Governor of Ohio, U.S. Congressman, Business Executive. Born in Kent, Ohio, he attended Oberlin University until he left school to help in his father's tree surgery business in 1906. His father, John Davey, was an English immigrant and one of the world's leading experts on trees and tree surgery. His father made him general manager of the Davey Tree Expert Company in 1909. Davey was elected as the Mayor of Kent and served from 1914 until his resignation in 1918 to accept election by the United States Legislature to represent Ohio's 14th District in the House of Representatives. A Democrat, he was elected to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Ellsworth R. Bathrick and took his seat on November 5, 1918. He was reelected in 1918 and was an unsuccessful for reelection in 1920. He was elected to Congress again in 1922 and served from 1923 to 1929. Davey was not a candidate for renomination in 1928 and chose instead to run for the office of Governor. He was defeated in the gubernatorial election and resumed his position at his business as President. In 1929, he also assumed the position as treasurer of the Davey Compressor Company. Elected as Ohio's 53rd Governor in 1934, he served from 1935 to 1939. As Governor, he created several adversaries. Davey opposed many of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal Programs and also feuded with the Ohio Legislature. He accused the Federal Administration of Relief in Ohio of "inhuman and wasteful" practices. In turn, the Roosevelt administration accused Davey and his staff of corruption. He fought with the state legislature over repealing food taxes. He then fell into disfavor with the labor unions for using the Ohio National Guard to break a steel workers' strike in the Mahoning Valley in 1937. He was unsuccessful for reelection in 1938 and lost again in 1940. He continued to run his business until his death in 1946. He died in Kent when he was 61 years old.