John and Gabe Davis lived in Anson, Abilene, and Nacogdoches during the early years of their marriage, where he was engaged in the mercantile business. In Anson, he and his brother-in-law, George Baker, established the firm Davis and Baker, which later became Baker-Bryant when John Davis left Anson. After the early years in the mercantile business, he established his family in Fort Worth where the children grew to adulthood. He was engaged in land and cattle trading and was serving the city as land agent at the time of the building of Lake Worth. In retirement years John and Gabe lived first on a farm in Parker Co and, later, at a surburban home in Weatherford where they lived until her death. He spent his last years with his daughter, Madge, a professor at Midwestern University in Wichita Falls.