W. W. H. Davis, Doylestown, Bucks County

First, happy capital day to the city of Lancaster! As you may remember, it was on this day in 1777 that Lancaster became the capital of the United States... and lost the designation one day later. The Founding Fathers, having taken refuge in Lancaster as the British captured Philadelphia, decided to put the Susquehanna River between themselves and anyone who might be pursuing them, and relocated the capital to the city of Yorktown (now just called York). 

I couldn't quite decide what to write about for this week's quest, so I put up a poll for the blog's Facebook followers and asked them to make the choice for me. Much to my surprise, it ended in a tie, which was no help to me at all! So I resorted to that time-honored method of making a decision, flipping a coin, and the result is today's post. (If you voted for one of the other two options, don't worry - they'll both be appearing in October.) Join me for a look at the life of one of Bucks County's most celebrated sons - a veteran of two wars, prolific author, and prominent Doylestown resident.

The marker stands in front of the former
Davis home at 62 East Court Street

For whatever reason, our subject this week is usually referenced by his initials. As my longtime readers might have noticed, I'm a bit of a goofball, and it amuses me that WWHD can also stand for "What Would a Historian Do?" It's apt, because that's exactly what he was.

William Watts Hart Davis is rather a mouthful, so I guess I can't blame him for preferring his monogram. But we'll call him William for the purposes of the post. He was born in Southampton, Bucks County on July 27, 1820, the son of John and Amy (Hart) Davis; as far as I've been able to determine, he was their only child. John himself had attained the rank of Major General of the Pennsylvania Militia during the War of 1812, so William likewise becoming a soldier of distinction was not surprising.

As a young man, William studied at the Doylestown Academy and later a boarding school in New Jersey; he graduated in 1842 from Partridge's University and Military School in Norwich, Vermont. He worked as a math instructor for three years at a military academy in Virginia, but then left in 1846 to enlist in the Mexican-American War. He first served as a private in the First Massachusetts Infantry, but by the end of the year he was named first lieutenant of Captain Crowningshield's Company. He held that rank until mustering out at the end of the war in July 1848.

Over the next dozen years, William enjoyed a peaceful but busy life. He worked as a journalist and a lawyer, and married Anna Carpenter, who was twelve years his junior. He was sent to the Territory of New Mexico from 1853 to 1857, where he variously served as a district attorney, attorney general, acting governor, and superintendent of Native American affairs. He and Anna welcomed their first child, Jacob, during their final year in New Mexico, and returned to Bucks County by the time their second child, Margaret, was born in 1860.

And then, of course, that whole Civil War thing happened. Like many Pennsylvanians, I don't doubt that the Davises heard with horror about the three-day disaster that was the Battle of Gettysburg. Living more than 200 years later, I sometimes find it hard to believe that something that awful happened in our beloved commonwealth, so I can only imagine how it must have seemed to people living here at the time. The Battle of Gettysburg took place during the first three days of July in 1861, and a little over a month later, William received permission to assemble hs own regiment of infantry to join the Union Army. A camp was established outside of Doylestown, public meetings were held to rally the people, and speeches were made to stir up patriotism. The first company of the 104th Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers was mustered into service on September 6th. William was given the rank of Colonel; John W. Neilds was Lieutenant Colonel and John M. Gries was Major. The public domain photo of William seen here is undated, but probably was taken after the war; I borrowed it from my good friends at the Historical Marker Database.

The volunteer regiment was highly regarded in Bucks County, and their neighbors went to great lengths to ensure that the men had as many comforts as they could possibly arrange. Ladies in Doylestown worked together to create a silk flag for the regiment, and Governor Andrew Curtin came in October to present them with the Pennsylvania colors. The Bucks County Bible Society distributed a copy of the New Testament to each member of the regiment, and a considerable field library was provided by citizens for the enjoyment of the soldiers when they weren't on active duty. Before William left the family to accompany his regiment to Washington, Anna was pregnant with their third child.

The movements and activities of the regiment over the years of the war were extensive, and I won't get into them all, but there's a link in the sources section where you can read about them if you're curious. Among their activities, they served as honor guards for the funeral of General Frederick Lander, who died of pneumonia in March 1862; the funeral was attended by President Lincoln himself. They participated in the Siege of Yorktown, the Battle of Williamsburg, the assault on Fort Wagner, and many other assorted skirmishes and operations before finally being mustered out at the end of the war on August 25, 1865. By that time, William had been awarded the rank of General.

William returned home to be introduced to his second son, John, who was born in 1862; unfortunately, he lived only a few years and died of dropsy (heart failure) in 1868. A second daughter, Eleanor, joined the family in 1870. One of my sources claims that William and Anna had seven children, but I was only able to confirm the existence of these four. They moved into a beautiful red brick home on Court Street in Doylestown, seen here, where William and Anna spent the rest of their lives; she died in 1881. As far as I can tell, neither Jacob nor Eleanor ever married, though Margaret did and had at least one daughter, named for her mother. The Davis family home still stands on Court Street in Doylestown, but it remains a private residence to this day and is not open to the public.

In his post-war life, William became a prolific author. He wrote ten books, all of them about history. Some were related to his own family; he delved into the genealogy of his mother's lineage and wrote a biography of his father. He also wrote a memoir of his time with the 104th Regiment, a history of the Fries Rebellion, and a history of the Doylestown Guards. Possibly his most-referenced work is his A Genealogical and Personal History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, published in 1905. He was regarded as the county's chief resident historian, especially because in 1880, he led the group which established the Bucks County Historical Society. Together with a number of friends (including a 23-year-old enthusiast named Henry Chapman Mercer), he laid the groundwork for the organization which today preserves the history and culture of Bucks County and the surrounding Delaware Valley. 

William died on December 26, 1910, having reached the ripe old age of ninety and having lived in Doylestown for more than fifty years. He and Anna are buried in the Doylestown Cemetery near their son John; son Jacob and daughters Eleanor and Margaret are buried not far away in the same grounds. He's honored for his military service, and remembered as 'the patron saint of Doylestown' for having given the gift of history to generations.

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Sources and Further Reading:

Lavo, Carl. "How W. W. H. Davis, 'the patron saint of Doylestown,' became a Bucks County legend." The Bucks County Courier Times, July 28, 2022.

Dyer, Frederick H. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion Compiled and Arranged from Official Records of the Federal and Confederate Armies, Reports of the Adjutant Generals of the Several States, the Army Registers, and Other Reliable Documents and Sources. The Dyer Publishing Company, Des Moines, Iowa, 1908. Reproduced at PA-roots.com.

Official website of the Bucks County Historical Society

Official website of the Civil War Museum of Doylestown

William Watts Hart Davis at FindAGrave.com

W. W. H. Davis at the Historical Marker Database 

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Except where indicated, all writing and photography on this blog is the intellectual property of Laura Klotz. This blog is written with permission of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. I am not employed by the PHMC. All rights reserved.