Abraham Lincoln Davis was born on November 2, 1914 in Bayou Goula, Louisiana. His father, for whom he was named, founded the Pilgrim Baptist Church in that town and served as its pastor for fifty years. His mother, Jennie Edigeson, cared for the couple's six children.
Although Davis periodically interrupted his studies to work and help send his siblings to school, in 1932 Davis received a diploma from J. W. Hoffman Junior High School in New Orleans and went on to graduate from McDonogh No. 35 Senior High School in 1935.
He attended Leland College in Baker, La. , from which he received his B. A. in 1938. A year later he was awarded a D. D. by Union Baptist Theological Seminary in New Orleans.
He became the pastor of the one of New Orleans' oldest and largest African American churches, New Zion Baptist Church in 1935 and served in that capacity until his death in 1978.
Davis was actively involved in politics and civil rights in New Orleans, establishing the Orleans Parish Progressive Voters League (OPPVL) in 1949, became a founding member and second vice president of SCLC, and was heavily involved in the New Orleans merchant boycotts and sit-ins of the early 1960s. He was a close political ally of former New Orleans Mayors de Lesseps "Chep" Morrison and Victor H. Schiro, as well as Louisiana Governor John J. McKeithen. Davis ran unsuccessfully for the Louisiana House of Representatives for Districts 10 and 11 in 1967 and was appointed to the New Orleans City Council in 1975.
Davis was involved with a number of affiliated religious organizations including the Interdenominational Ministries Alliance, the Ideal Missionary Baptist and Educational Association, and the National Baptist Convention. He was also appointed to a number of City of New Orleans committees and boards, such as the Union Passenger Terminal Board, the Registration Advisory Information Committee of New Orleans, and the Louisiana Committee on Human Relations, Rights, and Responsibilities.
Davis died on June 25, 1978 at the age of 63 of pancreatic cancer and is buried in Bayou Goula.
On August 13 of 1935 the New Zion Baptist Church in New Orleans elected Davis as pastor, a position he held for the rest of his life.
In 1950 Davis was named a member of the Advisory Commission to the Mayor of New Orleans.
Davis never married or had children of his own.
