Aled Pierce Davies, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .
Transcribed biography of Aled Pierce Davies
HISTORY OF THE DAVIES FAMILY
Aled Pierce Davies was born in Penrhyndeudraeth, Wales, and immigrated to the United States in his eighteenth year on the R.M.S. CARINTHIA arriving in New York on October 7, 1929. He worked in Toledo, Ohio, Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C., doing everything from factory work to selling toilet seats. He was a reporter for a newspaper and ended in public relations. He married Miss Mildred Kelly Tatum in Washington, D.C., on October 8, 1937.
Mildred is a native of Woodbury, Tennessee, and is a lineal descendant of Sir George Hume, Bt., who arrived in Virginia in 1715, having been involved in the Jacobite Rebellion. He was assistant to the chief surveyor of William and Mary College and among other things was engaged by King George II as official surveyor of Orange County. He also taught George Washington surveying.
The Davies moved to the Midwest in July of 1940 when Aled joined the staff of the American Meat Institute in Chicago. His immediate superior, the late Homer R. Davison, a resident of Jackson Township, had suggested that Indiana was a good place to raise children after the birth of the Davies son Richard in 1941.
Aled and Mildred bought a small house in Chesterton at 403 West Lincoin Avenue in August 1942. They were transferred to Washington during the Second World War but retained their home in Chesterton. John, their second son, was born in Washington, D.C., on October 10, 1943.
In August of 1947 they sold their home in Chesterton and moved to their present home, Bryn Awelon Farm in Jackson Township -- (Welsh for the Hill of Breezes).
This farm originally deeded in 1839 was then the property of David B. Long and his wife Belle. When the Davies and their two boys moved to the farm there was no electric power and they depended on kerosene lamps and candles for light and on the windmill for water. They still live on the farm with their fourteenth dog, Beau and Siamese cat, Chin-Chin.
Mildred with three other ladies established the Jackson Township P.T.A. and was den mother to the first Cub Scout Pack in the Township. The Davies were active in the Township Farm Bureau and Mrs. Davies served as Social and Educational Director of that group. Mildred was Republican Precinct Committeewoman under John Alva Jones and loyally supported her husband when he served as Justice of the Peace and subsequently Republican Committeeman. Aled was also delegate for Jackson and Pine Townships to the Republican State Convention at Indianapolis in 1948 and again 1952. He and his wife are still active in Republican Party affairs. Aled is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Porter Starke Service, Inc., and also serves on the Executive Committee of the American Freedom from Hunger Foundation.
The boys attended Jackson Township School and Valparaiso High School. Richard, the eldest, unmarried, is teaching at Culver Military Academy. He attended the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, graduated from DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana in 1963 and did his teacher training at Valparaiso University. Subsequently, he served in the U. S. Peace Corps in Panama; received his M.A. from the University of Wales, taught at Atlantic College in South Wales and was an assistant tutor at Oxford University, England, where he is working on his D. Phil. During this time he also served as legislative aide to Congressman Earl F. Landgrebe. On the other side of the political ledger he served as one of the heads of Young Citizens for Humphrey in the 1968 presidential campaign.
John attended Lake Forest College and graduated from Valparaiso University in 1965. He worked at the City News Bureau prior to serving in the U. S. Marine Corps. Subsequently he worked for Scripps-Howard News Bureau in Columbus, Ohio, before joining the staff of the Chicago Tribune in 1968. He married Miss Bette Ann Rohse of Western Springs, Illinois in 1970. They live in Darien, Illinois. He is manager of public relations for Wisconsin Steel Works, a Division of International Harvester Company in South Chicago, Illinois.
For many years the Davies family raised sheep and horses on the farm and were famous for their Welsh Border Collie sheep dogs.
Aled retired as Vice President of the American Meat Institute in February 1974 but is still a consultant to the Institute and others. He is a law student at Valparaiso University.
Mildred has long been active in church work having been several times a member of the board of the First Christian Church of Valparaiso where she and her mother, the late Mrs. Kelly Tatum, sang in the choir and were active in other musical circles. Mrs. Tatum taught voice and piano in Valparaiso and presented her pupils in recital at the Valparaiso Womans Club Mrs. Davies was one of the original members of the Duneland Chorus which was active in the Chesterton area.
Submitted by Aled P. Davies
Source: American Revolution Bicentennial Committee of Porter County. 1976. A Biographical History of Porter County, Indiana. Valparaiso, Indiana: American Revolution Bicentennial Committee of Porter County, Inc. 180 p.
Page(s) in Source: 95-96
This biography has been transcribed exactly as it was originally published in the source. Please note that we do not provide photocopies or digital scans of biographies appearing on this website.
Biography transcribed by Steven R. Shook