In 1946, the National Father’s Day Committee declared 63-year-old New Yorker George N. Davis the father with the largest family in the United States.
Whether or not his family really was “the largest family in the United States” at that time I don’t know, but I can tell you that he had a total of 24 children (though only 20 were still living in 1946). He had seven with his first wife, Lillian, and the rest with his second wife, Anna.
Here are the names of all 24, in alphabetical order:
- Alice
- Anna
- Arthur
- Beulah
- Blanche
- Brayton
- Clark
- Charles (died in infancy)
- Derwood
- Emma Jean
- Geneva
- George
- Irving
- Isaac (died in infancy)
- Isaac
- Joyce Mae (died in infancy)
- Laura (died as an adult)
- Lena
- Lovisa
- Raymond
- Rupert
- Viva
- Wallace
- Winrick
According to the 1920 Census, he also had a stepdaughter named Ella.
Out of the 24 names on the list, which girl and boy names do you like best?
Source: George N. Davis, Father of the Year
P.S. Here’s a short newsreel movie [vid] about the family.