Jacob Erastus Davis (October 31, 1905 – February 28, 2003) was a Democratic member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. He served a single term from 1941 to 1943.

Early life and career

Jacob E. Davis was born in

Beaver, Ohio Beaver is a village in Pike County, Ohio, United States. The population was 442 at the 2020 census. The village most likely was named after nearby Beaver Creek. Gallery File:BeaverOH1.JPG, Beaver corporation limit sign. File:BeaverOH2.JPG, Lo ...

. He graduated from Beaver High School in 1923. He received his A.B. from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

, in 1927, and J.D. from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

, in 1930. He worked as a lawyer in private practice, and served as prosecuting attorney of

Pike County, Ohio Pike County is a county located in the Appalachian (southern) region of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,088. Its county seat is Waverly. The county is named for explorer Zebulon Pike. History Pike County ...

, from 1931 to 1935. He was a member of the

Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in ...

from 1935 to 1937, serving as speaker pro tempore and majority floor leader in 1937. He was common pleas judge of Pike County, Ohio, from 1937 to 1940.

Congress

Davis was elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-seventh Congress. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the Seventy-eighth Congress in

1942 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in wh ...

Later career and death

He was special assistant to the

United States Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the United States Department of the Navy, Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States D ...

from 1943 to 1944. He was vice president of

Kroger The Kroger Company, or simply Kroger, is an American retail company that operates (either directly or through its subsidiaries) supermarkets and multi-department stores throughout the United States. Founded by Bernard Kroger in 1883 in Cincin ...

Company of

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, from 1945 to 1960 and president and CEO from 1961 to 1970. He died on February 28, 2003, in

Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the historical city (i.e. in the immediate vicinity of downtown Naples) was 19,115. Naples is a principal city of the Naples-Marco Island, Flori ...

. Interment in Spring Grove Mausoleum in Cincinnati, Ohio.

References

The Political Graveyard
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Jacob Erastus 1905 births 2003 deaths County district attorneys in Ohio Harvard Law School alumni Kroger Democratic Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives Ohio lawyers Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio Ohio state court judges Ohio State University alumni People from Beaver, Ohio Politicians from Cincinnati 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American judges 20th-century American lawyers