Davis, Marion Stuart, 1877-1959

Marion Stuart Davis was a Louisburg, N.C., architect, who specialized in the construction of churches and schools. His sister, Mabel Irwin Davis, was a teacher at Louisburg College and a librarian of the Warren County Memorial Library.

Architect Marion Stuart Davis, who is alternately referred to as M. S. Davis, Jr., or M. Stuart Davis, was born in Louisburg, N.C., in 1877. His parents were Matthew Smart Davis, a prominent educator in Franklin County, N.C., and Sarah Louisa Hill Davis. Davis married May Amanda Holmes in 1913, and they had four children: Marion Stuart, Kenneth, May, and Sarah.

After being educated in the Louisburg schools, Davis attended Trinity College, Durham, N.C., and the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. He did not graduate from either institution, and his architectural skills were acquired via correspondence school and self-study. Davis's architectural practice focused on the construction of churches and schools within North Carolina. In addition to architectural design work, he was also involved in agriculture and owned a property insurance business. During World War II, he served with the office of the Post Engineer at Camp Butner, N.C. Davis was an active Mason and one-time Master of the Louisburg Lodge. He died in 1959.

Educator and librarian, Mabel Irwin Davis, who was a sister of Marion Stuart Davis, was born in Louisburg, N.C., in 1874. She was educated at Louisburg College and taught there for a number of years before assuming the position of librarian at the newly created Warren County Memorial Library in 1924. Davis served in this post until her retirement in 1954. In addition to her professional activities, she was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and secretary of the Warren County Historical Society. She died in 1961.