Letter: Do you know the history of Mount Davis?
I was encouraged to see an article of local interest, written by Brian Whipkey, in a recent edition of the Daily American. The article focused on Mount Davis, the highest point in Pennsylvania.
John Nelson Davis was my maternal great-great-grandfather, born to Nelson and Sarah (Baker) Davis on April 8, 1835, in Elk Lick Township. According to the "History of Bedford and Somerset Counties Pennsylvania, With Geological and Personal History: Volume III," he worked for various people in his teen years in exchange for shoes clothing and books.
After attending school in West Salisbury he began teaching school at Keim's Sawmill and later became school superintendent. Oct. 24, 1862, Davis enlisted in Company K, 171st Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry of the Civil War.
Soon after being discharged he was appointed statistician for Altoona. During this time he became a surveyor and was recognized in the court of Somerset County land office and a few years later was appointed to lay out the streets of Salisbury.
On June 28, 1861, John N. Davis was married to Dinah Schrock and raised a family living in a log house on Mount Davis. In 1865, Davis was baptized in the German Baptist Church, Summit Mills.
I grew up hearing stories about the Davis family, living on the mountain where bobcats, panthers and wolves also existed. According to these stories, encounters with these animals were sometimes very close calls and dangerous.
According to a story in the third volume of the Casselman Chronicle from 1967, there were two large doors on either side of a massive stone fireplace inside the Davis home. The location of these doors and a ground floor allowed large fireplace logs to be dragged in by a horse. The Davis sons would then push the log onto the grate.
According to the Casselman Chronicle, Vol. LII, 2002, Mount Davis was named and dedicated the highest point in Pennsylvania on June 18, 1921. There was a flag-raising ceremony by members of the Meyersdale Chamber of Commerce with more than 1,000 people in attendance. The Davis sons donated a white pine flagpole and Samuel J. Davis, oldest son, raised the American Flag while attendees sang The Star Spangled Banner. Descendants of the Davis family held family reunions for many years at the picnic pavilion.
Again, thank you, Brian Whipkey and the Daily American for your informative and interesting article.
James H. Galico
Somerset
This article originally appeared on The Daily American: James Galico letter about Mount Davis
