Judge David Davis

His Early Career in Public Office

Nadia Nammari
Brookwood Junior High School, Glenwood

David Davis was an influential politician. He was a kind and honest person who believed in what was right. It is said that "few Illinois leaders of his time enjoyed greater popularity than David Davis." His early years in politics were essential to his success.

David Davis was born on March 19, 1815, in Cecil County, Maryland, on his grandfather's plantation. His father died eight months before he was born. In 1820 his mother remarried. From then on, Davis was passed from relative to relative to live with. Davis was a rejected child. He lived with Reverend Henry Lyon Davis who sent him to excellent private schools to receive a good education. Davis attended Kenyon College in Ohio. He studied mathematics, rhetoric, philosophy, chemistry, and political economy. He graduated in 1832, a rare accomplishment at that time.

After Davis graduated, he worked as a law student in the office of Henry W. Bishop in Lenox, Massachusetts. He then embarked on a journey west to look for opportunities to practice law. At first, he had planned to settle in St. Louis, Missouri, and begin his law career. However, his relative, Levi Davis, told him that the opportunity to practice law was better in Illinois. He suggested the town of Pekin, Illinois, because it was not overpopulated and the competition among lawyers would not be so great. Davis took his relative's advice, settled in Pekin, and began his career as a lawyer. In 1835 Davis traveled to Vandalia, Illinois, to watch the December legislative session. There, he met three men who would be lifelong supporters and friends. They were Abraham Lincoln, Jesse W. Fell, and John Todd Stuart.

Judge David Davis enjoyed an illustrious career, capped by his appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 1836 Davis contracted a bad case of malaria. This attack scared him so much that he moved away from the river town of Pekin, Illinois. Davis moved twenty-five miles east to the town of Bloomington. Davis bought a law office in Bloomington from Jesse Fell. Davis practiced law in his Bloomington office and also rode on horseback to other towns to practice law. To Davis, riding on horseback was strenuous activity because he was not in good physical shape. He weighed three hundred pounds, and riding long hours was not comfortable for him. However, he kept on because he believed it was his duty as a lawyer to be available to everyone.

In 1836 Davis met with a man named Wells Colton, a person he already knew well from when he lived in Lenox, Massachusetts. Davis and Colton became good friends and a year later formed the law firm of Davis and Colton. The two men had a strong partnership.

By 1844 the law firm of Davis and Colton had became one of the most active law firms in Illinois. Legal cases came from everywhere. In 1844 for example, out of sixty-one chancery cases at the spring term of the Circuit Court of McLean County, Illinois, Davis and Colton were attorneys in four of the cases. This made them very successful and prominent among the county's law firms.

Davis's political career began to grow. In 1844 he ran for a seat in the Illinois state legislature. He was elected into the Illinois House of Representatives. In the state legislature, Davis took an active part. He challenged other representatives to pass bills that he thought would benefit the state of Illinois. During this time, Davis's law partner. Wells Colton, moved the law firm of Davis and Colton to St. Louis, Missouri, in order to expand the business

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and earn more money. Davis remained close friends with him.

In 1847 Davis was elected as a member of the Constitutional Convention. He wished to speak for judicial reform. Davis recommended that the courts in Illinois be reorganized. Also, Illinois should be split into nine judicial districts. As a result of his ideas, Davis was elected as a judge on the Eighth Circuit Court in 1848. Davis rode around his circuit on horseback judging cases. Many times, Abraham Lincoln followed Davis on the circuit.

Davis was an interesting judge. One of his most hilarious moments was when he once "absent-mindedly sentenced a youth to serve seven years 'in the state legislature'," as one historian wrote. Davis was a popular judge. He was fair and honest. He mainly heard misdemeanor cases about gambling or selling liquor. He sometimes heard slander and libel suits and a few murder cases and divorce cases. Davis also helped young lawyers working in his courts to get experience and to learn the law.

Davis was re-elected as the judge of the Eighth Circuit Court in 1855. He was an experienced judge by then. He had developed strong bonds with many of his lawyers, since close friendships were quickly made among the members of the circuit. There was one friendship that was extremely important to him—one that would have an effect on his future. Davis was great friends with Abraham Lincoln, and they traveled essentially the same circuit twice a year. In 1860, after eleven years of service as a judge to the Eighth Circuit Court of Illinois, Davis became Abraham Lincoln's campaign manager in Lincoln's bid for the presidency.

In conclusion, David Davis had a strong career in law and politics. He was an excellent judge. Davis was an honest man and a model for other politicians to imitate. He had great influence on shaping the Illinois judicial system.—[From Willard L. King, Lincoln's Manager David Davis; Biography Online Database, David Davis, <http://www.biography.coni/cgi-bin/biomain.cgi>; James Gray, Rivers of America; William H. Herndon and Jesse W. Weik, Herndon's Life of Lincoln; Donald F. Tingley, Essays in Illinois History; David Herbert Donald, Lincoln.]

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