Introduction

Biography

Davis’ par­ents want­ed him to be a Pres­by­ter­ian min­is­ter, but his health failed dur­ing school, and he had to change ca­reer plans.

He moved to Tex­as in 1888, fol­lowed by his par­ents in 1892, with whom he lived on a farm in Bosque Coun­ty.

Davis had been in­ter­est­ed in mu­sic from an ear­ly age, and he learned to read sim­ple mu­sic un­der the in­struc­tion of J. L. White of Geor­gia.

After read­ing a book about har­mo­ny, he be­gan stu­dies un­der J. R. Ca­ble and Ru­fus Cor­ne­li­us. Though not a mu­sic teach­er, he played, sang, led, and com­posed for his own en­joy­ment.