Prominent among the energetic, farsighted and successful business men of Muskogee is Max Davidson, a clothing merchant who has developed a large business in handling the Hart, Schaffner & Marx clothing, his store being located at Main and Broadway. He is a native of St. Louis, Missouri, born November 17, 1880, his parents being Leopold and Fannie (Schwartz) Davidson, the former a native of Germany, while the latter was born in Bohemia. The father came to America in his boyhood days, settling in St. Joseph, Missouri, where he was engaged in the towel supply business for a number of years. He is now a dealer in cotton batting at Muskogee and is still active in commercial circles, although he has reached the age of seventy-five years. His wife is likewise living.
Max Davidson was reared and educated in St. Joseph and in St. Louis, Missouri, and after reaching young manhood he engaged in traveling for a shirt house, which he represented for ten years. In 1912 he came to Muskogee, where he turned his attention to the clothing trade, opening a small store. The town was comparatively new, having but recently been transformed from an Indian village the capital of the Creek Nation. Mr. Davidson, an aggressive and alert traveling salesman, recognized the possibilities of the country, believed in the rapid development of the district in the near future and determined to become a factor in its commercial growth. The business which he established in a small way developed largely and today he carries an enormous stock. His store has a frontage of one hundred feet. He handles the Hart, Schaffner & Marx clothes and he has always believed in judicious advertising. Moreover, the methods which he follows in the conduct of his business have brought substantial results, for he is energetic, possesses unabating industry and thorough reliability.
These have constituted the foundation upon which he has built his success. In addition to his mercantile interests Mr. Davidson is a stockholder in and the secretary and treasurer of the Cotton Products Company of Muskogee and is likewise interested in the Salina Materials Company of Salina, Oklahoma, with offices in Muskogee.
On the 22d of February, 1905,., Mr. Davidson was united in marriage to Miss Essie Stampfer and to them have been born four children: Lester, Richard, Birdie and Gilbert. Mr. Davidson owns a fine home at No. 506 North Twelfth street and his success enables him to surround his family with all of the comforts and many of the luxuries of life. He is a Consistory Mason, having attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite at McAlester. He is likewise a member of the Mystic Shrine at Muskogee, while his blue lodge membership is in St. Louis. He likewise belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of St. Louis and to the United Commercial Travelers of Muskogee. He has membership in the Chamber of Commerce, in the Ad Club and the Retail Merchants Association.
Politically he has always maintained an independent course, voting for men and measures rather than party, and religiously he adheres to the Jewish faith. He came to Muskogee with practically no capital. Starting out empty-handed, he has worked his way steadily upward and has acquired the substantial results of earnest, productive effort intelligently directed. He is in every sense of the word a self-made man and his record should serve to inspire and encourage others, showing what can be accomplished when there is a will to dare and to do.