Thursday, February 14, 2019

Dr. William M. Davis

I found a letter from a doctor living in in Hartford, William M. Davis, dated 16 Jul 1839, addressed to General Stephen Van Rensselaer III, a New York landowner, businessman, militia officer, and politician. Van Renesselaer graduated from Harvard and was active in New York politics, serving three terms in the US House of Representatives as a congressman from New York.  He was a Mason and served as GrandMaster of the Grand Lodge of New York from 1825 to 1829; since this letter is dated July 1829 we can speculate that the subject of the letter might have to do with ending his term as a congressman which ended March 3, 1829; there is also reference to "his son in Bogota" but the rest of the letter seems to be about General Van Rensselaer.

Dr. Davis is a bit of a mystery as I do not find him in the 1840 census for Ohio County.  Possibly these men became friends as classmates at Hartford or in military service. Perhaps one of you can shed some light on Dr. William M. Davis.





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