Franklin DAVENPORT, Congress, NJ (1755-1832)

DAVENPORT, Franklin, (nephew of Benjamin Franklin), a Senator and a Representative from New Jersey; born in Philadelphia, Pa., in September 1755; received an academic education; studied law in Burlington, N.J.; admitted to the bar in 1776 and commenced practice in Gloucester City, N.J.; clerk of Gloucester County Court in 1776; during the Revolutionary War enlisted as a private in the New Jersey Militia, later becoming brigade major, brigade quartermaster, and in 1778 assistant quartermaster for Gloucester County; appointed colonel in the New Jersey Militia in 1779 and subsequently major general, which rank he held until his death; prosecutor of pleas in 1777; moved to Woodbury, N.J., in 1781 and continued the practice of law; appointed first surrogate of Gloucester County in 1785; member, State general assembly 1786-1789; colonel in the New Jersey Line during the Whiskey Insurrection of 1794; appointed brigadier general of Gloucester County Militia in 1796; appointed to the United States Senate as a Federalist to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John Rutherfurd, and served from December 5, 1798, to March 3, 1799, when a successor was elected and qualified; elected to the Sixth Congress (March 4, 1799-March 3, 1801); was not a candidate for renomination in 1800; resumed the practice of law; appointed master in chancery in 1826; died in Woodbury, Gloucester County, N.J., July 27, 1832; interment in Presbyterian Cemetery, North Woodbury, N.J.

Bibliography

Stewart, Frank J. Gloucester County’s Most Famous Citizen: General Franklin Davenport, 1755-1832. Woodbury, NJ: Gloucester County Democrat Print, 1921.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present