James John DAVIS, Congress, PA (1873-1947)

DAVIS, James John, a Senator from Pennsylvania; born in Tredegar, South Wales, October 27, 1873; immigrated to the United States in 1881 with his parents, who settled in Pittsburgh, Pa., and later moved to Sharon, Pa.; attended the public schools and Sharon (Pa.) Business College; apprenticed as a puddler in the steel industry when 11 years of age; moved to Elwood, Ind., in 1893 and worked in steel and tin-plate mills; held various offices in the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers of America; city clerk of Elwood, Ind., 1898-1902; recorder of Madison County, Ind., 1903-1907; moved to Pittsburgh, Pa., in 1907, and engaged in organizational work for the Loyal Order of Moose; chairman of the Loyal Order of Moose War Relief Commission in 1918 and visited the various camps in the United States, Canada, and Europe; appointed Secretary of Labor by President Warren Harding and reappointed by Presidents Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover 1921-1930, when he resigned, having been elected Senator; elected on November 4, 1930, as a Republican to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the refusal of the Senate to seat William S.Vare; reelected in 1932 and 1938, and served from December 2, 1930, to January 3, 1945; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1944; resumed educational and organizational work for the Loyal Order of Moose; died in Takoma Park, Md., November 22, 1947; interment in Uniondale Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Bibliography

Dictionary of American Biography; Chapple, Joseph. ”Our Jim”: A Biography of James Davis. Boston: Chapple Publishing Co., 1928; Davis, James John. The Iron Puddler: My Life in the Rolling Mills and What Came of It. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1922.

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