Henry G. Davis
Henry G. Davis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| United States Senator from West Virginia | |
| In office March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1883 | |
| Preceded by | Waitman T. Willey |
| Succeeded by | John E. Kenna |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Henry Gassaway Davis November 16, 1823 Woodstock, Maryland, U.S. |
| Died | March 11, 1916 (aged 92) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
Henry Gassaway Davis (November 16, 1823 – March 11, 1916) was a millionaire and Senator from West Virginia. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for Vice President of the United States in 1904.
Born on a farm in
The 1904 Democratic National Convention nominated a ticket of Alton B. Parker for president and Davis for vice president. Davis was chosen primarily for his ability to provide funding to the campaign. At nearly 81 years old, he remains the oldest person ever on a major party's national ticket. The Republican ticket of Theodore Roosevelt and Charles W. Fairbanks prevailed by a wide margin. After the election, Davis helped establish Davis & Elkins College, and he died in 1916.
Biography
Early life
Henry Gassaway Davis was born near Woodstock, Howard County, Maryland, the son of Louisa Warfield (née Brown; March 10, 1799 – July 23, 1868) and merchant Caleb Dorsey Davis (March 3, 1792 – September 4, 1850). He was the great-great-great-grandson of Maryland pioneer Thomas Davis, and the great-great-great-great-grandson of Maryland politician and justice Colonel Nicholas Gassaway, both of whom were of Welsh ancestry and emigrated to Maryland in the mid 17th century.[1]
Stage coaches stopped at Woodstock five days a week en route to Washington, D.C., and Davis later often recalled one of his earliest memories: witnessing the groundbreaking of the country's first railroad on July 4, 1828, from atop his father's shoulders in Baltimore.[2]
Davis had three brothers and a sister. His father's business prospered until he won a contract to grade a section of road between Baltimore and Frederick, Maryland, which caused heavy losses. Creditors caused even the family's horses and carriages to be sold, which proved devastating to Caleb Davis's health.[3]
Early career
When his family's finances collapsed, Davis, then 15 years old, abandoned his education and took a job carrying water for workmen at a nearby quarry and then became caretaker of "Waverly," a nearby farm owned by Governor
Davis also explored the Alleghenies, particularly the area drained by the Potomac River to the east and the Cheat River on the western side of the eastern continental divide. He purchased land rich in timber or coal (often for $1 an acre). He soon built sawmills to process the lumber and extended branch railroads to new coal mines, and also invested in banking in Piedmont.
When the Civil War began, even the B&O's president,
Personal life
On February 22, 1853, in Frederick County, Maryland. Davis married Katherine Ann Salome "Kate" Bantz.[8] Henry and Katherine had eight children, three of whom died in infancy. One of those three is unidentified; the remaining seven were:
- (1) - Mary Louise "Hallie" Davis (December 19, 1853 – March 1, 1933) - She married industrialist and politician Stephen Benton Elkins(September 26, 1841 – January 4, 1911) on April 14, 1875, in Baltimore; her married name was Hallie Davis Elkins. Hallie Davis was Stephen Elkins's second wife; his first was Sarah Simms "Sallie" Jacobs (1845 – 1872), whom he had married in 1866 and with whom he had two children. His marriage with Hallie Davis produced five children. Elkins, a Republican, would become his father-in-law's protégé and business partner and die 22 years before his wife and five years before her father.
- (2) - Kate Bantz Davis (December 1, 1856 – January 21, 1903)
- (3) - Anderson Cord Davis (1859 - December 1862)
- (4) - Ada Kate Davis (January 14, 1862 - September 1863)
- (5) - Grace Thomas Davis (October 19, 1869 – January 18, 1931) (a.k.a. Gracie Davis)
- (6) - Henry Gassaway Davis Jr. (May 10, 1871 – April 24, 1896) (a.k.a. Harry Davis), lost at sea off the Atlantic coast of South Africa
- (7) - John Thomas Davis (March 31, 1874 – June 27, 1935)
Political and commercial life
In 1865 Davis was elected a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates. The following year, he founded the Potomac and Piedmont Coal and Railway Company with the intent of furnishing transportation to his coal mining and timbering interests. The company was given the right to construct railroad grades in Mineral, Grant, Tucker and Randolph counties. He became a state senator in 1869. In 1870, he was elected to the United States Senate, serving two terms, with his service ending in 1883.
Following his service in the Senate, Davis retired to
Davis represented the U.S. at the Pan-American Conferences of 1889 and 1901.
Candidate for Vice President
In
Later years
Davis in his last years acted as chairman of the permanent Pan American Railway Committee (1901–1916) and also donated land to build
Legacy
- Davis and Elkins College, in Elkins, WV; named for Senators Davis and Elkins
- Graceland (Elkins, West Virginia); the summer home for Davis and a National Historic Landmark
- Henry Gassaway Davis House; Davis' home at Piedmont, West Virginia, built in 1871
- He is the namesake of the town of Henry, West Virginia
- He is the namesake of the town of Gassaway, West Virginia[11]
- He is the namesake of the town of Davis, West Virginia
References
- ^ Pepper, Charles Melville. The life and times of Henry Gassaway Davis, 1823-1916. The Century Company, New York, New York, 1920, p.7
- ^ Oscar D. Lambert, Pioneer Leaders of Western Virginia (Parkersburg, 1935), pp. 204-205
- ^ Lambert p. 206
- ^ Lambert pp. 206-207
- ^ Lambert pp. 207-209
- ^ Lambert pp. 209-211
- ^ Lambert pp. 212-213
- ^ Katherine Ann Salome Bantz (December 22, 1827 – December 3, 1902) was a daughter of Gideon Bantz Sr. (February 9, 1792 – October 13, 1854) and Anna Maria Sowers (January 4, 1796 – October 11, 1873). Gideon Bantz Sr., a leading merchant of Frederick, Maryland, was often referred to as "Judge Bantz" because between 1843 and 1847 he had been one of the three judges serving on the bench of the Frederick County Orphans' Court. Gideon Bantz Sr., also served in other public offices in Frederick County, as follows: (1) Boards of Common Council (1831) (2) Board of Aldermen (1832–1838, 1844–1850) (3) Frederick County House of Delegates (1847–1848). It is sometimes mistakenly stated that Katherine Bantz was a daughter of Gideon Davis Bantz (September 19, 1854 – August 7, 1898), who also is frequently referred to as "Judge Bantz." Gideon Davis Bantz, who actually was Katherine Bantz's nephew, was a lawyer in St. Louis, Missouri, who moved to Silver City, New Mexico, in 1886 and took up the practice of law there. He became presiding Territorial Judge of the 3rd Judicial District of New Mexico, and in February 1895 was appointed by President Grover Cleveland as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Territory of New Mexico.
- ^ David L. Taylor (October 2005). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Wees Historic District" (PDF). State of West Virginia, West Virginia Division of Culture and History, Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2011-09-10.
- ^ Ross, Thomas Richard. "Henry Gassaway Davis". West Virginia Encyclopedia. West Virginia Humanities Council. Retrieved July 24, 2017.
- ^ Kenny, Hamill (1945). West Virginia Place Names: Their Origin and Meaning, Including the Nomenclature of the Streams and Mountains. Piedmont, WV: The Place Name Press. p. 260.
- United States Congress. "Henry G. Davis (id: D000103)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
External links
- The West Virginia & Regional History Center at West Virginia University houses the papers of Henry G. Davis in three collections, A&M 13, A&M 717, and A&M 1028
Further reading
- Williams, John Alexander. West Virginia and the Captains of Industry (1976)
Williams, John Alexander. "Davis and Elkins of West Virginia: businessmen in politics" (PhD dissertation, Yale University, 1967) ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1967. 6708432.
