DAVIS Jesse Wright, youngest son of Capt. William, was the only son remaining at home at the death of his father in 1843, and much of the care of the farm devolved upon him. In October of that year he met with a serious accident in a grist-mill, having been caught by his clothing on a revolving shaft which carried him rapidly around, breaking and crushing his lower limbs and feet in a shocking manner. His physicians on consultation thought best to remove his right leg, but he with characteristic decision said to them as he drew his finger across his throat "if it must come off take it off here," and seeing him fixed in his opposition they yielded. In six months he was able to walk with the help of crutches and a few weeks later resumed his accustomed labors.
In 1851 he built a trading boat and went into mercantile business. Later he bought a farm in Mason Co., West Virginia not far from the Ohio River and in partnership with his nephew Walter Davis, opened a general store, which they continued successfully two years. In 1863 he bought a farm in Edgar County, Illinois, and there began farming and stock-raising, in which he has been very prosperous, and now owns three hundred and fifty acres of land, besides a handsome estate at Paris where he resides.  He has been a county supervisor and for several years school director, and is held in esteem by his fellow townsmen.

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History Of Marietta And Washington Co., Ohio, M. R. Andrews (1902),

Contributed by: Eliz Hanebury

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