Capt. Mervyn Bathurst Davis

Settling in Waco in 1873, Captain Mervyn Bathurst Davis was a Civil War veteran who worked as a newspaper reporter for the Waco Day, Dallas Weekly Herald, and the Dallas Morning News. Davis was active for three decades in wildlife conservation in the state. In 1881, he co-founded the Game Protective Association in Texas, and in 1895, helped create the Texas Humane Society. From 1904 until his death in 1912, he was secretary of the Texas Audubon Societies, working together with Henry Philemon Attwater and others. He also served on the Game Law Committee in 1907, pressing for Texas’ Model Game Law, to require hunter licensing and fund game warden salaries. Throughout, he used his media skills for educating the public and government leaders.