Three versions of Davis’ final thesis for his S.T.B. degree survived in the trunk. The first was handwritten–as all of his other Harvard papers were. The second was a typescript of the first. The third was typeset and was part of the graduation program.

The thesis concerns John Wise (1652-1725) who was the minister of the church in Ipswich, Massachusetts from 1683 until his death. Wise was an early advocate of the rights of the colonists, specifically against taxation without representation, a position for which Wise was arrested and fined in 1687.

Here is the original handwritten version:

04AProphetOfDemocracyFinalSTBThesisHandWrittenDraftJune1904

Here is the typescript:

04AProphetOfDemocracyFinalSTBThesisTypedDraftJune1904

Here is the typeset version:

04AProphetOfDemocracyFinalSTBThesisTypesetJune1904