The Davies Family: A Record of Service

The Davies Family: A Record of Service “Fifty years ago,” Butch Davies was told in Lignum, “John Bowersett would ride a horse throughout Culpeper and Rappahannock as he campaigned for candidates.” Not every candidate has the opportunity to retrace the campaign trail taken by their great-grandfather, but Butch Davies is visiting many of the very same country stores that Papa Bowersett visited a half century ago. Since public service is something of a Davies family tradition, Butch now hears manv campaign stones from local citizens who remember elections of years past. Maiy Bowersett Davies, the candidate’s grandmother, was the first elected woman to hold office m Culpeper County. Like both her father and her husband, she served as the Countv’s Commissioner of Revenue. * The present Commissioner in Culpeper is John A.B. Davies-who is generally called Pete by friends. Pete Davies, who is the candidate’s uncle, has served as Commissioner for

Aw^rd yCarS and WaS thC fifSt Cu,peper reciPient °f the Jaycees’ Distinguished Service Butch Davies feels that his uncle’swork here “has been an inspiration and an example for a lot of people. He s always given a 100% effort. . . I’ve learned more from him than from anv college. J Service in education is also a family tradition—Butch’s mother has taught in the oublic schools here for some twenty-eight years, and an aunt has taught for about twenty-five. ve been lucky, says the candidate, “in having both a community environment and a family environment that encourages public service.” “I’m »**> lucky,” Butch Davies says, “that I don’t have to campaign by riding a horse like my great-grandfather. Especially in this age of bumper strips.