White County ArArchives Biographies.....Davenport, W. D. 
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Author: S. J. Clarke (Publisher, 1922)

W. D. DAVENPORT.
    W. D. Davenport, attorney at law of Searcy, was born August 3, 1877, in
White county, Arkansas, and comes of Irish ancestry. His grandfather, John
Davenport, was a native of the Emerald isle and in 1830 crossed the Atlantic,
settling in North Carolina. Later he removed to Tennessee and afterward to White
county, Arkansas, in 1856. He then entered one hundred and sixty acres of wooded
land and after clearing away the trees and brush, broke the sod and began the
development of a farm. He was one of the pioneer settlers of White county,
having made the journey westward with ox team and wagon and his oxen were used
in breaking the sod. There was much big game to be had in this section of the
country at the time and all of the experiences and hardships of pioneer life
constituted the features of the daily existence of the people of the community.
He did his trading at West Point in the early days and he lived to see many
changes as the country became settled and developed. His death occurred during
the Civil war period. He was the father of Benjamin F. Davenport, who was born
in North Carolina and accompanied his parents to Arkansas in 1856. He enlisted
in the Confederate army from White county and served during the last year of the
war, although only fifteen years of age, being on duty west of the Mississippi,
the time being largely passed in northern Arkansas and along the Missouri
border. When the war was over he returned to White county, where he became a
land owner and carried on general farming. He had to clear, break and improve
his land and from time to time he added to his holdings, prospering as the years
passed by. He continued to occupy and further develop the homestead until his
death and the property is still in possession of the family. In young manhood he
married Frances Haywood, a native of Mississippi, the daughter of Tillman
Haywood, who removed from Mississippi to Greene county, Arkansas, in 1866 and in
1867 came to White county. In Mississippi he had been a slave-owner and had
engaged extensively in farming, but during the Civil war lost everything that he
had save his home. After coming to this state he bought land in White county and
here spent his remaining days, his death occurring in 1876; while his wife, who
bore the maiden name of Tabitha Haley, also departed this life here. Their
daughter, Mrs. Frances Davenport, survives her husband, who died in 1886 at the
age of thirty-six years. She has reached the age of seventy-two and she recently
carded and spun yarn and made a scarf, which was on exhibit at the Arkansas
state fair. Mr. Davenport was a populist in political faith and in religious
belief a Christadelphian, while Mrs. Davenport belongs to the Apostolic church.
In their family were four children: W. D., of this review; Kate, the wife of
Walter N. Harshaw, who operates a gin and conducts a farm at Pangburn, Arkansas;
Jennie, who is the widow of George Reaves; and Benjamin Booth, who died at the
age of sixteen years. The daughter, Jennie, had one child by her first marriage,
Maude, who is the wife of Riley Doyle, a farmer of Pangburn, Arkansas. After
losing her first husband Mrs. Reaves became the wife of Pressely Broadwater and
they have one child, May, who is the wife of Goldie Williams of Pangburn,
Arkansas. Mrs. Broadwater died in 1901.

    W. D. Davenport, having mastered the elementary branches of learning taught
in the rural schools of White county, continued his education in the Searcy high
school and then took up the occupation of farming, to which he had been reared
and which work he successfully conducted. He also taught in the district schools
for a period of ten years, mostly in the winter seasons and ambitious to advance
his education he later became a student in the State University, where he
prepared for law practice, being graduated in 1909 with the Bachelor of Laws
degree. In the same year he opened an office in Searcy and entered upon general
practice. Through the intervening period he has tried all kinds of cases. While
he regards the practice of law as his real life work he is also well known as a
land-owner, having a thousand acres, from which he derives a good rental. Mr.
Davenport is also interested in the Union Bank & Trust Company of Searcy as one
of its directors and vice president.

    Mr. Davenport was united in marriage to Miss Margaret E. Figg, who was born
in White county, and they became parents of two children, but the older one died
in infancy. The other, Elvin Figg, is at home. Mr. Davenport is a democrat in
his political views and has been called upon to fill several important public
positions. In 1915 he was elected to the state senate, serving as president of
the upper house during 1917. He was also acting governor of the state for a
short time during the absence of the chief executive. He is thoroughly
conversant with all of the questions vital to the welfare and progress of the
commonwealth and his aid and influence have been a dominant force in shaping the
history of the state in recent years. His patriotism and public spirit are
manifest in all that he does and his labors have brought satisfactory and
helpful results.


Additional Comments:
Citation:
Centennial History of Arkansas
Volume II
Chicago-Little Rock: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company
1922


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