David Davis

Heather Bohn
Bent School, Bloomington

David Davis is one of Bloomington, Illinois', most famous historical citizens. He was a United States senator, a Supreme Court justice, and one of Abraham Lincoln's best friends.

Davis was born in 1815 in Cecil County, Maryland. His father died before he was born and his mother remarried a man named Franklin Betts. Betts stole money that David Davis's father had left to him. Because Betts stole money from him, Davis went to live with an uncle.

Davis studied at Kenyon College in Ohio. He graduated in 1832 when he was only seventeen years old. After college he studied law at Yale Law School. Then he studied law in Massachusetts with a judge. There he met Sarah Walker, whom he later married. He asked her to marry him while they were in Massachusetts, but she said she would marry him when he had a good home and enough money.

In 1836 Davis moved to Bloomington, Illinois, and became a circuit lawyer. When he had enough money, he went back to Massachusetts and married Sarah Walker and brought her back to Bloomington. They bought land and their first home in 1844, the year Davis also became a state legislator. The Davises lived in that first house for twenty-eight years. Davis continued to buy land until he owned 1,200 acres in Bloomington.

Davis met Abraham Lincoln in Vandalia, Illinois, when they were both riding the circuit as lawyers. Davis later became a circuit judge. Davis and Lincoln were very good friends, and when Lincoln ran for president, Davis became Lincoln's campaign manager. In 1862, to thank Davis, Lincoln appointed him to the United States Supreme Court. When Lincoln was assassinated, even though Davis was sick, he went to Washington, D.C., and took care of Lincoln's affairs. Davis rode on the funeral train that carried Lincoln's body back to Springfield, Illinois.

David Davis campaigned tirelessly on Lincoln's behalf for the Republican Party presidential nomination. He was rewarded for his efforts with a seat on the bench of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Davis was a Supreme Court justice for fifteen years. People thought that as a Supreme Court justice Davis had moral courage because he made his own decisions and he said what he thought was right, not what other people thought was right. Davis wrote a very important Supreme Court decision in 1866—ex parte Milligan. Davis's opinion was that the army could not try a person unless that person was a soldier. Lawyers and judges still use the case today as legal precedent in lawsuits. In 1877 Davis retired from the Supreme Court and was elected to the U.S. Senate.

Davis accumulated sufficient wealth by 1872 to build a mansion in Bloomington which he called Clover Lawn. It is now a state historic site. Visitors can tour Davis's home and see many of the things that belonged to the Davis family. Davis retired from the senate to Clover Lawn in 1883 and died there three years later, when he was seventy-one years old.

David Davis helped bring law and justice to Illinois at a time of great turmoil. As a Supreme Court justice he made a permanent mark on American history. Bloomington, Illinois, is proud to have been the home of David Davis.—[From Internet: www.state.il.us/hpa/Davidd.htm; The Pantagraph, Dec. 4, 1992; Walter Havighurst, The Heartland: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois; David Davis Mansion guide, Feb. 12, 1998.]

40 ILLINOIS HISTORY/ FEBRUARY 1999