Sidney W. Davis

Sidney W. Davis is numbered among the honored pioneer settlers of Le Sueur County, Minnesota. He has not only been an eye witness of its growth and development but has also taken an active part in its progress & has been a leading factor in the promotion of its material interests. His name is inseparably linked with its history, and in this volume he well deserves prominent mention.

Mr. Davis was born in Lower Canada, sixty miles from Montreal, June 11, 1825, a son of Orange R. and Adelaide "Barlow" Davis, who were also natives of Lower Canada. When our subject was eight years of age his parents removed to New York, spending the winter of 1837-8 at Sackett's Harbor.

In 1839 they emigrated to Pike County, Illinois, In 1853 the father came to Le Sueur County,

Sidney W. Davis is the second of their eleven children, seven sons and four daughters. All reached mature years and seven are now living, namely:

Sidney W. Davis spent the greater part of his school life in Pike County, Illinois, being educated in the primitive schools of that period. He assisted in the cultivation of the home farm until he had attained his majority, when he began farming on his own account in Pike County. He was married in 1846 to Miss Mary O. Pettis, of that county, a daughter of Stephen Pettis. They lived a happy married life until July, 1851, when Mrs. Davis died of cholera, leaving two children: Lillian, now wife of William McQuat, of Le Sueur county; and Hon. C. R. Davis, a prominent attorney at St. Peter.

In 1853 Mr. Davis came to Minnesota, settling in Le Sueur Co. He pre-empted a claim of one hundred and sixty acres, two miles east of Kasota, and with characteristic energy began the development of his land. For several years he successfully carried on general farming and stock-raising, and in 1857 removed to St. Peter, where he opened a meat market. His business steadily increased until it had assumed extensive proportions.

He not only had a large general trade, but also had a contract to furnish the meat for the State Hospital for the insane for a period of ten years, supplying about nineteen thousand pounds per month. In addition to conducting his store he was also largely engaged in buying and shipping live stock, sending many car-loads of hogs and cattle to Chicago annually.

When the time of his contract with the State Hospital had expired he sold his market and devoted his energies alone to the live-stock business as a member of the firm of Pettis & Davis, his partner being Alva Pettis, and they being the largest live-stock dealers in the Minnesota Valley. He also owns two hundred acres of valuable land, which he rents.

He is a man of excellent business & executive ability, possessed of sound judgment, keen discrimination and foresight. His efforts in consequence have been crowned with success, and although in earlier years he experienced the trials of pioneer life in Le Sueur County, he is now one of the substantial citizens of St. Peter.

Mr. Davis was again married in 1875, his second union being with Mrs. Lydia Cole, widow of Sylvanus Cole. They have in St. Peter a comfortable & commodious residence in the midst of pleasant surroundings. Mr. Davis served one term as County Commissioner of Le Sueur County, and was assessor for a number of years.

In politics he is a Republican, warmly supporting that party. He is also a prominent Mason, belonging to both the blue lodge and chapter of St. Peter.

Memorial Record of Southwestern Minnesota - 1897 - Lewis Publishing Company Chicago, Illinois

Nicollet and LeSueur Counties Volume II William Gresham 1916

Sidney W. Davis was fourteen years of age when his family located in the Pittsfield neighborhood and there he grew to manhood. In 1846 he married Mary Pettis, of Ohio, who died leaving two children, a daughter, Lillian D., who is now living in St. Paul, this state, widow of William McOuat, and Charles R., the immediate subject of this sketch. Following the death of his wife, Sidney W. Davis remained in Illinois until he came to Minnesota, in the early fifties, and preempted a tract of land in LeSueur county near Lake Emily and established a new home there, quickly becoming one of the dominant figures in the pioneer life of this section. Not long after arriving here Mr. Davis recognized the possibilities of the livestock business and presently became a large dealer in that line. At first he shipped dressed hogs to the Eastern markets, but as the development of the business led to other methods he began shipping live stock, and it was not long until he was recognized as the largest shipper between Sioux City and St. Paul. For the better convenience of his growing interests Mr. Davis, in 1867, moved to St. Peter and thereafter made that point his headquarters, making his home there the remainder of his life. In addition to his extensive livestock business, Mr. Davis had a hand in practically every enterprise of importance hereabout during the early days and for many years was regarded as a leader in the community life. He was also an extensive dealer in the grain line. During the Civil War he filled large contracts for supplies for the government and in all his enterprises prospered, eventually becoming a very well-to-do citizen. In all his dealings he was direct and straightforward and held the full confidence of the entire community, being held in the highest esteem by all.

Sidney W. Davis lived to a ripe old age; had witnessed the development of this favored region from its practically wilderness state to its present well-established condition and there were few men who had contributed more to the development than he, either in a social, civic or commercial way; so that at his death, in April, 1913, he then being eighty-seven years of age, there was sincere mourning throughout this whole region, for he had done well his part in the scheme of things in the great Northwest. His Uncle, Benjamin Davis, who remained on the home farm in Pike county, Illinois, attained national celebrity as the men who brought to its highest state of culture that popular pet of all pomologists, the "Ben Davis" apple, which takes its name from the man who first produced it.