John D. Davis, Newton, Illinois, 1910

Inscription reads:
"Kedron school
John Davis
Teacher"

On December 8th, 1910, the students of the Kendron School in Jasper County, Illinois, gathered for a photo. Beside them stands their teacher, a young man who doesn't look much older than some of his pupils.

The young teacher is John D. Davis. He was born in Newton, Illinois, on October 9th, 1892, to parents George and Naomi Davis. He had two older sisters, Ethel and Margaret, and one younger, Agnes. There was also one older brother, Rollie, who died at age 8 in 1893.

In 1910, 17-year-old John was teaching at the local Kedron School, seven miles west of Newton. His 14-year-old sister, Agnes, was likely one of his students. By 1917, 24-year-old John was employed by the office of the Chief Nursery Inspector as a stenographer and clerk. 

His career was put on hold when the U.S. entered the First World War. John served in France as a sergeant in the United States Army Ambulance Service (USAAS). Many of these ambulance drivers were college students, graduates, and university faculty. The assignment was a dangerous one; 182 enlisted soldiers in the USAAS were killed in action or died of wounds, while 320 others were wounded or gassed. 

John returned home from France on May 19th, 1919. In the 1920 Census, John is living with his parents while attending university. Unfortunately, I do not know which school he attended or what he studied there.   In the 1930 Census, a man who may be the same John D. Davis is living in a boarding house in Cartersville, Illinois, working as a coal miner. He is listed as "married," though I can find no evidence that John ever married.

John's father, George, died in 1937. By 1940, John and his now-80-year-old mother were living together in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Census lists no occupation for John, though it notes his residence in 1935 as Panama City, Panama. I wish I knew what he was doing there! His 1942 WWII registration card does not reveal much else. He had by then returned to his hometown of Newton, Illinois, with his mother. His employer is listed as "self." 

Naomi Davis died in 1949 at age 89. There is little record of John's later life. He passed away on June 8th, 1975, at age 82 and was laid to rest in Riverside Cemetery in Newton. Though John had no children of his own, his niece Anna Mae Warfel (daughter of his sister Margaret) applied for his military veteran headstone. 

If you know who this may be, let us know in the comments!