Jacob G. Davies (1796-1857)
MSA SC 3520-12473
Biography:
Jacob G. Davies was born on May 20, 1796, to Sarah (Glen) and John Davies (or Davis), a wealthy family in Baltimore City. He had one sister, Elizabeth Glen Davies, who married John Skinner. John Davies died in November 1798, when Jacob was just two years old. In 1801, Davies's mother, Sarah, married Theodorick Bland (1776-1846), who later served as Chancellor of Maryland; they had two children, William and Sarah. [1]
During the War of 1812, Davies began a long career of military service. Beginning in the spring of 1813, he served as a private in the American Artillerists company in the First Artillery Regiment of Maryland Militia, commanded first by Captain Edward Woodyard, and later by Richard Magruder. In April and May 1813, Davies was part of a contingent performing guard duty at Fort McHenry, and he remained with the unit during the Battle of Baltimore in September 1814. Not long afterward, Davies received a commission as a third lieutenant in the Second United States infantry regiment. He held that rank from December 1814 to June 1815, when he resigned from the army. [2]
Over the next few years, Davies lived the life of a wealthy young man in Baltimore, making a lengthy tour of Europe, and establishing himself as a prosperous merchant and businessman. He married Mary Betts on September 18, 1821, and they had four children: Solomon (d. 1860), Florence (1838-1888), Sally, and Emilie. Davies served with a militia cavalry company, the City Horse Guard, becoming a captain in 1837. He held that rank until 1842, when he was named the colonel of the Fifty-Third Regiment of Maryland Militia. [3]
In addition to his career as a business man, Davies was active in civic life in Baltimore. He was named to the Board of Directors of the Maryland Penitentiary in 1830, and remained a member for more than a decade. Davies was also a prominent supporter of the Hibernian Society for many years, which provided aid to immigrants from Ireland, serving as one of the managers and as vice president of the organization. [4]
Davies was active in the Democratic Party, and was elected mayor of Baltimore City in 1844. He was reelected in 1846, and remained in office until 1848. As Wilbur Coyle wrote in his history of the mayors of Baltimore, during Davies's terms:
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company’s Locust Point extension was constructed. The Cross Street and Richmond Market houses were completed and two similar structures at Belair Market and one at Fells Point, or Broadway, Market were begun and finished. Iron bridges were placed over Harford Run (Central Avenue) at Canton Avenue (Fleet Street) and over Jones Falls at Fayette and Madison Streets. This run and Jones Falls now flow through sewers or conduits. The Eastern District watchhouse, Bank Street near Broadway, was completed and one in the Southern District was erected. Two schoolhouses were built—a Western Female High School at the southwest corner of Fayette and Greene Streets and a grammar school. A smallpox hospital was constructed on the south shore of the Patapsco River. The site of Franklin Square was purchased, graded and improved. Plans for the City to carry its own insurance were discussed.
Ordinances for opening Eager Street from Canal (Central Avenue) to North Street (Guilford Avenue) and Charles Street from Eager to North Avenue; also for widening Broadway, between Baltimore and Monument Streets, were approved. Authority to acquire a site for the House of Refuge ... and to accept the site of Union Square; also to place bridges over Schroeder’s Run at Fayette Street near Schroeder and across the same stream at Pratt Street near Arlington Avenue were passed. Schroeder’s Run is now completely enclosed. An Act of Assembly of 1845 provided for dividing Baltimore City into twenty wards. This necessitated increasing the number of members of the School Board by the appointment of a member from each ward. In March, 1845, the law was changed so that elections were held the second Wednesday in October and the date of beginning of Mayor’s term was the second Monday in November. [5]
In the years after he was mayor, Davies maintained a public profile. He remained colonel of the Fifty-Third Regiment until he stepped down in 1852. In 1853, he was named postmaster of Baltimore City by President Millard Fillmore. Davies held that post, a political patronage position, until April 1857. He died a few months later, on December 7, 1857. His funeral was a grand event attended by many people, including several militia units, members of the Hibernian Society, political officials, the clerks and letter carriers of the Baltimore post office, and many others. Davies was buried at St. Paul's Cemetery in Baltimore City. [6]
In the course of his life, Davies owned several enslaved people. The 1840 census shows three enslaved individuals in the Davies household. He also manumitted an enslaved man named George Wills in 1827. By 1850, Davies appears to have had no enslaved people. [7]
Notes:
1. "Death of Col. Jacob G. Davies," The Sun, 8 December 1857; Baltimore County Register of Wills, Wills, Will of John Davis, liber 6, p. 142, CM188-6; "John Stuart Skinner," FindAGrave; Wilbur F. Coyle, The Mayors of Baltimore (Reprinted from The Baltimore Municipal Journal, 1919), 73-75; "Death of Solomon B. Davies," The Sun, 27 June 1860; Baltimore City Register of Wills, Wills, Will of Sarah Bland, 1854, liber 26, p. 124, CM219-3.
2. William M. Marine, The British Invasion of Maryland, 1812-1815 (Baltimore: Society of the War of 1812 in Maryland, 1913), 262; Francis B. Heitman, Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army, 1789-1903 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1926), 1:358 as "Jacob Davis"; Baltimore City Archives, War of 1812 Records, Muster roll, Edward Woodyard's Company, First Regiment of Artillery, April-May 1813, HRS 803, BRG22-1-4-1-6; Adjutant General, Military Papers, Muster roll, Richard B. Magruder's company, First Regiment of Artillery, 1814, box 11, item 18, S926-7; John Skinner to James Monroe, recommending Jacob G. Davies for a commission, 12 October 1814, US Adjutant General, Letters Received, RG 94, National Archives and Records Administration, via Fold3.com.
3. "Death of Col. Jacob G. Davies"; Baltimore County Court, Marriage Licenses, 1815-1823, 1821, no. 258, p. 216, CM174-4; U.S. Federal Census, 1850, 10th Ward, Baltimore City, Maryland; "Mary Florence Davies Murdoch," FindAGrave; "Military," The Sun, 29 September 1837; "Elected," The Sun, 6 September 1842.
4. The Sun, 11 February 1830; The Sun, 28 January 1839; "Oliver Hibernian Free Schools," The Sun, 7 September 1840; "Meeting for the Relief of Ireland," Baltimore Daily Exchange, 30 December 1846; "Anniversary Festival of the Hibernian Society of Baltimore," The Sun, 19 March 1851.
5. Coyle, 73-75; "Democratic Convention," The Sun, 23 March 1852.
6. "Military Resignation," The Sun, 28 June 1852; "Baltimore Appointments," Cecil Whig, 2 April 1853; "The Baltimore Appointments," The Sun, 30 March 1857; "Death of Col. Jacob G. Davies;" "Funeral of Col. Jacob G. Davies," The Sun, 10 December 1857.
7. U.S. Federal Census, 1840, Ward 7, Baltimore City, Maryland; Baltimore County Court, Certificates of Freedom, WG 38, p. 17, C290-2.
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