Vicksburg Evening Post clipping

A. K. Davis.

Ex-Lieut. Governor A. K. Davis, died at his home in Canton on Thursday night last of heart disease. His was an eventful life. Born a slave, he had acquired, even before the blessing of freedom was conferred on him, a fair education. He was fond of music, sang well and played on several instruments, besides having some aptitude for drawing and painting. It is said that he acted as spy for Van Dorn and Forrest during the war, making frequent visits inside the Federal lines, and furnishing valuable information on his return, often bringing with him quinine and other drugs. During the “reconstruction” era he was a prominent Republican politician, and having been elected to several minor positions, was finally elected Lieutenant-Governor on the ticket headed by Ames in 1873. He was impeached by a Democratic Legislature in 1876, the charge being that he had accepted a bribe for the pardon of a convict. While this charge was abundantly sustained by proof, it was developed on the trial that Davis was subjected to influences other than the pecuniary reward which he received which it would have been difficult for him to withstand. It is more than probable that he desired to grant the pardon, and that the bribe was not the moving consideration. After his impeachment he retired from politics and entered the ministry of the M. E. Church, since which time he has conducted himself most worthily. He was conservative by nature and had a kind heart, and under other influences than those which surrounded him during his public life, he would have been a useful citizen and an ornament to his race. Those who are familiar with the days of “reconstruction” in this State will ever remember Davis as a man who was anxious to do what was for the good of the people, but who was scarcely strong enough to withstand the mad tide of Radicalism which swept over the State and finally destroyed the Republican party. -Clarion.