Marcus Lafayette Davis, son of Morgan and Ellie Lindsey Davis, was born June 10, 1836, in Greenville County.

At age 21, he married Mary Dunagan, the daughter of Philip Dunagan, and the couple went to live in Georgia.

Lafayette became proficient in gunsmithing and blacksmithing, as well as carpentry. When civil war was declared in 1861 and the Confederate Army called for troops, he volunteered.

Due to his proficiency in gunsmithing, he was not inducted into the Army, but was assigned to a gun shop in Greenville, S.C., which made rifles for the troops. The shop was located about 15 miles northwest of the city of Greenville at a wide place in the road, known as Tugaloo.

Workers at the shop lived in cabins surrounding it; there was no town nearby.

Later, the small shop was moved to Greenville, enlarged, and named “The Gun Foundry.” Lafayette’s specialty at the foundry was making barrels and sights of nickel or silver.