Samuel Post Davis (April 4, 1850 – March 17, 1918) was an American journalist, politician, and historian. Though primarily a journalist, Davis also wrote poetry, plays, short stories, and humorous sketches. A

humorist A humorist (American) or humourist (British spelling) is an intellectual who uses humor, or wit, in writing or public speaking, but is not an artist who seeks only to elicit laughs. Humorists are distinct from comedians, who are show business e ...

, he was one of the writers from

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

associated with the

Sagebrush School The Sagebrush School was the literary movement written primarily by men of Nevada. The sagebrush shrub is prevalent in the state. It was a broad-based movement as it included various literary genres such as drama, essays, fiction, history, humor, ...

. He was born in

Branford, Connecticut Branford is a shoreline New England town, town located on Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut, New Haven County, Connecticut, about east of downtown New Haven, Connecticut, New Haven. The population was 28,273 at the 2020 United Sta ...

. With his

Episcopalian Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the l ...

priest father, Davis moved to

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, and

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. His early journalism jobs were in

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He moved to California with his father in 1872, and three years later Davis moved to

Virginia City, Nevada Virginia City is a census-designated place (CDP) that is the county seat of Storey County, Nevada, and the largest community in the county. The city is a part of the Reno– Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area. Virginia City developed as a boom ...

. Davis became the editor of the ''Virginia Chronicle''. In 1879, after the death of

Henry Rust Mighels Henry Rust Mighels (November 5, 1830 – May 27, 1879) was a US journalist and politician. A writer of the Sagebrush School, he was the editor and publisher of Carson City, Nevada's ''Nevada Appeal''. He was born in Norway, Maine. He served ...

, owner and

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

of the ''

Carson City Carson City is an Independent city (United States), independent city and the capital of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 58,639, making it the List of cities in Nevada, sixth largest ...

Nevada Appeal The ''Nevada Appeal'' is a twice-weekly newspaper published in Carson City, Nevada, by Pacific Publishing Company. The paper has sister publications across northern Nevada: *''Lahontan Valley News'' & Fallon Eagle Standard (Fallon, Nevada) *''N ...

'', his widow, Nellie Verrill Mighels Davis, became the publisher, and shortly thereafter, hired Sam Davis as her editor. She married Davis the next year, and he took over operations of the ''Nevada Appeal''. Davis also had a political career. He served as Deputy Secretary of State in 1895. He was elected Nevada

State Controller A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accountancy, accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior- ...

in 1898 and again in 1902. Five years later, he was appointed State Industrial and Publicity Commissioner. Davis and his wife had two daughters. He is buried at Lone Mountain Cemetery in Carson City next to his wife.

Partial works

* ''Short Stories'' (1886) * ''The Prince of Timbuctoo'' (1905) * ''History of Nevada'' (1913) * ''The First Piano in Camp ... A story. With an appreciation by Sam C. Dunham. With drawings by H. Fisk, etc.'' (1919)

Expernal Links

A Guide to the Papers of Sam P. Davis, NC587
Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Reno.
A Guide to the Sam P. Davis Correspondence, NC197
Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Reno.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Samuel Post 1918 deaths People from Carson City, Nevada Journalists from Nevada 1850 births People from Branford, Connecticut American humorists Writers from Nevada