William Davis

Info from Phil Davis dated July 2007: (son of William's son, Russell.)

From what my father, Russell, told me that growing up they lived in a number of different places so Grandpap could work in the coal mines. These places were in Mount Pleasant Township, Trauger and Rainey (Rainey was a coal patch near Hecla). In Fayette County they lived in Allison and Ada which are communities in the Brownsville, Uniontown area. Grandpap Davis worked 41 years in the mines from the time he was about 12 years old. When the Great Depression struck times were hard and many of mines closed. He finally secured work with the WPA (Works Progress Administration) building roads. And later he worked for the Remington Rand Company in Elmira, NY for 16 years. He finally retired around the age of 74 or 75 and returned to live in Mount Pleasant. I remember that Grandpap was a great Baseball fan. In my mind I can see him with his transistor radio and hearing aide both turned up listening to the Pittsburgh Pirates. I was told that he played a lot of baseball as a youth and that his position was catcher. He always caught barehanded and this is why his fingers were stoved. I also remember him being nearly blind by the time he passed away.