Webster Davis

Webster Davis (June 1, 1861—1923) was a Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri from 1894 to 1895 and was the Assistant Secretary of the Interior in 1897-1898.

He was born in Ebensburg, Pennsylvania. In 1868 his family moved to Chillicothe, Missouri and then to Gallatin, Missouri where his father began a shoemaking operation.

In 1881 he moved to Chicago, Illinois where he was a lamplighter. In 1884 he attended the University of Kansas and became a lawyer initially practicing in Garden City, Kansas and becoming active in the Republican Party. After graduating from the University of Michigan Law School he moved to Kansas City where he unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 1892.

After his successful run for mayor he was appointed by President William McKinley as Assistant Secretary of the Interior. [ [http://vintagekansascity.com/menwhomadekc/davis_webster.html Webster Davis ~ Men Who Made Kansas City ] ]

He was forced to resign after a 1898 visit to South Africa when he sympathized with the Boers. Unable to get a plank supporting them in the Republican Party Platform, he switched to being a Democrat. He wrote a book about the Boer War entitled "John Bull's Crime: Or, Assaults on Republics" which was published in 1901 [The entire book is available on print.google.com]

He is buried in Elmwood Cemetery. [ [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/davis9.html#0SE0ZBHD9 The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Davis, U to Z ] ] [http://www.historickcelmwood.org/biosd.html#2]

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