After working with William Parks in Virginia he removed to New Bern to pursue a printing career upon learning that an official printer was needed in that colony.

Soon after his arrival he began to put down roots, married, and became active in local politics, holding several positions in public office, including membership in the North Carolina Assembly and thereafter a county Sheriff.

Shortly after Davis married he acquired the property on the southwest corner of Broad and East Front streets in New Bern, where his printing office was located for many years.

[4][5] North Carolina was the last colony except Georgia to receive a printer and printing press, as it was largely unsettled during the early 18th century.

[2][7] Upon receiving word that the North Carolina Assembly, seated in New Bern, needed an official printer to publish their laws, legislative journals and other official documents, all of which were hand-written in manuscript form and generally disorganized, Davis moved from Virginia to North Carolina with his printing press.

At the age of 28, he became the first printer to set up a print shop in that colony in New Bern, situated at the mouth of the Neuse River near the coast.

One of his first assignments as public printer was the printing of paper money (promissory notes), for the North Carolina provincial government.

In his defense he maintained that on the salary the General Assembly was paying him he could not afford the expenses needed for the time and traveling required to deliver the documents.

The Assembly searched earnestly for another replacement, but were unable to find a qualified printer who would perform his duties for the amount of money they were offering.

Upon learning of the difficulties the General Assembly was facing, and feeling a patriotic duty to his country in its time of need, Davis offered to take up the state's printing once again, and was willing to accept payment whenever it was possible.

In 1753 he published a work by English missionary Clement Hall, rector of Saint Paul's Church in Edenton,[19] entitled, A Collection of Many Christian Experiences, and Several Places of Scripture, the first non-legal book printed in North Carolina.

North Carolina historian William S. Powell maintains that it is quite likely that Hall's work was printed with materials purchased from Franklin.

[28][29]After winning the Seven Years' War with France, England found itself heavily in debt and in 1764 began imposing a series of taxes on the colonies.

In the August 17 issue of the Gazette he also printed a petition, which was sent to King George III, protesting England's failure to enforce an indemnity from France rather than seeking revenues from the colonists.

[34] The numerous laws against counterfeiting during the years leading up to the American Revolution indicates that this activity occurred often enough in the colonies to warrant their numbers.

[35] Several colonies, including Virginia and North Carolina, regarded counterfeiting as an act of treason, where the penalty of death was provided.

In 1754 he was elected sheriff of Craven County, but after ten months he chose to resign when he was selected as a representative in New Bern in the Assembly.

[5] In 1755 Benjamin Franklin, the Postmaster-General for the American colonies, appointed Davis as the first postmaster of North Carolina at New Bern.

In 1764 he established and owned a sawmill on Slocumb's Creek, and posted advertisements for a manager who could operate it while he was committed to his public service involvements.

Davis performed many patriotic duties, including his signing of the Craven County Address on Liberty, in 1774, and became a committee member which served in the arming and supplying of ships for war, among other such war-time efforts.

[5][44] Two years after Davis resumed publication of the North Carolina Gazette he fell into ill health and died in February 1785 at the age of 64.

Davis left a will which was probated in the Craven County court in March 1785, which would support the idea that he very likely died the previous month.

[45][40] His business partner, Robert Keith, continued publication of the North Carolina Gazette, but changed its name to The Impartial Intelligencer and Weekly General Advertiser.

[48] On November 20, 1925 The Richard Dobbs Spaight chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a bronze historical plaque mounted on a block of granite at the site where Davis established the first printing press in North Carolina in New Bern.

The plaque commemorates James Davis as the first printer of North Carolina and the first to establish a newspaper in that state, among other such notable accomplishments.