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General First nameDwight Filley
LastnameDavis sr
GenderMale
CountryUnited States of America
Date of birth1879-07-05
Place of birthPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
Date of death1945-11-28
Place of deathSt. Louis, Missouri, United States of America


About

Adapted from Wikipedia, at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_F._Davis

Dwight Filley Davis was born in Saint Louis, Missouri, on July 5, 1879, the youngest of the three sons of John Tilden Davis (1844-94), a dry goods merchant, and Maria Jeanette Filley (1843-1930). Both parents were also natives of Saint Louis. Dwight Davis’s maternal grandfather, Oliver Dwight Filley, was Mayor of Saint Louis from 1858 to 1861. A cousin, Chauncey Ives Filley, also served as Mayor of Saint Louis, from 1863 to 1864.

Dwight Davis reached the all-comers’ final in the men’s singles event at the U.S. Championships in 1898 and 1899. Partnered with Holcombe Ward, he won the men’s doubles title at the same tournament three years in a row, from 1899 to 1901. Davis and Ward were also runners-up at in the men’s doubles event at Wimbledon in 1901. Davis also won the American intercollegiate singles championship of 1899 when a student at Harvard College.

In 1900, Davis developed the structure for, and donated a silver bowl to go to the winner of, a new international tennis competition designed by him and three others, known as the International Lawn Tennis Challenge, later renamed the Davis Cup in his honour. He was a member of the US team that won the first two competitions in 1900 and 1902, and was also the captain of the team in the former year.

Davis participated in the 1904 Summer Olympics in Saint Louis, Missouri. He was eliminated in the second round of the men’s singles event. In the men’s doubles event he and his partner Ralph McKittrick lost in the quarter-finals.

Dwight Davis was educated at Washington University School of Law, though he was never a practicing attorney. He was, however, politically active in his home town of Saint Louis and served as the city’s public parks commissioner from 1911 to 1915. During his tenure, he expanded athletic facilities and created the first municipal tennis courts in the United States.

During World War One, Davis trained at the Preparedness Movement Citizens’ Military Training Camp in 1915. From 1916 to 1917, he toured Europe as part of the Rockefeller War Relief Board. When the United States entered the war, Davis enlisted as a private in the Missouri National Guard and was commissioned in August 1917. Going to France, Davis was promoted to Major and became adjutant of the 69th Infantry Brigade of the 35th Infantry Division. During this period he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. After the war he was a Colonel in the Army Reserves.

Davis sought the Republican nomination in the 1920 Missouri Senate election, receiving 38.2% of the votes in the primary. He served under President Calvin Coolidge as Assistant Secretary of War (1923-25) and as Secretary of War (1925-29). He then served as Governor General of the Philippines (1929-32) under Herbert Hoover. In 1942, Davis was the first and only Director General of the short-lived Army Specialist Corps. On the disbandment of the unit he became an advisor with the rank of Major General.

Dwight Davis married twice. His first wife was Helen Brooks (1877-1933), whom he married in 1905. They had four children together: one son and three daughters. In 1936, Davis married, secondly, Pauline Sabin. One of Davis’s daughters, Alice Brooks Davis (1909-85), was married to the British Ambassador to the United States, Sir Roger Makins. Another daughter, Cynthia Davis (b. 1911), married the banker William McChesney Martin Jr., the longest-serving Federal Reserve Director (1951-1970), who held the office under five presidents: Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon.

Davis wintered in Florida from 1933 until his death, living at Meridian Plantation, near Tallahassee. He died at his home in Washington, D.C., on November 28, 1945, after a six-month illness. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. In 1956, Dwight Davis was posthumously inducted into the National Tennis Hall of Fame (now known as the International Tennis Hall of Fame) in recognition of his contributions to the sport both as a player and an administrator.

Media


Archive statistics Career1895 - 1904
Tournament wins6
Matches127
Match wins88


Tournament wins 1904 - Louisiana Purchase amateur Championships (Amateur)
1901 - Magnolia Tournament (Amateur)
1900 - Massachusetts State Championships (Amateur)
1900 - Magnolia Tournament (Amateur)
1899 - Magnolia Tournament (Amateur)
1899 - Intercollegiate Championships (Amateur)


Tournaments Olympics, Olympic Games - 1904 World's Fair amateur Championships - 1904 Louisiana Purchase amateur Championships - 1904 US Open - 1902 Longwood Bowl - 1902 US Open - 1901 Longwood Bowl - 1901 Irish Championships - 1901 Massachusetts State Championships - 1901 Kent Championships - 1901 Magnolia Tournament - 1901 Fitzwilliam Purse - 1901 US Open - 1900 Longwood Bowl - 1900 Middle States Championships - 1900 Massachusetts State Championships - 1900 Davis Cup - Final - 1900 Magnolia Tournament - 1900 US Open - 1899 Longwood Bowl - 1899 Middle States Championships - 1899 Massachusetts State Championships - 1899 Southampton Invitation (Long Island) - 1899 Magnolia Tournament - 1899 Intercollegiate Championships - 1899 US Open - 1898 Middle States Championships - 1898 Western States Championships - 1898 New Jersey State Championships - 1898 Magnolia Tournament - 1898 Intercollegiate Championships - 1898 US Open - 1897 Canadian International Championships - 1897 Longwood Bowl - 1897 Middle States Championships - 1897 US Open - 1896 Longwood Bowl - 1896 New Hampshire Championships - 1896 Maine State Championships - 1896 Niagara International Tournament - 1896 Wentworth Invitation - 1896 Buffalo - 1896 Toronto City Championships - 1896 US Open - 1895 Wentworth Invitation - 1895