DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm just passin' it along. Now, every now and then you come across a man whose story makes you set down your coffee and just listen. William Owen Davis was that kind of man.
He was a Georgia native, born and bred, and when the war came he served in the Confederate Army. After the fighting was done, he turned to the law, and in 1870 he was admitted to the Georgia Bar. Could've stayed right there, built a quiet practice, watched the years go by.
But Davis had other ideas. He moved to Texas. Settled in Gainesville, right here in Cooke County.
And he didn't ease into things slowly, no. He was soon involved in local politics and civic life. The school board, for starters.
Then city Alderman. The man was building something, piece by piece. Then came the state Senate, where Davis served from 1882 to 1885.
A senator representing his adopted state, the one he'd chosen. That's a thing worth noting about a man from Georgia. But here's where the story takes a turn that makes you sit up a little straighter.
Davis kept going. Long after most men would've handed things off and found a porch to retire to, W. O.
Davis became Mayor of Gainesville. At age eighty-one. Eighty-one years old, and he was running a city.
And if that weren't enough, this prominent Cooke County attorney argued two cases before the United States Supreme Court. Not one. Two.
Georgia sent him into the world, and Texas got the best of him. Gainesville still carries a little of that.
What the marker says
Georgia native W. O. Davis served in the Confederate Army and was admitted to the Georgia Bar in 1870. He moved to Texas, settling in Gainesville, and was soon involved in local politics and civic life. In a long public service career, Davis served on the school board, as a city Alderman, and was a state Senator from 1882 to 1885. He later was Mayor of Gainesville at age 81. A prominent Cooke county attorney, Davis argued two cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. Recorded 1997