businessman, steamboat line owner, b. South Point, Ohio. In 1845 he began steamboating on the Ohio and Big Sandy rivers. In 1852 his brother, PEYTON S. DAVIDSON (b. South Point, Ohio), joined him, and in 1854 William settled in St. Paul, Minn. At first engaged in local steamboat transportation on the Minnesota River, the brothers became interested (1859) in the Mississippi River trade, and in 1860 obtained a contract to carry local mail between La Crosse and St. Paul. Adding steadily to their fleet of steamers, the Davidsons were soon involved in bitter competition with the Galena packet line (Galena, Dubuque, Dunlieth and Minnesota Packet Company). In 1861 the competition became a three-way battle between the Davidson line (La Crosse and St. Paul Packet Company), the Galena line, and the Northern Line Packet Company. By 1862, when P. S. Davidson settled in La Crosse, the brothers had a large fleet of boats offering complete service between La Crosse and St. Paul, and between St. Anthony and St. Cloud, Minn., with coordinated service on the Chippewa, St. Croix, and Minnesota rivers. They also operated a profitable shipyard in North La Crosse. Effectively utilizing a relay system involving a fleet of boats varying in size and draft, together with privately constructed wing dams, the Davidsons outdistanced competition during the low-water years of 1863 and 1864. In 1866 the Davidson line was consolidated with the Northwestern Packet Company (the old Galena line) as the Northwestern Union Line ("the White Collar Line"). Invading the river trade below Dubuque in 1868, they soon began to compete with the Keokuk Northern Line. In 1873 the two lines were merged as the Keokuk Northwestern Packet Company, with the Davidson interests in the minority. Although the Davidson group gained control of the company in 1875, a legal power struggle continued to consume the profits of the company until 1880 when it went into receivership. In an attempt to utilize their steamboats, the brothers formed twin companies in 1880, headed by Peyton Davidson in La Crosse and William in St. Louis. This venture also proved unprofitable and in 1882 the Davidsons' river interests were demolished when the La Crosse boat store (established in the 1860's, and for several years one of the most profitable businesses in La Crosse) was declared illegal. With the death of William F. Davidson in 1887, Peyton S. disposed of most of the remaining boats and devoted his interests to the lumber industry. In 1899 he moved his lumber mills to Hood River, Ore., where he died. Although W. F. Davidson was never a resident of Wisconsin, he and his brother, Peyton S. Davidson of La Crosse, were among the most important figures in the upper Mississippi Valley during the era of the steamboat boom. They witnessed both its heyday and its decline. La Crosse Republican and Leader, June 29, 1901; St. Paul and Minneapolis Pioneer Press, May 27, 1887; Wis. Mag. Hist., 28; A. H. Sanford, et al., Hist. of La Crosse (La Crosse, 1951); Encyclopedia of Biog. of Minn. (Chicago, 1900); Miss. Valley Historical Review, 6.

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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]