ERNESTINE NOA DAVIS

23 November 1871 (Baltimore, MD) — 27 July 1951, Mahopac, NY

ARTICLES

1. "Belated Tribute" by Ernestine Noa Davis (my great-aunt), a heart-warming story of her relationship with a very special teacher
2. "The Day of Aunt Sarah's Wedding" by Ernestine Noa Davis, the story of a wedding under "suspicious" circumstances, as seen through the eyes of a young girl
3. "Ararat: A Garden Founded on a Rock" by Ernestine Noa Davis, an article about the garden of my great-grandmother's house on Lookout Mountain, Tennessee.
4. Letter to Phiddy. A beautiful letter about reading to children, sent to me on my 5th birthday.
5. Four limericks. The limericks are by my great aunt, I don't know who the drawings are by.

   "I knew all about Aunt Erne's series of articles for House Beautiful — I was old enough when she wrote them to be a working writer myself — and I think I have copies of all of them. She wrote many, six of which were about Chattanooga. The one about Ararat was the first. It was ordered by the editor of House Beautiful, Miss Elizabeth Powers, because someone had told her that Aunt Erne had made a fine garden with never more than twelve inches of soil, which had to be renewed from dump trucks every spring. Then Aunt Erne wrote about Mrs. Z. C. Patten's house on the West Brow, Aunt Bettie's garden on the terraces and slopes below 503 Battery Place, Miss Sarah Patten's (Key) agarden, the course of the Tennessee River around Crutchfield Island and through Moccasin Bend, and the rock gardens of the Chamberlain place, on a 70º slope, on late lamented Cameron Hill. She also wrote stories on Miss Martha Berry, who ran a school for hill-billy (you should pardon the expression) boys and girls in north Georgia, East Tennessee architecture in Dayton at the time of the Scopes Trial, and a few other subjects that I can't remember because the clippings are in a trunk in Yonkers." (from a letter from Albert H. Morehead to Mary Crutchfield, September 24, 1963.)

WEDDING ANNOUNCEMENT

"Mrs. Bianca Noa Morehead announces the marriage of her sister, Ernestine Noa, to Samuel Davis, yesterday at Cambridge, Mass.

Mrs. Davis is a cousin of Mrs. Bernard E. Loveman, Mrs. Lucius Mansfield, Mrs. Bruce Brewer, Mrs. george Stephenson, William and Thomas Crutchfied. Mrs. T. W. Crutchfield is her aunt. She is a daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Ismar Noa. Mr. Noa was the president of the Peoples bank. Mrs. Davis and Mrs. Morehead have made their home together in Cambridge.

Mr. Davis is a prominent lawyer, connected with a Boston firm. He has a summer home in Winthrop, Mass.

Mrs. Davis served two terms as president of the Chattanooga Writers' club. She is a former president of the Tennessee Women's Press and Author's club and was a member of what was then the Kosmos Woman's club.

Upon a recent visit to Chattanooga Mrs. Davis spoke before a meeting of the Chattanooga Writers' club. She was complimented at numerous social affairs.

Several years go mrs. Davis made a trip to Europe as a member of the United States commission on rural conditions." (The Chattanooga Times, July 2, 1931)

OBITUARIES

MRS. SAMUEL DAVIS, ACTIVE IN SUFFRAGE

Clubwoman 50 Years Dies — Writer and Educator Once Taught Rural Economics

Special to the New York Times

MAHOPAC, N. Y., July 27 [1951] — Mrs. Ernestine Noa Davis, writer and clubwoman, died in Mahopac Emergency Hospital this morning at the age of 79. She had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage here a month ago while visiting her nephew, Albert Morehead.

Born in Baltimore, she was a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ismar Noa. Hew father had been president of the People's Bank in Chattanooga, Tenn., where Mrs. Davis lived most of her life. She was educated at Goucher College and the Universities of Chattanooga, Wisconsin, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Mrs. Davis worked as an advertising copywriter from 1896 to 1901. She traveled in Europe from 1910 to 1913, serving as a member of the American Special Commission to Study Commercial Cooperation and the Commission to Investigate Rural Cooperation there.

From 1918 to 1919, Mrs. Davis was assistant professor of rural economics at the University of North Carolina. Later she wrote free-lance articles for magazines and newspapers. She contributed a daily column of humor to The Chattanooga Times from 1922 to 1925.

Mrs. Davis was active in women's clubs for nearly fifty years. She was a founder and past president of the Tennessee Women's Press and Authors Club and the Chattanooga Writers Club. She was also a charter member of the Cosmos Club and Junior League of Chattanooga and belonged to the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

As a clubwoman in the Twenties, Mrs. Davis was active in promoting women's suffrage and temperance. She served in 1914 as state chairman for women's suffrage of the Tennessee Federation of Women's Clubs.

In recent years, Mrs. Davis lived in Boston, where her late husband, Samuel Davis, was general counsel for the John Hancock Life Insurance Company. In that city, she was active in the Twentieth Century Club and the Women's National Republican Club.

MRS. DAVIS DIES; FORMER RESIDENT

Was Clubwoman, Writer and Educator — Made Her Home Some Years in Boston

By New York Times News Service

MAHOPAC, N. Y., July 27 [1951] — Mrs. Ernestine Noa Davis of Boston, formerly of Chattanooga, who was prominent as a writer, educator and clubwoman for more than 50 years, died in Mahopac Emergency Hospital this morning at the age of 76.

She was the widow of Samuel Davis, who was general counsel for the John Hancock Life Insurance Company.

Mrs. Davis suffered a cerebral hemorrhage four weeks ago while visint a nephew, Albert Morehead, near here, and a second hemorrhage last week.

Born in Baltimore in 1871, Mrs. Davis was taken to Chattanooga in infancy and lived most of her life there. She attended Goucher College in Baltimore, the universities of Chattanooga, Wisconsin, North Carolina and South Carolina and the Cleveland Kindergarten College. She traveled in Europe, pursuing her study of rural economics and sociology, in 1902, 1910-12 and 1913. In 1912 she was a member of the special commission to study commercial co-operation in Europe, and in 1913 a member of the American Commission to Investigate Rural Co-Operation in Europe. In 1918-19 she was assistant professof of rural economics at the University of North Carolina.

Columnist for The Times

Mrs. Davis was one of the earliest woman advertising copy-writers, from 1896 to 1901, and later wrote articles for national magazines and for newspapers. She conducted a daily humorous column for The Chattanooga Times from 1922 to 1925.

Always active in club work, Mrs. Davis was a founder and past president of the Tennessee Women's Press and Authors' Club and the Chattanooga Writers' Club. She was a charter member of the Kosmos Club and the Junior League, and was a member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. In 1914 she was state chairman for women's suffrage for the Tennessee Federation of Women's Club, and was active in the temperance movement. In Boston, she was a member of the Twentieth Century Club and the Women's National Republican Club.

Mrs. Davis' father, Ismar Noa, was president of The People's Bank in Chattanooga. D. B. Loveman was her uncle. She has five first cousins in Chattanooga, Mrs. Bruce Brewer, Mrs. Lucius Mansfield, Mrs. George Stephenson, Mrs. Charles Hamilton, and William Crutchfield.