William Columbus Davis (August 5, 1867 – October 4, 1934) was the
11th Lieutenant Governor of
Alabama from 1927 to 1931. A
Democrat, Davis served Governor
Bibb Graves
David Bibb Graves (April 1, 1873 – March 14, 1942) was an American Democratic politician and the 38th Governor of Alabama 1927–1931 and 1935–1939, the first Alabama governor to serve two four-year terms. He successfully advanced progress ...
of the same political party.
A native of
Rara Avis, Mississippi, in Itawamba County, Davis moved as a young boy with his parents just across the state line to Marion County, Alabama. He was the son of Samuel McGee Davis, born April 26, 1844 in Gwinnett County, Georgia, died September 27, 1933 in Marion County, Alabama, and Emily Jane Lacy, born September 23, 1844 in Alabama, and died February 4, 1925 in MarIon County, Alabama. Both parents are buried at Providence Cemetery in Itawamba County, located north of Tremont and along the state line with Alabama.
In 1890, Davis relocated to
Hamilton, Alabama
Hamilton is a city in and the county seat of Marion County, Alabama, United States. It incorporated in 1896 and since 1980 has been the county's largest city, surpassing Winfield. It was previously the largest town in 1910. At the 2020 census, ...
in 1890 to practice law after years of teaching public school in
Mississippi. Two years after moving his law practice to
Jasper, Alabama, Davis was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in 1891. In addition to his time in the House, Davis served as a solicitor of the 14th Judicial Circuit, a chairman of the Congressional Committee, and a member of the Alabama State Committee.
His son, William Columbus Davis, Jr., 1910–2003, was a distinguished Latin Americanist scholar. He established the Latin American Studies Program and taught at The George Washington University for decades. Later he held the Latin America Chair at the National War College for ten years. The younger Davis wrote ''The Columns of Athens'', ''The Last Conquistadores'', and ''Warnings from the Far South''.
References
*Alabama Department of Archives and History, Official and Statistical Register, 1927, 22.
ADAH Alabama Lieutenant Governors ''William C. Davis''. (October 18, 2006) Retrieved on November 12, 2006.
External links
Lieutenant governors of Alabama
1867 births
1934 deaths
People from Iuka, Mississippi
People from Jasper, Alabama
Democratic Party members of the Alabama House of Representatives
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