(MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. / The Journal) The city of Mount Vernon, New York has a lot more to uncover than just meets the eye. Even here, our very own Mount Vernon STEAM Academy is a historical institution beneath our very noses. By now, the whole city has heard the name “A.B. Davis” and remembers the days of chaotic fights and a terrible academic reputation. However, a recent find of an alumni website blows all the claims out of the water.
We here at The Journal stumbled upon a website titled “abdavisreunion1955.com” and discovered an extremely unique perspective of the school building we all thought were familiar with. Right on the homepage, after scrolling down reunion announcements, old photos, and “Special Thanks” notes, lies a black and white photo of Mr. A.B. Davis himself. There is a brief bunch of “Did You Know?” facts stating:
“A portrait of him hangs on the wall near the administrative office. The school began construction in 1912 and the painting was a gift of the Class of 1917, probably the first graduating class of A.B. Davis High School.”
That same section answers the age-old question of “What did the initials A & B stand for?” by thanking Joan Sicherman Alter and stating “Abiel Brown Davis”. With more research on our part, “Abiel” is a male name of Hebrew and biblical origin. It means “God is my father” and is the name of the grandfather of Saul in the Old Testament. According to “babynamescience.com”, the name was given to 1 in every 71,350 baby boys in America over the last 100 years.
There is also one other interesting fact. Under the painting of Mr. Davis that hangs next to the Old Main Office (now home to New York Edge After School Programs), the plaque that bears his name notes that he held a Ph. M. degree (Master of Philosophy). Following some extra discovery, we found that Google digitized an Annual Register for Hamilton College in Upstate New York. That print of the Register is in the hands of the Cornell University Library. Anyway, the only listing for “Abiel Brown Davis” turns to page 61, where his degree was conferred “ad eundem” on June 26, 1902. “Ad eundem” means that one college gives you a degree although you went to a different college for the sole purpose of you being allowed to teach at that first college. That means that the former Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (P.B.I.S.) program rewards of “Davis Dollars” and the A.B. Davis Middle School logo were off by ten years! Another publication of Hamilton College, “The Hamilton Record”, is also held by Cornell University and digitized by Google, in which it lists Principal (Prin.) Abiel Brown Davis of Mount Vernon, NY as in the Class of 1878. Furthermore, the New York Times publishes an obituary on Mr. Davis (spelling his name in the alternative manner as “Abial”) listing that he died on October 30, 1938 from suffering an illness since July. It reads:
“Professor Abial Brown Davis, founder of the Mount Vernon High School, now known as "the A. B. Davis High School," and for thirty-four years its principal, died last night at his home here after an illness lasting since July. His age was 80.”
Another historical victory for our team was the discovery of an actual book on Mount Vernon’s history on the Internet Archives.A copy is allegedly stored at the Columbia University Library. The book, “The Daily Eagle’s Illustrated History of Mt. Vernon”, compiled and edited by George O. Beach with assistance of Joseph S. Wood for the Daily Eagle newspaper of Mount Vernon, New York only lists a publication date of 1903 (including with it an advertisement for the Everett Piano Company). Despite its misgivings, the book has relatively more information on Mr. Davis than we ever knew:
“1894. In September was established the Mount Vernon High School as a result of permissive legislation. There was some opposition to the plan, as there always is to any measure, however meritorious. Several members of the Board of Education were either openly or covertly opposed to the project, and sought to delay its execution, but the preponderance of public sentiment was so manifestly in favor of educational progress that the obstructionists were forced to yield, and the school was opened in the Chester Hill school-house, with Professor Abial B. Davis, one of the most accomplished educators in the state, as the principal.”
Once more, we had found that “Abial” was the official name but was a variant of the well-known “Abiel”. The error was fixed, and Mr. Davis’ name was showing up in many more publications. We were all excited to piece together these historical pieces to make sense of his life and legacy.
As it turns out, Mr. Davis spent his whole life in New York State. According to Ancestry.com and Wikitree.com, Mr. Davis was born in the Township of Solon in the County of Cortland on March 9, 1858 to Samuel Davis and Roxanna Davis (née Brown). He was married to Phoebe Amelia Davis (née Wood) in 1878 and had 3 children.
Then, we found that Mr. Davis was on 2 more Google-digitized resources: “The Documents of the Senate of the State of New York, One Hundred and Sixteenth Session, 1893” from Cornell University Library and “The 106th Annual Report of the Regents of the University of the State of New York” from the Library of the University of California. From both the Senate report and the Regents report, we see that Mr. Davis was listed as a faculty (staff) member of Hamilton College where, as we know, he received his Ph. M. (ad eundem), so that he may work there as a professor. This new development was that in the year 1891-1892, both reports do not show the Ph. M., but instead show a M. A. (Master of Arts) degree instead. Also, from Claudia J. Keenan’s blog “Through the Hourglass”, she interviewed Ted K., a member of the faculty at A.B. Davis High School and noted this:
“He took a position at A.B. Davis High School, the precursor to Mount Vernon’s sprawling new high school which would be built on the north side of the city during the early 1960s.”
This means that not only does the building, currently as the Mount Vernon STEAM Academy, sit on the tallest hill in the city (used to be called Chester Hill; refers to “overlook” as the name for the street opposite the complex, Overlook Street) but was led by one of the most important and shrouded figures of local history, home to the earliest integrations of urban public-school systems, and is older than the “flagship” school of the district. We all, as a school community, be grateful for our history and celebrate it, otherwise it would be forgotten and lost. This treasure hunt of sorts was incredibly frustrating yet made us proud of what once was the crown jewel of our city. Thank you, Mr. A. B. Davis for leading many hopeful students into the future.
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