Charles Davis (January 1, 1789 – November 21, 1863) was a

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

attorney and judge who served as an associate justice of the

Vermont Supreme Court The Vermont Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority of the U.S. state of Vermont. Unlike most other states, the Vermont Supreme Court hears appeals directly from the trial courts, as Vermont has no intermediate appeals court. The Court ...

from 1846 to 1847.

Biography

Charles Davis was born in

Mansfield, Connecticut Mansfield is a town in Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 25,892 at the 2020 census. Pequot and Mohegan people lived in this region for centuries before the arrival of English settler-immigrants in the late 17th cent ...

on January 1, 1789, the son of Philip Davis (d. 1822) and Christiana (Crosby) Davis. Philip Davis moved his family to

Rockingham, Vermont Rockingham is a Town in Windham County, on the southeastern Vermont border in the United States, along the Connecticut River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,832. Rockingham includes the incorporated villages of Bellows Falls and Sa ...

in 1792, and

Middlebury, Vermont Middlebury is the shire town (county seat) of Addison County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 9,152. Middlebury is home to Middlebury College and the Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History. History One of ...

in 1806. Davis was educated in Rockingham and Middlebury, and in 1808 was admitted to the sophomore class at

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalists, Middlebury was the first operating college or university in Vermont. The college currently enrolls 2,858 undergraduates from all ...

. He graduated in 1811, and began to study law with

Daniel Chipman Daniel Chipman (October 22, 1765April 23, 1850) was an American politician. He served as a United States representative from Vermont. Biography Chipman was born in Salisbury in the Connecticut Colony to Samuel and Hannah Austin Chipman. He gradu ...

. Davis edited the ''Vermont Mirror'', a newspaper opposed to the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

, but also served in the Vermont Militia when Vermont was threatened by a

British invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of British culture became popular in the United States and significant to the rising "counterculture" on b ...

from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. He was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1814, and practiced in Middlebury until moving to Barton in 1816. In 1818, he moved to

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

, and in 1828 he moved to Danville. In 1828, Davis was elected

State's Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a loc ...

of Caledonia County, and he served until 1834. In 1831, Davis served as Clerk of the

Vermont House of Representatives The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members, with each member representing around 4,100 citizens. Representatives ar ...

. He returned to the State's Attorney position in 1838, and served until 1839. Davis became a Whig when the party was founded. When Whig nominee

William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was an American military officer and politician who served as the ninth president of the United States. Harrison died just 31 days after his inauguration in 1841, and had the shortest pres ...

won the presidency in 1841, Davis was appointed

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

for the District of Vermont; he served until 1845, when he became Judge of the Caledonia County

Probate Court A probate court (sometimes called a surrogate court) is a court that has competence in a jurisdiction to deal with matters of probate and the Administration of an estate on death, administration of estates. In some jurisdictions, such courts ma ...

. He served until 1846, when he was appointed to the

. He was a member of the Supreme Court until 1848, when he resumed the practice of law in Danville. In 1851, he was elected to the

, and served one term.

Retirement and death

In retirement, Davis and his wife moved to

Rockford, Illinois Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, located in the far northern part of the state. Situated on the banks of the Rock River, Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County (a small portion of the city is located in Ogle County). ...

, where they resided with their son Isaac Fletcher Davis. Charles Davis died in Rockford on November 21, 1863. He was buried at Cedar Bluff Cemetery in Rockford.

Family

In 1814, Davis married Lucinda Stone of

Chesterfield, New Hampshire Chesterfield is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 3,552 at the 2020 census. It includes the villages of Spofford and West Chesterfield. Chesterfield is home to Spofford Lake, Chesterfield Gorge Natural ...

(d. 1884). They were the parents of five children: Charles; Philip; Norman; Isaac Fletcher; and Ellen.

References

Sources

Books

* *

Internet

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Charles 1789 births 1863 deaths People from Mansfield, Connecticut People from Caledonia County, Vermont Politicians from Rockford, Illinois Military personnel from Vermont Middlebury College alumni American militiamen in the War of 1812 U.S. state supreme court judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law Vermont lawyers State's attorneys in Vermont Vermont Whigs Vermont state court judges Justices of the Vermont Supreme Court Members of the Vermont House of Representatives Burials in Illinois 19th-century American judges 19th-century American lawyers