Garrett DAVIS, Congress, KY (1801-1872)

DAVIS, Garrett, (brother of Amos Davis), a Representative and a Senator from Kentucky; born in Mount Sterling, Ky., September 10, 1801; completed preparatory studies; employed in the office of the county clerk of Montgomery County and afterward of Bourbon County; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1823 and commenced practice in Paris, Ky.; member, State house of representatives 1833-1835; elected as a Whig to the Twenty-sixth and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1839-March 3, 1847); chairman, Committee on Territories (Twenty-seventh Congress); declined to be a candidate for reelection in 1846; resumed the practice of law and also engaged in agricultural pursuits; declined the nomination for lieutenant governor in 1848; declined the American Party nomination for governor in 1855 and for the presidency in 1856; was opposed to secession and supported the Constitutional Union ticket in 1860; elected as a Unionist in 1861 to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the expulsion of John C. Breckinridge; reelected as a Democrat in 1867 and served from December 10, 1861, until his death in Paris, Bourbon County, Ky., September 22, 1872; chairman, Committee on Private Land Claims (Forty-second Congress); interment in Paris Cemetery.

Bibliography

American National Biography; Dictionary of American Biography; U.S. Congress. Memorial Addresses for Garrett Davis. 42nd Cong., 3rd sess., 1872-1873. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1873.

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