John Davis
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [1]
a Methodist Episcopal minister, was born in Northumberland County, Va., Oct. 30, 1787, was converted at 19, entered the itinerancy of the Baltimore Conference in 1810, and died in Hillsborough, Va., Aug. 13, 1853. Mr. Davis was a very important and useful minister for more than forty years. As soon as he was converted he began to exhort and preach publicly, and with great effect, even before he had become a member of the Church, and on a circuit in 1818 about one thousand souls were converted by his preaching. In person he was commanding, and his voice was excellent. His mind was well balanced and robust, and his social qualities fine. As a minister and presiding elder he had few equals, and he was always a leader in the councils of the Church. He was an able agent and trustee of Dickinson College, and a member of every General Conference, save two, from 1816 to the time of his death. — Minutes of Conferences, v. 329.
The Nuttall Encyclopedia [2]
An English navigator, born near Dartmouth; took early to the sea; conducted (1585-1587) three expeditions to the Arctic Seas in quest of a NW. passage to India and China, as far N. as 73°; discovered the strait which bears his name; sailed as pilot in two South Sea expeditions, and was killed by Japanese pirates near Malacca; wrote the "Seaman's Secret" (1550-1605).
