[Cabin and Addition Donors and Namesakes]
built in 1990
named for William Winder "Chick" Laird
© FNCA 2002
Birth
Ronald Lloyd Davies was born September 7, 1920 in Valparaiso, Chile, to Ernest and Mariana (Lewin) Davies. His father was Welsh and his mother was English.
Dorothy J. Clayton was born in November 19, 1923 in Parlin NJ, the only child of Frederick George Clayton and Helen Merrick Clayton.
Early Life, Education, WWII
Ron Davies grew up in Viña del Mar, Chile, a small, coastal town about 80 miles west of Santiago. He attended St. George's College, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He then joined the Chilean Cavalry, getting his training from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in Sandhurst, England. During his military service in World War II, he parachuted into both Italy and Greece and participated in the liberation of Athens.
© Terry Brooks 2016Dorothy Clayton grew up in and around Wilmington DE, graduating from P.S. DuPont High School in 1941. She then went on to attend the University of Delaware in Newark DE.
Careers and Other Pursuits
Ron Davies worked as an accountant from 1951-1968 for the Antofagasta and Bolivia Railroad, a private rail line that ran from Antofagasta, Chile, north through Chile, then east over the Andes Mountains to La Paz, Bolivia.
Then, from 1968-1985, he worked as an accountant for Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI). In 1970, the Marxist business policies of Salvador Allende, Chile’s newly elected president, caused ICI to transfer Ron Davies to Mexico where he continued doing accounting for the firm throughout the Americas. At some point, the company transferred him again, this time to the United States. In 1985, he retired to West Palm Beach FL.
Dorothy Clayton was a trained lyric soprano vocalist. She studied under Frances Sheridan Haut at the Wilmington Music school, where she later went on to be a vocal instructor, following in her teacher's footsteps. Over the years, she performed with the choir at Christ Church Christiana Hundred in Wilmington, Wilmington Opera Society, Brecks Mill Cronies, and the Brandywiners. In 1963, as part of their annual amateur concert, she even sang at the famed La Scala Theatre in Milan, Italy.
Besides being a singer, Dorothy was also a linguist, gardener, and community organizer. From 1968-1979, she was the owner, editor, and publisher of the New Castle Gazette. In 1977, she was a founding member of the Delaware Press Women. She was an active member of the Arasapha Garden Club, and served as the chairperson of the 1965 Delaware State Flower Show held at her alma mater. In 1979, Dorothy formed a biracial committee — the first of its kind in New Castle — to fund and operate the Battery Park Summer Concert Series, an annual event that is still happening to this day.
Marriage and Family
Dorothy Clayton married Major N. Travers, Jr. on January 10, 1942 in Wilmington DE when she was 19 years old. They lived in the historic Lesley-Travers mansion in New Castle DE, a Gothic Revival style home commissioned by Dr. Allen Voorhees Lesley, designed by the Thomas Dixon and James M. Dixon architectural firm, and built by Augustin Van Kirk in 1855. Dorothy loved sharing her extensive gardens and tastefully decorated home, where she was known to create gourmet French and Italian meals for her family and guests.
The offices and printing presses of the New Castle Gazette were also located in the Lesley-Travers Mansion during Dorothy's ownership.
The Lesley-Travers Mansion was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
Major & Dorothy Travers had three sons: Major N. III, George, and James Travers. Major N. Travers, Jr. died in January of 1973.
© Jack E. Boucher 1982Dorothy sold the Lesley-Travers Mansion for $625,000 on April 29, 1994.
Church Life
Ron and Dorothy Davies were married at the Church of the Holy City (Swedenborgian) in Wilmington where Dorothy had been active.
Ron & Dorothy at the FNCA
Ron Davies served on the Assembly's Executive Committee (now the Board of Directors) for many years as the FNCA Treasurer. He was known in his spoken reports at meetings for always using the word "bucks" instead of "dollars", as in: "Our total income in Fiscal Year 1993 was 26,048 bucks."
Dorothy served on the Nominating committee from 1988-1990.
The Davies built the Laird Cabin in 1990 and named it in honor of W.W. "Chick" Laird.
Death
Dorothy Travers-Davies died March 8, 2010 in Dover DE. Ron Davies died two years later on February 11, 2012 also in Dover DE.
© Trevor 2013Special THANKS for help with the research on this page to:
Sally Hatton, librarian, New Castle Public Library, New Castle DE; and to James Travers.