From the Altoona Mirror, January 18, 1952.
During a long life that spanned the presidencies of Abraham Lincoln to Harry Truman, Tarring Spurgeon Davis was at the forefront of educational, political and religious doings in his native Blair County, Pennsylvania. A teacher for fifty years and a county school superintendent for three decades, Davis also devoted time to preserving the history of his county, editing the two-volume History of Blair County, published in 1931. A former chairman of the Blair County Republican committee, Davis earns a spot here on the site due to his service as a delegate to the 1928 Republican National Convention and his later candidacy for the Pennsylvania state senate on the Prohibition ticket. The son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Watson) Davis, Tarring Spurgeon Davis was born in Logan, Pennsylvania on January 16, 1863.
A descendant of a family that had first established roots in Pennsylvania early in the 18th century, Tarring S. Davis was a student in the "neighborhood schools" in Logan township and at age sixteen embarked on a teaching career, a vocation he would follow for the better part of sixty years. Davis would later study at the Pennsylvania state college and the Columbia University in New York, his dates of enrollment being unknown at this time. Tarring Davis married to Sarah Elizabeth McDowell (1862-1938) on July 4, 1889, in Altoona. The couple were wed for nearly fifty years and this marriage produced at least eight children, E. Grace (1890-1972), E. Margaret (1891-1943), Fred (born ca. 1894), Edna (1895-1981), Mary (1896-1933), J. Edgar (1898-1954), John T. (1900-1938), and Sarah (1903-1908).
Davis's teaching career in Blair County saw him employed at three different school buildings in Logan township and in the late 19th century arrived in Altoona, where he took on the post of principal for grade schools in the city. His service extended sixteen years, and in 1902 ran for and was elected to the post of Blair County superintendent of schools. His tenure as superintendent lasted over three decades, retiring at age 70 in 1933. During this long period of service, Davis was a member of both the Pennsylvania State and National Education Associations, and on three occasions he served as Blair County's delegate to the National Education Association's national convention. Further distinction was accorded to Davis when he was selected by Pennsylvania Governor Gifford Pinchot as a member of a "commission to make a survey of the rural schools in the state", and in addition to that role also was named to the examining boards of several Pennsylvania-based teacher's colleges.
From the Altoona Mirror, April 29, 1930.
Tarring Davis first entered the political life of his state in 1894, when he began a two-year stint as chairman of the Blair County Republican Committee. In 1928 he served as part of the Pennsylvania delegation to the Republican National Convention in Kansas City, Missouri where Herbert Hoover was nominated for the presidency. Following his service at that convention Davis underwent a change of political faith and joined the Prohibition Party, and in 1934 was nominated by that party for the Pennsylvania state senate from the 30th senatorial district. That November Davis polled 1,389 votes, placing third behind winning Republican candidate Charles Mallery.
A longstanding member and former president of the Blair County Historical Society, Tarring Davis dedicated a substantial portion of his life to chronicling the history of his native county, work that would culminate in the publication of the two-volume "A History of Blair County, Pennsylvania" in 1931. In addition to editing that work, Davis wrote on "the highways of the county and other phases of its history" and in May 1929 delivered an address in Mount Union, Pennsylvania on the "history of the Presbyterian church in the Juniata valley."
As a parishioner of many years standing in the Presbyterian church, Davis served as church moderator of the Third Presbyterian Church in Altoona and for an indeterminate period held the presidency of the Blair County Tuberculosis and Health Society. In 1925 he and his wife Sarah undertook an extended trip through the American west, and in addition to visiting 19 states also ventured into Canada, visiting three provinces in that country. Widowed in 1938, Davis never remarried following his wife's death and continued to reside in Altoona until his death at a hospital in that city on January 18, 1952, two days following his 89th birthday. He was survived by four of his children and was interred alongside his wife at the Rose Hill Cemetery in Altoona.
From the Altoona Tribune, January 19, 1952.
No comments:
Post a Comment