Anna, Illinois, 1885. Salt-glazed tile with cobalt-highlighted inscription, "to the memory of Hon. P.V.N. Davis, member of the legislator from Union Co Ills 1885 Anna April 21. 1885." 5" square. Phillip V.N. Davis, known usually as P.V.N. Davis, was born in the 1820s in New York. In 1865, he appears in the New York state census records in Mendon, where he gives his birthplace as Chatauqua and his occupation as "speculator." By 1880, he is in Union County, Illinois, age 52, and a "retired merchant." He was heavily involved in local politics, serving as the chairman of the Democratic county committee, and in 1885, he ran for a state representative's seat on the Democratic ticket. The same year he was also listed as the agent for the Jonesboro grain elevator. He died Oct. 6, 1887. Cornwall and Wallace Kirkpatrick were heavily involved in local politics, with Cornwall serving as Anna's first mayor, and as Democrats, they undoubtedly would have known Davis well.

Minor edge chips, the front surface has one flake (at "from" in line 4) and the other blemishes are kiln defects (so as-made); there is a slight warp and the tile does not lay flat.