Archives West Finding Aid

Edward Gomer Davies was born July 5, 1843 in Llanidloes, Montgomeryshire, Wales, the son of David and Susan (Thomas) Davies. His father, David, was a woolen manufacture and also served as mayor of Llanidloes. Davies apprenticed as a druggist in Wales then immigrated to the United States in 1865, finding employment as a druggist in Brooklyn, New York. In the fall of the same year he enrolled at Whitestown Seminary where he was awarded a Certificate of Academic Scholarship. In the fall of 1866 he moved to Madison County, New York for the purpose of studying medicine.

In January of 1869 Davies married Jayne Warrington, also a native of Wales, and the family moved to Wisconsin for a short time. Edward then moved to Chicago and entered Rush Medical College in 1875. The following year he began a medical practice in Doylestown, Wisconsin. In 1878 he returned to Rush to complete his studies and graduated in 1879. Davies continued his practice in Wisconsin until 1881 when he moved to the Dakota Territory where he worked for fifteen years in De Smet, Dakota Territory. There is a cobblestone and concrete bench dedicated to Edward Gomer Davies and his family in De Smet, South Dakota, honoring their role as pioneer residents of that town (1881-1896). The Davies family then moved to Southern California for two years, later spending another fifteen years at Letcher, South Dakota. During much of this time he also owned and operated a drugstore. In 1913 he retired to Yankton, South Dakota and died on March 8, 1920.