Davis, Porter & Co., Philadelphia
Davis, Porter & Coates, Philadelphia

Charles H. Davis opened a bookstore at 62 North Eighth Street in Philadelphia in 1853.

On July 1, 1864 Willis P. Hazard along with Charles H. Davis and Robert Porter formed a partnership to start a publishing and bookselling business. This new firm was called Davis, Porter & Company and was located at 21 South Sixth Street in Philadelphia. Hazard disposed of his interests in the company in December of 1865. In February, 1866 Henry T. Coates was made a partner. It was styled Davis, Porter & Coates. Davis retired in 1867 and the house's new name became "Porter & Coates".

Robert Porter was born in 1842 in Wilmington, Delaware. His first work in the book world was with George S. Appleton. Subsequently he joined the above men in the new firm in 1864. He retired from Porter & Coates in 1895 and died in 1899.

Henry T. Coates (1843-1910) was a native of Philadelphia and a graduate of Haverford College. When Robert Porter died, he took over the firm and renamed it.

(Most references note that Davis and Porter, a bookselling firm was established in 1848. Since Porter would have only been six years old at the time, this appears to be incorrect. Unfortunately, it seems that all notices of this early firm came from the same source and no reference is ever noted. Of interest is that the Copartnership notice of 1864 does not mention a preceding entity. Also Davis had his own store without Porter in the 1850's.)

Davis, Porter & Co.	July 1, 1864-1866
Davis, Porter & Coates	February 1, 1866-1867

These firms specialized in series for juveniles. There were more than fifty published series.