Mr. and Mrs. N. R. Davis, well known and most highly respected Barry couple, are today receiving congratulations from hundreds of their friends and acquaintances, the event being the fiftieth anniversary of their marriage. The affair is entirely informal and folks of all walks in life are visiting the Davis home during this afternoon and evening to shake hands with the bride and groom of fifty years ago, the large number attending the affair again proving the high respect in which Mr. and Mrs. Davis are held by their friends. Mr. and Mrs. Davis were married on September 28, 1877. Mr. Davis will be 72 years of age next February. He was born on February 25, 1856, in Barry. His father, Samuel C. Davis, was the first male child born in Pike county. The mother of Mr. Davis was Clara Hart before her marriage.

Mrs. Davis was born on November 5, 1857, at the home of her parents west of Barry. Her father was Peterson Jennings and her mother, Cornelia Lippincott Jennings. Mrs. Davis will be 70 years of age in November. Mr. and Mrs. Davis have a son, Dr. C. J. Davis, of Webster Groves, Mo., and a daughter, Mrs. Pearl Ware, of this city. Also one granddaughter, Miss Ellen Elizabeth Davis, of Barry.

N. R. Davis and his beloved wife have lived all their lives in Barry, with only one exception, this being the 1889 when Mr. Davis took part in the homestead rush in Oklahoma. At that time he obtained 100 acres of land in that state, holding it until about two years when he sold his holdings there. The couple has always been identified with the welfare and progress of Barry. They are active members of the Barry M. E. church. Mr. Davis was postmaster of Barry for five years under the Cleveland administration, has been alderman of the city several terms, his first term being at the age of 21 years. He has also served on the board of education at different times and was supervisor of Barry township for many years, being relieved from that office only after his positive refusal to hold it longer. Mr. Davis is an active member of the Masonic lodge and with his wife have membership in the Star lodge, in which Mr. Davis has served as Worthy Patron for some twenty-five years.

On June 23, 1917, Mr. Davis, together with A. L. Kiser and Dr. W. E. Shastid, was appointed as a member of the Pike County Exemption Board, being named clerk of that organization. The Board was in almost continuous session from that date until the time of being mustered out on March 31, 1919. The organization was, during its existence, almost overwhelmed with work and few citizens of the county realize the tremendous efforts required of Mr. Davis and his co-workers to handle the various situations then coming up during those strenuous times. The business career of N. R. Davis has been an active one. He was connected with his father’s general merchandising store when a young man. He was in the hardware business in Barry from 1890 to September 1, 1930, having worked as a clerk in the store of George and John Wike. John Wike bought out his brother, George in 1893, and the same year Mr. Davis bought out John Wike and continued to run the business until 1911, when he sold it to Royalty Brothers. The latter conducted the business until 1914, when the Davis Hardware Co., was organized and of which Mr. Davis was manager until September 1, 1920.

Since retiring from the hardware business Mr. Davis has put away most of his time in at home, where he takes great pride in gardening and the growing of flowers. He is an enthusiastic in these lines and has originated a large yellow pepper, called the “Golden Giant.” The big seed concern of John Lewis Childs, of New York, now handle the seed of this plant, which is known the country over. Mr. Davis is at present originating a large apple, which he has not named as yet. In a few years it is expected that the new apple will mature into a fine variety of fruit. Strawberries are also a hobby of Mr. Davis and he is cultivating the berries with a view to a new and better variety. Mr. Davis has always been unusually attached to members of her family and her chief aim in life has been to make them ideally happy and contented in a home that simply radiated comfort and good cheer. One glance at her picture taken fifty years ago, as a young bride, reveals a face lovely to look upon and another glance at the likeness taken at this time shows now marked difference, happiness and contentment are still plainly stamped upon those amiable features.

While her husband was engaged in business in addition to representing the public in many matters of interest and importance, she kept all of his spare hours full of joy for just being in the presence of a dear lovely woman like Mrs. Davis is a joy. The Davis home, in which she takes so much pride, has always been open to everyone, and a visit there explains why they are so happy. One look about the rooms which speak of the touch of the hand of a fine, good woman makes one want to go again. She has always been eager to help those in need and she is never happier than when doing a good deed or speaking a word of comfort when she thinks that it is needed and her intuition never leads her astray when she surmises something is amiss although no word is spoken, and she has a way peculiar to herself, of letting one know that they may depend on her if they need a friend.

Mrs. Davis has always been active in the work of the Sunday school and other church societies, as well as being a member of the Eastern Star lodge. She mingles among her friends and neighbors but she has always been more or less of a home-body, doing hundreds of little thoughtful acts for her husband and children, who in turn dearly love her. It will be no surprise to the citizens of Pike county that he hundreds of friends and acquaintances of Mr. and Mrs. Davis are greeting them this afternoon and evening at their beautiful home on their Golden Anniversary, wishing them many more years of prosperity and happiness.

Contributed by Margaret Rutledge