{Adapted and expanded from The King of Sandon}

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He was born a saint.

 

St. Elmo Davis was Johnny’s first cousin, a son of L. Morgan Davis, a two-time alderman of Alexandria, Virginia. Johnny’s middle name paid tribute to Morgan. St. Elmo, meanwhile, took his name from an Alexandria neighbourhood, which was in turn named after the patron saint of sailors … and stomachaches.

 

Elmo arrived in Sandon in 1897 at age 27 and went to work as superintendent of the Reco mine. [1] With no mining experience, Elmo’s chief qualification for the job appears to have been his relation to Johnny, but local newspapers never mentioned their family connection, if they were aware of it. Only once were Johnny and Elmo even spoken of in the same sentence. [2]

 

Reco payroll records show that in January 1901 Elmo earned $81.75, which was more than everyone except the blacksmith, who made $92. [3]

 

Elmo had never seen so much snow, a key theme in letters to his father. He described the mines and mountains around Sandon as “a region of perpetual snow.” Although it was May, he counted 16 avalanches in one week, which claimed the lives of seven men and three horses within three miles of the mines. The Kaslo and Slocan Railway had been tied up for a week, digging itself out. [4]

 

When he was down from the Reco mine, Elmo appears to have lived in the Reco Hotel. [5]

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In 1901, Elmo and Johnny returned to Virginia together, and Elmo spent a few days with his father in Alexandria, then visited the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo before returning to Sandon. [6] Johnny also made Elmo a nominal shareholder in his new Slocan Power Co. Ltd. [7]

 

Elmo once had a close call on the job: while climbing a ladder in one of the shafts, he slipped and fell about 20 feet, landing on some timbers. He received a couple of ugly gashes, but was treated at the mine and went back to work. “Had it not been for the timbers that caught him,” the Mining Review said, “he would probably have fallen 200 feet when the consequences may be imagined.” [8]

 

In 1904, Elmo returned to Alexandria, where he planned to “raise chickens and be happy.” [9] He did return to his job at the Reco, although he then took another four-month vacation to Virginia. The last sign of him in Sandon is in September 1905. [10]

 

Sometime thereafter he returned to Virginia for good. In 1910, he married Sophia Margaretha Vierkorn [11] and they had a daughter, Margaretha Barbara, in 1914. [12] But their life together was short. Elmo died at his home in Alexandria in 1917 after a short illness at age 47. [13] His death registration listed the cause of death as valvular heart disease due to lung congestion and gave his last occupation as carpenter at a navy yard. [14] No photo of him is known to exist.

 

Elmo’s widow lived until 1955 and their daughter until 1985. [15]

 

All of my source notes on Elmo can be found here.

 

NOTES

[1] The Washington Post, 22 Feb 1897 noted Elmo’s impending departure for Sandon.

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[2] The Ledge, 30 May 1901: “J.M. Harris and St. Elmo Davis are looking at the blue grass in Virginia.”

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[3] Bill Barlee mining research collection, John Morgan Harris sous fonds, University of BC Rare Books and Special Collections, Box 3, File 13

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[4] “The Reco mines,” Alexandria Gazette, 27 May 1897

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[5] He was shown as staying at the hotel in the Mining Review, 6/13 Sept, 11/18 Oct, and 22 Nov 1902; 31 Jan, 7/14/28 Feb, 6/13/27 Jun, and 4/11 Jul 1903; and Sandon Standard, 23 Jan 1904

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[6] The Paystreak, 24 and 31 May 1901, and The Washington Post, 1 Jun 1901

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[7] Articles of incorporation booklet, Bill Barlee mining research collection, John Morgan Harris sous fonds, University of BC Rare Books and Special Collections, Box 4, File 3

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[8] Mining Review, 21 Dec 1901

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[9] The Ledge, 16 Jun 1904

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[10] Sandon Standard, 22 Apr 1905 and 9 Sept 1905

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[11] Alexandria Gazette, 30 Nov 1910 and ancestry.com family tree for St. Elmo Davis.

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[12] Alexandria Gazette, 11 Aug 1914 and ancestry.com family tree for Margaretha Davis.

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[13] “St. Elmo Davis dead,” The Washington Post, 4 Jun 1917. His obituary erroneously gave his age as 46.

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[14] Death registration for St. Elmo Davis, viewed at ancestry.com

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[15] ancestry.com family tree for Margaretha Davis.