Pioneer history of Ingham County, compiled and arranged by Mrs. Franc L. Adams, secretary of the Ingham County pioneer and historical society.

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PIONEER HISTORY OF INGHAM COUNTY

the father of Mr. Davis settled in Elba, N. Y., where B. F. Davis
was born. When he was still a small boy his parents came to
Lansing, and here his father, William F. Davis, built a home in
1853 at the corner of Cedar and Baker streets. The family drove
from Elba to Lansing, where they soon were in possession of 160
acres of land.
The present site of the Reo automobile plant is a part of the
Davis farm. The Reo plant has a worldwide reputation for the
autos that are sent out from there, and it was not only the home of
the first autos manufactured in Lansing, but is still a leader in
production.
The present home of the Davis family is on South Washington
Avenue, and it was here that little Bennie, the grandson of B. F.
Davis, rounded out a busy life at the age of ten years.
He was an exceedingly patriotic little chap, and from the time
he was three years old until the end of his life he superintended
or helped in raising and lowering the large flag which floated on
the breeze on the Davis lawn. He would never allow the flag to
touch the ground.
When the World War broke out he was only six years old, but
he was the first child to join the Red Cross, and was the first to
buy a Liberty Bond. He alone raised seventy dollars in the
school drive to give assistance to the Belgians.
He worked so hard in the Canteen that the soldiers called him
little K. P. (Kitchen Police).
When he was eight years old he with his mother spent the
summer at White Lake, eight miles from a store, and here he spent
some time in "overcoming the old law of gravity," as he told his
mother. He wanted a sail on his boat, that was a hired one, so
he rigged up a pail with sand and stones to hold his mast, and took
a partly worn dress of his mother's and contrived him a sail, and
really did "overcome" his difficulties.