Jerome C. Davis

Jerome C. Davis (1822—1881) was an American agriculturalist for whom the city of Davis, California (formerly Davisville) is named. Davis was born in Perry County, Ohio, where his father Isaac Davis and his mother Rachael Manley had a family farm. He also had a brother, Franklin B., and a sister, Elnora. Jerome got his start as a ferry operator on the Sacramento River with his father-in-law, and later become a prominent landowner with 12,000 acres of farmland. 773 acres of his farm was purchased to be part of the newly formed University of California, Davis. Davis served as the president of the State Agricultural Society (predecessor to California Exposition), and opened the 8th annual California State Fair in 1861.