Benjamin Davis (52)
Election date: 1766 (Elected to the Young Junto. Unidentified; surname spelled both Davis and Davies.)Benjamin Davis (fl. 1766) was a merchant and a member of the Young Junto, elected in 1766, the same year it was renamed the American Society. His name is spelled both Davies and Davis in different documents, making it impossible to identify him with certainty as one of the several individuals by either of those names living in Philadelphia at the time. He attended the organization’s meetings diligently for several years, submitting queries on the ocean’s salt content and the formation of clouds. He was likely born into a Quaker family and may have been the Benjamin Davis who signed the 1765 Non-Importation Agreement, contributed to the Silk Society, and invested in Nova Scotia landholdings with Benjamin Franklin and others. It is not clear whether he was the Benjamin Davies who published a map of Philadelphia and an almanac entitled, The American Repository of Useful Information, between 1795 and 1799. (PI)