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Allen Bowie Davis (1809–1889) was an American businessman.

Davis was born in Montgomery County Maryland to Thomas Davis (1769–1833) and Elizabeth Bowie (1772–1840). His father participated in the Whiskey Rebellion and was the president of the Board of Trustees of the Brookeville Academy, a position that Allen would take later at the age of 24. Davis took over the estate farm Greenwood at 16 and would write educational books on agriculture. By 1850 he would own 27 slaves to maintain four separate farms. In 1840 he would be appointed to the board of public works for Maryland. This in turn led to him becoming the director and trustee of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal during the final 50 miles of construction. In 1846, Davis imported 1,400 tons of Guano for $100,000 to redistribute to farmers without markup. Davis also returned the Triadelphia Cotton Company to profitability. In 1850 he would represent at the state constitutional convention, helping form the Maryland Agricultural College. He served as president of the Washington-Brookeville Turnpike Company for 16 years and served as county magistrate. His efforts also brought about one of the countries earliest prohibition laws in the State of Maryland.

Davis married Rebecca Comfort Dorsey (1809–1836), daughter of Thomas Beale Dorsey. After her death Davis married again Hester Ann Wilkins (1809–1887). Davis had 5 children: Allen Bowie Davis Jr. (died 1850), Thomas Davis (1840–1849), William Wilkins Davis (1842–1866), Rebecca Dorsey Davis (1843–1921) and Esther Wilkins Davis (1847–1894).

Davis once lived at the Wilson House, part or the Roxbury Mill in Howard County, Maryland, and was proprietor of the family estate Greenwood in Montgomery County built by Ephram Davis in 1755. Davis died in Baltimore at his house on Madison Avenue.

References

1. Report of Committee
2. David Hein. Religion and Politics in Maryland on the Eve of the Civil War: The Letters. p. 39.
3. Joshua Dorsey Warfield. The founders of Anne Arundel and Howard Counties, Maryland. p. 114.
4. "CANAL MEN IN COUNCIL.: METHODS DISCUSSED FOR MAKING WATER TRANSPORTATION PAY. A Secret Meeting and What Was Done At It -- Report of President German, of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal -- The Locks to be Lengthened". The Washington Post. 25 May 1881.
5. T. H. S. Boyd. The History Of Montgomery County, Maryland, From Its Earliest Settlement. p. 96.
6. George Washington Howard. The Monumental City: Its Past History and Present Resources. p. 646.
7. "Allen Bowie Davis Papers". Retrieved 14 August 2014.

• 1809 births
• 1889 deaths
• American chief executives
• 19th-century American businesspeople