Chester A. Davis (1872 - 1929)

Born 14 Mar 1872 in Lane, Oregon, United States

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 2 Jun 1929 at age 57 in Pleasant Valley, Multnomah County, Oregon, USA

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Biography

Chester was born in 1872. He grew up in Cottage Grove, Oregon. Following the breakup of his parents’ marriage, he and his brother, Elmer, were raised by their grandmother, Lucinda Hall, in Saginaw, Oregon.

In 1893, guardianship matters were settled. There was a $1000 life insurance disbursement from his father’s estate. After support fees were paid, he had $834.35. From the money, he bought a show place and called it Davis Hall. There were various uses for Davis Hall. Once it showed the play, Ben Hur. On Dec 22, 1894, there was a Sunday School Christmas program at 7 PM, admission: 15 cents, children: 10 cents. On Jan 1, 1895, the Ladies Cumberland Christian and Methodist had a supper in the evening. The Webber Dramatic Company was soon to put on a play, with a note that first class theater companies skip the small towns (like Cottage Grove) because want a higher profit. In Feb 1899, Chester sold Davis Hall to O. S. Martin and father, and made a few hundred dollars profit. They soon changed the name to Martins Hall. It continued to hold plays, boxing matches, dances, and lectures.

On Jan 30, 1899, “Changed Hands - Monday Frank Goodman sold his cigar and confectionary store on Main Street to Mr. C. Davis. Mr. Goodman expects to remove to Eugene in the near future. Mr. Davis, the new proprietor, is one of Cottage Grove’s popular young men and his many friends predict for him a successful business career. Success to him.”

The following months, it appears that Frank Goodman is still operating the store. So, it is unclear about whether the deal fell through.

On March 24, 1899, Chester went to Portland on business that day.

Chester Davis and family moved from Cottage Grove to Portland sometime after 1902. They first moved to Portsmouth, and then, the St. Johns area, then later to Lents area. His brother, Elmer, was already in Portland by 1901. The earliest Chester is found in the Portland directories is in 1911 when he was a laborer who lived at 1564 Ida (later numbered as , 7440 N. Ida, now, Google StreetView (accessed Aug 15, 2021) shows it to be a Fred Meyer parking lot).

From at least 1913 till 1929, when he died, Chester and family lived in Lents Addition, in the east edge of what was Portland (At least, in the 1920’s, at 10111 57th Ave. SE, which became 10111 SE Reedway St.). From at least 1921 on, he was a fireman or engineer at the Portland Heating Company. This was explained by my dad, Ed Davis, Chester’s son, as a steam heating plant in Portland on NW Westover Road. He would commute by streetcar from his home in SE Portland.

There were several other locations where Chester and family lived. They shared the house of the Borges farm out near Gresham, Oregon for a while. There was a small commercial building on the north side of Foster Rd. in Portland where the family lived in the 1940’s after Chester died.

He passed away in 1929 of a heart attack while working in the yard, an acreage south of Gresham, Oregon.

Sources

• Find-A-Grave

• Year: 1910; Census Place: Portland Ward 10, Multnomah, Oregon; Roll: T624_1287; Page: 14A; Enumeration District: 0242; FHL microfilm: 1375300

• Year: 1920; Census Place: Portland, Multnomah, Oregon; Roll: T625_1501; Page: 13B; Enumeration District: 89

• ”Pleasant Valley Man Passes Suddenly Away”, Gresham Outlook, Jun 7, 1929

• The Morning Oregonian, Jun 3, 1929, p. 13

• Oregon Journal, Jun 3, 1929, p.19

• Polks Directory for Portland in the early 1900’s editions

• personal recollections from my father, Ed Davis

• Lane County, Oregon, court records for the guardianship of Chester A. Davis, March 10, 1893

• Cottage Grove Echo-Leader, 1894-1895

• Bohemia Nugget, Cottage Grove, Oregon, 1899-1900