Biographical Note

Homer Ellis Davis, a realtor, stockbroker and Civil War history enthusiast, was born in Livingston, Montana on 28 October 1922, the son of Ellis Davis and May Beach. During World War II, Davis joined the Army Air Corps and served in the Panama Canal Zone and Caribbean. Returning to Montana in 1946, Davis attended Montana State University for a year before transferring to Georgetown University, graduating from the School of Foreign Service in 1951. Davis married Margaret Ernestine "Peggy" Smith on 12 June 1952. Soon thereafter he went to work for the Central Intelligence Agency and remained there until 1957, when he joined a realty company in Lansing, Michigan. In 1959, Davis returned to Washington, D. C. and worked as a stockbroker until his health forced him into retirement in 1971. Davis devoted his retirement years largely to his interest in American history--particularly the Civil War. He was an active member in both the American Revolution and Civil War roundtables of Washington, D. C., as well as the Civil War Roundtable of Alexandria, Virginia. Davis' main interest, however, lay in photographing cemetery monuments. The cemetery project was apparently initiated as a means to document and preserve the gravesites of Civil War generals, but Davis also photographed the gravesites of politicians, judges, entertainers, authors and others. While photographing cemeteries in Michigan, Davis was involved in a car accident and died on 6 August 1982 as a result of his injuries. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

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