Cyrus W. Davis
American politician (1856–1917); 31st Secretary of State of the State of Maine

Cyrus William Davis (September 25, 1856 – November 1, 1917) was an American politician from Maine. Davis was a Democrat from Waterville, Maine. He served as that city's mayor from 1903 to 1904 and as Secretary of State of Maine from 1911 to 1913.
Biography
Cyrus W. Davis was born in Buxton, Maine on September 25, 1856.
He married Flora E. Philbrook in 1879, and they had two children.
He died from pneumonia at his home in Portland on November 1, 1917. He is interred at Pine Grove Cemetery in Waterville.
The following newspaper article is from the scrapbook of John J. Turner (1858–1937), who knew Davis from Mr. Turner's time at Casco Castle in South Freeport, Maine, from 1902 to 1911.
The public source identifies “Cyrus W. Davis” as american politician (1856–1917); 31st Secretary of State of the State of Maine. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Cyrus, Davis and American.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q24067949. The first chronological checks are 1856, 1917, 1903 and 1904.
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This entry incorporates text from “Cyrus W. Davis” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.