Webster Davis (June 1, 1861 – February 22, 1923) was a mayor of Kansas City, Missouri from 1894 to 1896 and was the Assistant Secretary of the Interior from 1897 to 1898.

Webster Davis
30th Mayor of Kansas City
In office
1894–1896
Preceded byWilliam S. Cowherd
Succeeded byJames M. Jones
Personal details
BornJune 1, 1861
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
DiedFebruary 22, 1923(1923-02-22) (aged 61)
Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Alma materUniversity of Michigan Law School

Early life

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Davis was born on June 1, 1861, in Ebensburg, Pennsylvania. In 1868 his family moved to a farm in Chillicothe, Missouri and then to Gallatin, Missouri where his father began a shoemaking operation. He worked on the farm, clerked in a store and worked in his shoemaking business.[1]

In 1881 Davis moved to Lake Forest, Illinois, where he was a lamplighter. He then returned to Gallatin, and resumed shoemaking and clerking.[1] In 1882 Davis became a copyist in the law office of Shanklin, Low & McDougal and studied law while he worked there.[1] In 1884 he attended the University of Kansas and became a lawyer initially practicing in Garden City, Kansas.[1]

Career

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Davis became active in the Republican Party.[citation needed] After graduating from the University of Michigan Law School he moved to Kansas City, Missouri where he unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 1892.[1]

Davis was elected as mayor of Kansas City in 1894. In 1897, Davis was appointed by President William McKinley as Assistant Secretary of the Interior.[1]

He was forced to resign after an 1898 visit to South Africa when he sympathized with the Boers. Unable to get a plank supporting them in the Republican Party platform, he switched to being a Democrat.[1][2] He wrote a book about the Boer War entitled John Bull's Crime: Or, Assaults on Republics which was published in 1901.[citation needed]

He died in Kansas City on February 22, 1923,[2] and is buried in Elmwood Cemetery.[3][4]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Creel, George; Slavens, John (1902). Men Who Are Making Kansas City. p. 34. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Webster Davis is Dead in K. C." Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune. Kansas City. February 23, 1923. p. 13. Retrieved December 29, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Davis, U to Z
  4. ^ http://www.historickcelmwood.org/biosd.html#2
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Political offices
Preceded by Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri
1894–1896
Succeeded by