himself and his constituents until 1911. In a fraternal way his affiliations are with Robert Booker Lodge, No. 406, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Quincy, Illinois; Wide Awake Lodge, Knights of Pythias; and Wyandotte Lodge, No. 440, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Dr. Davis is very public spirited and has in many ways assisted in the upbuilding and advancement of the city where he has made his home for so many years.