Wiley Davis (1819-1905)

Illustration of Wiley Davis' residence from the 1863 Bowman map. He owned the land section 22 in Homer.

Article from the Champaign Daily Gazette on January 4, 1899 about the Davis Farm's fiftieth year anniversary celebration. 

Wiley Davis was born in Ohio in 1819 and spent the first thirty years of his life there. He married Mary J. Slider in February of 1847, and the two came to Mahomet that same year. They had no children. 

He purchased 460 acres of land for farming and spent years cultivating it until he had about 900 acres. He is cited alongside several prominent county pioneers as the proprietor of the land and established Champaign as an industrial force in the Midwest.

Davis was deeply involved in the community. He was a member of the Methodist Church in the area and one of the first to donate to the church. He was also appointed to the executive committee of the Old Settlers' Meetings, a group of the area's first pioneers created on May 16, 1870. 

"Mr. Davis has lived in Mahomet for over half a century, and witnessed the development of its infancy with much interest." 

- J. O. Cunningham, History of Champaign County, p. 913