Maude Repellin Davis

DAVIS-Maude Bouvier. Died New York City, Friday, August 20, 1999. Beloved wife of the late John E. Davis. Cherished mother of Maude Sergant Davis and John Hagy Davis. Devoted twin of the late Michelle Bouvier Putnam. Memorial service at St. Thomas More Church, 65 East 89 Street, New York City, Thursday, August 26 at 11 AM. Interment private at Woodlawn cemtery. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in her memory to Cabrini Hospice, 227 E. 19 St., NYC 10003. Sister of: Edith Bouvier Beale(Grey Gardens)

Sources:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/39616958/maude-reppelin-davis

"United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MKT1-4XZ : accessed 3 March 2019), Maud R Bouvier in household of John V Bouvier Jr., Nutley Ward 3, Essex, New Jersey, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 203, sheet 13B, family 259, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 881; FHL microfilm 1,374,894.

Twin sister of Michelle Bouvier.

MAUDE R. BOUVIER TO WED JOHN DAVIS

Twin Sister of Mrs. Henry Clarkson Scott to Marry Stock Broker Sept. 3

Mr. and Mrs. John Vernou Bouvier Jr. of 521 Park Avenue gave a small dinner last night at their home to announce the engagement of their daughter, Miss Maude R. Bouvier, to John. E. Davis, son of Mrs. John H. Davis of 24 Washington Square and Ridgefield, Conn., and the late Mr. Davis. Miss Bouvier is the twin sister of Mrs. Henry Clarkson Scott, the former Miss Michelle Bouvier. She attended the Spence School and was graduated from Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Conn. Miss Bouvier is a member of the Junior League, the Daughters of the Revolution, Colonial Dames and the Daughters of the Cincinnati.

Miss Bouvier is the sister of John Vernou Bouvier 3d, whose engagement to Miss Janet Norton Lee, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Thomas Lee of 750 Park Avenue, was announced recently. Mr. Davis was graduated from Princeton University with the class of 1921. He is a member of the Union Club and the Princeton Club of New York. He is a member of the New York Stock Exchange and of the firm of Billings, Olcott & Co. Mr. Davis is a half brother of the late Countess Howe of London, the former Miss Flora Davis, who before her marriage to Lord Howe was the widow of the Marquis of Dufferin and Ava. He is the brother of R. Neville Davis, who married Miss Priscilla P. Chisholm, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. B. Ogden Chisholm, and of Basil H. Davis.

Mr. and Mrs. Bouvier and the members of their family will go to East Hampton next week, where the wedding will take place on Sept. 3 at Lasata, their summer place.

[The New York Times, NY, June 1, 1928]

"On a stormy Labor Day in 1928, she married stockbroker John E. Davis in Lasata’s large living room. The scene is described in “The Bouviers,” one of many books written by her son, John H. Davis. “Maude remembers that just as she said, ‘I do,’ the sun streamed through the great French windows,” he wrote. Then, the wedding party went onto the terrace where a jazz band played the Charleston. Bridesmaids and ushers bobbed to the beat, he wrote, while sister Michelle, the matron of honor, led the dancing like a high-stepping Rockette. After her marriage, her interests turned to civic and charitable work in New York City, often involving hospitals. During World War II, Davis served as a “gray lady,” helping wounded soldiers returning from Europe. She was also a longtime volunteer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital. From 1928 until 1998, she spent most of her summers and autumns in Ridgefield, a town she deeply loved. After renting various houses, she and her husband eventually bought 17 East Ridge, a large Victorian next to today’s East Ridge Middle School.

Among the summertime visitors to the Davis home was her young niece, Jacqueline Bouvier, and the Davises were often a part of Bouvier and Kennedy gatherings. Maude Davis attended the wedding, inauguration and funeral of John F. Kennedy. She remained in the East Ridge house until the death of her husband in 1966 when she bought a much smaller place on New Street that had previously belonged to Metropolitan Opera star Geraldine Farrar (Farrar had called the place “Butterfly,” after Madama Butterfly, the opera in which she had starred with Enrico Caruso). She was an expert golfer and, with her husband, was among the founders of Silver Spring Country Club. Over the years she was also active in the Ridgefield Garden Club, serving a term as its president. For many years she fought to keep the town beautiful. For instance, in 1973, when she discovered that a road widening project on Peaceable Ridge had resulted in the cutting of many dogwoods, she wrote The Ridgefield Press, decrying the work and calling for more care in highway planning. “In the spring when the dogwood was in bloom, right here in Ridgefield we had our own Greenfield Hill,” she wrote, referring to the location of the famous Dogwood Festival in Fairfield. “The dogwood has to rank high on everybody's list [but] one more lovely dogwood-lined road has bitten the chain-saw dust.” As Davis grew older she sold Butterfly and would stay instead at The Elms Inn on Main Street until she became too frail to do even that. In 1999, “shortly before she died, she expressed a fervent wish to see Ridgefield again,” said her son John. Arrangements were made to have her stay in an inn and to celebrate her 94th birthday at the Silver Spring Country Club. But by the time of her birthday, she had become too weak to make the trip from New York City. “She died peacefully in her New York apartment after her desire to go to Ridgefield one more last time was thwarted,” John Davis said.

Sources:

http://www.naturegeezer.com/2018/03/p.html

Her children:

1.) John H. Davis (June 14, 1929-Jan. 29, 2012) author and historian

2.) Maude Davis

Bio:

http://www.naturegeezer.com/2018/03/p.html