1855 - 1923
Businessman and Mayor.
J. Hull Davidson was born in Lexington, Kentucky on August 23, 1855. After graduating from Transylvania University in 1872, he was employed by the First National Bank as a bookkeeper until 1879. On January 1, 1880, he entered the plumbing fixtures business and acquired the old Lanckhart foundry (later the Lexington Plumbing Company). During 1884, Mr. Davidson formed the Phoenix Hotel Company, of which he became the President and largest stockholder.
In 1876, he married Magdalen Lancaster, daughter of Merit P. Lancaster, and after his father-in-law's death Mr. Davidson became a partner in the firm of M. P. Lancaster & Co. (the city's largest hemp dealer). He was elected Mayor of the City of Lexington (1891 - 1895) and he served as the President of the Lexington Opera House. He was an organizer of the Overland Telephone Company and was a founding director of the Phoenix National Bank. In 1896, Mr. Davidson helped reorganized the Jas. E. Pepper Distillery (which failed during the Panic of 1893). He died in 1923.
