Recall state’s first poet laureate?
1923 was quite the year for C.T. Davis, poet and editorial paragrapher of the Arkansas Gazette.
First, Frank P. Davis of Enid, Okla., not a close relative, picked two of C.T.’s poems for inclusion in “The Anthology of Newspaper Verse for 1922.”
Then a former co-worker on the editorial staff, L.C. Milstead, published a bound, 40-page anthology of Davis’ poems, advertising extensively, and they sold at $2 a pop.
Then C.T. took a vacation that elicited funny tributes to him on the editorial page from readers and a co-worker.
Then both houses of the General Assembly adopted concurrent resolutions constituting him as state poet laureate of Arkansas, the first appointment of its kind in state history. The House resolution was offered by Rep. Paul McKennon of Johnson County, and the Senate one was offered by Sen. Peter A. Deisch of Phillips County. Twenty-one other senators co-signed.
“Whereas. It is always the purpose of our people to give the evidence of merit where merit is due; and
“Whereas. Extraordinary ability has been shown by a fellow citizen in the realm of poetry to the extent that his work has gained for him a position in this field unequaled in all the Southland; and
“Whereas. It is proper and fitting that official recognition be given to the genius that he has displayed, and which has won for his native state a position in the field of letters alongside that of the masters of this or any other country; therefore, be it
“Resolved. By the General Assembly of Arkansas, the House of Representatives concurring herein.
“That Charles T. Davis be, and he is hereby named and constituted poet laureate of the state of Arkansas.”
The position, alas, did not include an allotment. But there was that word “genius.” And the Palace theater kindly celebrated C.T. Davis days, giving away 10 copies of his book a night, three nights in a row.
And then, on Oct. 12, he got to judge the Arkansas State Fair fly-and bait-casting tournament with Lee Miles, chairman of the state Game and Fish Commission, and Guy Fulk. They awarded trophy cups to anglers in two divisions: accuracy and distance.
C.T. was well known, apparently well liked, and mentioned in national press as the best newspaper poet from Arkansas. So then why is it that, these days when someone writes about poets laureate of Ar-
kansas, they say C.T. was No. 1 and held the title until he died in December 1945; and they say he was on the Gazette editorial staff except for brief jobs elsewhere; and then they launch into details about the life of No. 2, Rosa Zagnoni Marinoni?
Why doesn’t C.T. get more press? It might be because although people sometimes called him Charles or Charlie, in print he was most always C.T. because … I’m not sure why. But I suspect it’s the fact that his son Charles Thomas Jr. used the name Charles T. Davis in print, and Junior also became a Gazette columnist and Sunday editor. (Calm down, Friend Reader, I’m only calling him “Junior” here for clarity’s sake.) Junior was a pilot during World War II and briefly world famous as part of a bombing group captured in Turkey.
On May 12, 1954, Carroll McGaughey’s Our Town column described how Junior became inured to being mistaken for his dead father:
“One of Our Town’s middle-aged men had just been introduced to the younger Davis, who is slightly sensitive about his prematurely gray hair, and remarked: ‘I believe I have met your son.’
“‘I think,’ said Davis almost automatically, ‘that you must mean my father.’
“‘Perhaps so,’ said the other, ‘That is if your father is 4 years old and attends Trinity Episcopal Sunday School.’”
(Yes, Our Town survived more than one author.)
YE PASTOR
Here’s a quick rundown of some biographical information Old News has gathered about this once lionized (bait-casting judge!) first poet laureate.
The father of C.T. Davis was a newspapering lawyer, Col. Marcellus Lafayette Davis, who begat the Western Immigrant newspaper at Dardanelle in 1876. Fred Allsopp’s press history describes Marcellus as “a writer of considerable literary ability.” After he sold the Immigrant in 1881, new owner J.B. Crownover renamed it The Dardanelle Post-Dispatch. A few years later, The Post changed hands again twice. When the third owner died, Colonel Davis assisted the widow as a writer and editor. Allsopp says, “Although but a small country journal, featured articles contributed by him were reproduced weekly by national dailies of the East.”
That still is the gold standard of distinction among newspapering folk.
Under President Grover Cleveland, Marcellus was U.S. consul to Trinidad. The colonel’s second son, Charles Thomas Davis, was born in Dardanelle on March 26, 1888.
He obtained an education in the law, and from 1911 to 1915 served as secretary to U.S. Rep. Henderson Madison Jacoway. In 1912 in Washington, D.C., C.T. married Teresa Richmond, the winner of a beauty contest conducted by the Washington Times. Wedding announcements said he was a lawyer at Dardanelle.
C.T. joined the Gazette staff as North Little Rock beat reporter before World War I and covered Camp Pike. He wrote dialect-heavy brites, and his poetry column, Jes’ Ramblin’ Aroun’ debuted on the editorial page on Dec. 17, 1916, with “The Dear Little Boy.” See arkansasonline.com/1030fancy.
C.T.’s draft registration card, dated June 15, 1917, describes him as a newspaperman of medium build with blue eyes and brown hair who had a wife and two children. They lived at 314 E. 14th St. in Little Rock.
In March of 1918, reporter C.T. followed 30 revenuers on a manhunt for draft dodgers into the community of Fancy Hill in Montgomery County. His words offended the hats off Fancy Hillers. They persuaded him to tour the sights with them. He then wrote quite a humorous non-apology; see again arkansasonline.com/1030fancy.
C.T. became a Gazette associate editor and a prolific writer of considerable wit. His poetry is often bedizened with allusions to mythology, a Christian God and $10-buck adjectives that express approval of the natural world. He also could convey complex melancholic disapprovals in a naturalistic way. Don’t just take my word on this. Read his first collection here: arkansasonline.com/1030CT. Look especially at “Recompense” and “Other Dawns” and “Radio.”
His second book, “Riders in the Sun,” was published in 1927 and is longer, but I have found no digital version online, so you’re on your own with the library and the used booksellers.
Davis tagged himself “ye pastor” in the poetry and allowed himself to write risky things about wives and Prohibition. His imitations of Samuel Pepys’ diary are a hoot. Ye pastor invented a character, Oscar. Oscar was skeptical of this and that. Ye pastor also engaged in cross-column banter with the unsigned All Over Arkansas column, which existed to make snarky comments about tidbits from other papers’ pages. All Over Arkansas was originated by Fred Allsopp, whose name is still enshrined as Allsopp Park, Allsopp & Chapple (once his bookstore), the Frederica hotel … but from references in other columns, by 1923, it might have been Sharpe Dunaway bantering with Davis.
In 1922, his 6-year-old son with Teresa, Richmond Hill Davis, died of appendicitis in Washington, where she resided. The news report identified her as Mrs. Teresa Richmond-Davis. Meanwhile Charles Thomas Jr. was living in Dardanelle with his grandparents.
Note that the 1923 poetry book is dedicated to Winnie Davis, C.T.’s sister.
C.T. was 36 when he married 34-year-old Kate Martin on Dec. 27, 1924.
Oh rats, I have run out of space to tell you that he kept doing things until he died and to quote from his death certificate. Why is writing so hard?!