James Davies | |
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United States Senator from Pennsylvania |
|
In office December 2, 1930 – January 3, 1945 |
|
Preceded by | Joe Grundy |
Succeeded by | Francis Myers |
2nd United States Secretary of Labor | |
In office March 5, 1921 – November 30, 1930 |
|
President |
Warren G. Harding Calvin Coolidge Herbert Hoover |
Preceded by | William Wilson |
Succeeded by | William Doak |
Personal details | |
Born |
James John Davies October 27, 1873 Tredegar, Wales, UK |
Died | November 22, 1947 Takoma Park, Maryland, U.S. |
(aged 74)
Political party | Republican |
Spouse(s) | Jean Rodenbaugh |
Children | 5 |
Education | Sharon Business School |
James John Davis (October 27, 1873 – November 22, 1947) was a Welsh-born American steel worker and Republican Party politician from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He served as U.S. Secretary of Labor and represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate. He was also known by the nicknames of the "Iron Puddler" and "Puddler Jim."
Born as James John Davies on October 27, 1873 in Tredegar, Wales, he emigrated with his parents, David James Davies and Esther Ford Nichols Davies, to the United States in 1881 at the age of eight.
They settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and later in Sharon, Pennsylvania. He was apprenticed as a puddler's assistant in a steel mill, and as a result, acquired his nickname. In 1893, he moved to Elwood, Indiana, and served as city clerk from 1898 to 1902. From 1903 to 1907, he served as Recorder of Madison County, Indiana, before returning to Pittsburgh. He personally signed his name as James J. Davies even though his surname had been changed on immigration to Davis and he became well known with the surname Davis. He married Jean Rodenbaugh and had five children.
Davis joined the Loyal Order of Moose in 1906 as its 247th member and staged a successful reorganization. He rose to become the Director-General and took the Order internationally to Bermuda, Britain and Canada. He was instrumental as a leader in building Mooseheart, the fraternity's "Child City". In 1926, he founded the Grand Lodge of Britain at his birthplace in Tredegar, South Wales.