website watertownhistory.org
ebook History of Watertown, Wisconsin
Joseph
E. Davies
1901
07 04 Joseph E. Davies speaker at Fourth of July celebration
1902
01 10 The Milwaukee Journal of a recent date contained the following dispatch from Racine: "J. E. Davies, of Watertown, who soon will deliver an address on “Wales and Her Future” at the Eisdetefod held in this city, is one of the best known orators among the younger lawyers of the state. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin and also of the university law school. During the last two years spent at the university Mr. Davies was assistant gymnasium instructor and before entering on those duties he was granted a six months' leave of absence to visit the gymnasiums of the east. At present he is practicing law in Watertown. Mr. Davies is an ardent admirer of his native country and has spent considerable time in Wales." WG
1911
07 06 Leaves for England
Joseph E. Davies of
Madison will sail from Montreal, Canada, on the White Star line steamer on
Saturday next for London, England, where he will transact business for about
two months for a number of his Pacific coast clients. While abroad he will pay a short visit to
Wales and possibly to the continent of Europe.
WG
07 27 Joseph E. Davies for National Committeeman
That Joseph E. Davies, chairman of the democratic state central committee, now in Europe on a business mission, will be a candidate to succeed the late Timothy E. Ryan of Waukesha as a member of the national committee, is not doubted by his friends here. Throughout the state, too, account has been taken in the councils of the faithful of the probability that Mr. Davies would seek the honor. He will return soon and no doubt will at once make known his attitude upon the question. As chairman of the state committee Mr. Davies has taken a progressive stand and in the councils of the party has proven a leader of commanding and exceptional ability. Several prominent democrats in the state have proposed that it would be wise for the state central committee to call a conference of democrats to be held soon, to forget personalities that have entered into contests of the past and select a man for the national committee who has stood for the things that fully 90 per cent of the democrats of Wisconsin stand for, and one of large acquaintance. –Madison Democrat. WG
08 17 Writes from London
Joseph E. Davies
writes the editor from London, England:
“It has been my good fortune to be here in the midst of the
constitutional crises, that means a revolution in the constitutional history of
England. It is wonderfully interesting
and instructive.” WG
08 24 Met English Statesmen
Chairman J. E. Davies of the Democratic State Central Committee declares he enjoyed his European trip this summer very much indeed. While in London Mr. Davies met Lloyd George, John Burns and others of the coalition statesmen and had several talks with them. An uncle of Mr. Davies was formerly a member of parliament. Mr. Davies was greatly impressed with John Burns. The confusion in parliament, Mr. Davies says, is greater than any other legislative body in this country. At times, he says, there is not even a semblance of order. WG
08 24 Joseph E. Davies is Elected National Democratic Committeeman
J. E. Davies, Madison, was elected member of the Democratic National Committee from Wisconsin at the meeting of the Democratic State Central Committee held at the Plankinton, Milwaukee, Wednesday afternoon. Mr. Davies immediately tendered his resignation as chairman of the State Central Committee . . . Mr. Davies was elected by a vote of 20 to 2 on the first formal ballot . . . As an evidence of their feeling toward the retiring chairman, the members of the State Central Committee presented Mr. Davies with a gold-headed cane . . . Mr. Davies, after expressing his thanks for the gift and paying a tribute to others who had been spoken of in connection with the office to which he had been elected, said there was no factionalism in the party as was proven by the vote on state chairman. “I want to say to you,” said Mr. Davies, “that one year ago you turned over into my keeping the honor of the democratic party of the state. I turn the honor of the Democratic party back to you as pure and unsullied as when I received it.”
The selection of Joseph E. Davies as Democratic National Committeeman is a compliment most worthily bestowed, and we feel confident that our Joe will compare most favorably with the representatives on that committee from the other states of the union, in ability, affability, honesty and fair mindedness in everything political. The people of Watertown, Joe’s old home and birthplace, are particularly delighted over the selection, and The Gazette joins his hosts of friends here in extending hearty congratulations. WG
09 14 Mrs. Joseph E. Davies, 418 North Livingston Street, will be
hostess at luncheon Friday. Among the
guests will be Mrs. Davies’ mother and sister, Mrs. J. H. Knight and daughter,
Miss Pauline, who leave soon to spend the winter in Chicago. Miss Knight has just returned from an extended
visit in Oshkosh, and Mrs. Knight from Elkhart, Ind., where she was a guest of
her daughter, Mrs. Percy Cochran. WDT, reproduction of article from
Madison Democrat
1876 Nov. 29 Born, Watertown, Wis.
Joseph E. Davies as a young man
c1888, with mother
Rachel 
1898 A.B. degree, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis.
1901 LL.B degree, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis.
Graduated in law at UW in 1901,
president of senior law class, commencement orator at graduation
1902 Married Emlen Knight
1902-1906 State's attorney, Wisconsin
1906
1909
03 05 Joseph E. Davies, en route Chicago-Portland; what a wonderful country WG
1910 Joseph E. Davies
Elected Chairman
04 22 Joseph E. Davies of Madison was elected chairman of the democratic state
central committee to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of former
Chairman H. H. Manson of Wausau, which was tendered at a meeting of the
committee held in the Plankington clubroom in
Milwaukee last Wednesday night. But two
candidates were placed in nomination for chairman, Mr. Davies and Frank E.
Walsh of West Allis. There were no
nominating speeches and but one ballot was taken, Mr. Davies received seventeen
out of twenty-one votes cast, and Mr. Walsh received four.
The
selection of Mr. Davies is a most excellent one, for he is one of the ablest
democrats in the state, a good organizer, and a man of the best character. Watertown democrats are particularly well
pleased with his election, this being his old home. The Gazette wishes him success in the office of state chairman. WG
1912 Chairman, western headquarters, Democratic Party campaign
04 11 Joseph E. Davies will Organize West for New Jersey Governor. Madison, Wis., April 10. — Joseph E. Davies, democratic national committee-man of Wisconsin, has taken charge of the western headquarters of the Woodrow Wilson campaign at Chicago at the request of William F. McCooms of New York and Senator Gore, in general direction of the Wilson supporters.
Davies will organize the Wilson forces of the entire west and will
launch the fight in Nebraska, where primaries are to be held soon, in a few
days.
Commenting on the result of the Illinois election, Mr. Davies declared that the anticipated victory in Pennsylvania will more than offset the Illinois defeat. The Illinois campaign, he stated, had been restricted entirely to publicity effort, and no Wilson workers were [went] to the polls. WG
1913-15 United States commissioner of corporations
1915-16 Chairman, Federal Trade Commission
1918 Economic adviser to President Woodrow Wilson, Versailles Peace Conference, Versailles, France
1935 Married Marjorie Post
1936 Vice chairman, Democratic National Committee
1936-38 Ambassador to the Soviet Union
1937 
Sag Harbor, NY resident Mia Grosjean has researched and expertly restored images from family photo albums back to 1937, when her grandfather, Joseph E. Davies, served as the U.S. ambassador and special envoy to the Soviet Union. The mostly black-and-white images depict a bygone era, when Mr. Davies and Ms. Grosjean’s mother, Emlen Knight Davies, stayed at Spaso House, the Moscow residence of American ambassadors to Russia.
1937
03 15 Time Magazine March 15, 1937, cover story: “RUSSIA:
Babbitt Bolsheviks.”
Ambassador Joseph E Davies and wife
The new U. S. Ambassador to the U.S.S.R. and Mrs. Joseph Edward Davies had definitely hit their stride in Moscow.
1938-39 Ambassador to Belgium and minister to Luxembourg
1939-41 Special assistant to Cordell Hull in charge of war emergency problems and policies
1941 Chairman, Franklin D. Roosevelt's inaugural committee
Published Mission to Moscow. New York: Simon and Schuster
1941
Re: Octagon House: "The Board of Directors was often
plagued with the question of what constituted good repairs. Were the porches a part of that pressing
need? As early as June 1940, Architect George Fred Keck offered to draw
plans for the porch restoration project.
A year later a five hundred dollar donation accompanied blueprints for
the restoration of the verandas. These
funds were made available from the Honorable Joe. E. Davies, Ambassador to
Belgium and Russia." - John Richards: The Hill and The Mill, page
99.
1942-46 Chairman, War Relief and Control Board
1943 Special envoy with rank of ambassador to confer with Joseph Stalin
1945 Chairman, Franklin D. Roosevelt's inaugural committee
Special envoy with rank of ambassador to confer with Sir Winston Churchill
Special adviser with rank of ambassador, Potsdam Conference, Potsdam, Germany
1946-47 Vice chairman, President's Committee to Study Universal Military Training
1951 Installed
into Phi Delta Phi, the UW law fraternity.
1955 Scholarship Recognition Dinner
1955
(06 25) Joseph E. Davies, the 78-year-old Watertown-born
diplomat and international lawyer, has made his will and has set aside his
palatial estate in Washington, D.C., for the federal government to be used
either as a future official residence for United States Vice Presidents or as a
graduate school for students of international affairs. Davies disclosed these
facts at his home in Washington Saturday night and the news was carried in
press dispatches in Sunday's newspapers. He recently visited in Watertown,
meeting many of his old friends and classmates. The estate includes a 20-room
mansion in which he has entertained some of the world's most noted personages
during his residence in Washington. He has occupied the home for the past 20
years.
1956
05 18 1956
Visit to
small store in small town
09 27 1956
Joseph E. Davies, Watertown-born former U.S.
ambassador to Russia, has sent a check to the sisters who operate St. Joseph's Home for the Aged in Watertown. Mrs. Bertha Voss, a resident at the home,
said she read an article in the Times some months ago about Mr. Davies' plans
to turn over his Washington estate to the Federal government as an official
residence for vice presidents and that this inspired her to write to Mr.
Davies. She suggested that if he wished
he could do some good by helping the “good sisters who operate this home in
Watertown.” He wrote back asking to whom
he has to make out the check and Mrs. Voss replied to his inquiry and today the
check was received.
1958
05 09 Death of Joseph E.
Davies, May 9, Washington, D.C.
Joseph E. Davies, 81, Watertown-born former ambassador
to Russia and international conference maker for three Presidents, died at his
home in Washington, 3029 Klingle Road, early this
morning. He passed away in his sleep,
having been gravely ill for some months.
He suffered from low blood pressure and recently had been confined to
bed with around the clock nursing care.
In addition to serving as United States ambassador to Russia from 1936
to 1938, he served as ambassador to Belgium and minister to Luxembourg from
1938 to 1939.
08 08 Scholarship securities
transferred to Merchants National Bank WDT
1959
02 03 Marjorie Post,
second wife of the late Joseph E. Davies, married former Watertown resident,
Herbert May WDT
05 14 Tregaron, Washington estate, sold; proceeds to Joe
Davies Scholarship Foundation WDT
Wisconsin – Its Story
and Biography, 1848-1912,
by Ellis Baker Usher, Vol VIII, 1914.
HON. JOSEPH E. DAVIES.
In the wonderful success gained by the Democratic party
in the presidential election of 1912, there flashed suddenly into public notice
the name of Joseph E. Davies, of Madison, Wisconsin, a young attorney, a member
of the law firm of Aylward, Davies, Olbrich and Hill. In
1913 President Wilson appointed Mr. Davies to the responsible position of
commissioner of corporations. Prior to
the Democratic Convention at Baltimore, Mr. Davies was but little known outside
of his native state, but his activities in the securing of the nomination of
Woodrow Wilson in that body, and his subsequent invaluable services in behalf
of his party, brought his name into nation-wide prominence, and as western
manager of the Democratic campaign he was given a large share of the credit for
the great landslide of 1912 which swept all before it. Mr. Davies has had a remarkable career. In little over ten years of time he has risen
from the ranks of unknown lawyers to the head of his profession and to an
undisputed position as a force in national politics, and this through the force
of his own personality, his indomitable perseverance and inherent qualities of
character which have come down from a long line of sturdy forebears.
Mr. Davies' father was a blacksmith in Wales and came to the United
States in 1840, when still a young man, taking up his trade in Indiana. Later he joined the Welsh colony in southern
Wisconsin, settling at Watertown, and when he was forty years of age he was a
retired wagon manufacturer of that place.
The mother of Mr. Davies was of Welsh and Norman French extraction, the
daughter of a barrister, and at the age of twenty-two
was an ordained minister. She is
probably more widely known under her nom de plume, Rahel
o Fon, among the Welsh people, than any other woman
of her nationality in this country. She
came to America on a lecture tour at the request of the combined Welsh
religious societies in America, but her tour stopped at Watertown, for it was
there that she met and married Mr. Davies.
Joseph E. Davies received his early education from his mother at home,
and subsequently attended the public schools of Watertown, graduating from the
high school as valedictorian of his class in 1894. The same year he entered the University of
Wisconsin and was elected president of the freshman class, and four years later
finished the letters and science course and at his graduation was both
class-day and commencement orator and was awarded special honors on his thesis. While still a student at the University of
Wisconsin, he was made athletic instructor.
In the following year, while a student in the law school, he was one of
the winning team in the Illinois Wisconsin Intercollegiate debate. He graduated in law in 1901, having been
president of the senior law class, and was commencement orator at graduation,
and the year following was made temporary chairman of the Democratic State
Convention. It may be said that he
entered law and politics at the same time, his ability as an orator helping him
in both. He commenced the practice of
his profession at Watertown, where he remained for five and one-half years, and
during four years of this time acted in the capacity of district attorney of
Jefferson county.
Since settling in Madison, he has been a member of the firm of Aylward, Davies, Olbrich and
Hill.
In May, 1910, Mr. Davies was made
permanent state chairman of the Democratic party in
Wisconsin, and after the death of the Hon. T. E. Ryan, he was elected to the
Democratic National Committee, being the youngest member of the national
committee of either of the big parties.
He subsequently became secretary of that body, and its treasurer
pro-tem. It was in consideration of his
long time friendship for former Governor Wilson and William H. McCoombs that Mr. Davies took charge of the Democratic
campaign in the middle and far west. The
following excerpt from the New York
Herald of July 3, 1912, is a fair expression of the impression made by Mr.
Davies in the convention at Baltimore.
"When the break came this afternoon and the
National Convention joined in a wild rush to nominate Governor Wilson, two
young men on the speakers' platform observed the development without any
special display of interest, although it meant that they were just budding into
national prominence as politicians. They
were William H. McCoombs of New York, and Joseph H.
Davies of Wisconsin, who managed the entire Wilson campaign and piloted their
candidate to victory."
In 1902 Mr. Davies was married to Miss Emlen
Knight, daughter of Colonel J. H. Knight, of Ashland, Wisconsin, and they have
two children.
Mr.
Davies is still in the fullness of his strength with the best years of his
career before him, and it will be interesting to note just how far this young
son of Wisconsin will go. If the
accomplishments and successes of the past may be taken as a criterion of the
future, high honors await him.
Cross References:
Praise of, by Ralph Blumenfeld
1905, Milwaukee-Watertown Club, Homecoming Day
Davies, Joseph E, Attorney,
Davies and Mulberger, 1906, cartoonist drawing, WDT,
WHS_005_443
Joseph
Edward Davies Papers: A Finding Aid to the Collection in the Library of
Congress
Russia Beyond the Headlines:
An
American in Moscow, 1937-1938
LINK
TO LIFE MAG ARTICLE [ article begins on page 87
