James Harvey "Cyclone" Davis (December 24, 1853 – January 31, 1940) was a People's Party (Populist) organizer and a Democratic

U.S. Representative 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 c ...

from

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

for one term from 1915–1917.

Biography

Early life

Davis was born near Walhalla,

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

. He moved to Texas with his parents, William Barton and Salina (Moore) Davis, who settled in East Texas in Wood County near Winnsboro, in 1857.Handbook of Texas online
/ref> Davis attended the common schools and taught school from 1875 to 1878. He was able to study under the tutelage of attorney John D. Templeton during his sixteenth year. He strenuously applied his native talents to academics at night and soon qualified for a teaching certificate. He married Belle Barton, a distant cousin, on December 25, 1878. The couple had four children.

Populist and Democrat

He was elected judge of

Franklin County, Texas Franklin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 10,359. The county seat is Mount Vernon. History Franklin County was erected and established in 1875, four decades after the independenc ...

in 1878 as a Democrat. At the time he was the youngest county judge in Texas. Subsequently, he studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1882 and commenced practice in Mount Vernon, Texas. Later, he engaged in the newspaper-publishing business, buying the ''Mount Vernon-Franklin Herald'' and was President of the

Texas Press Association Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by bo ...

from 1886-1888. Although he was a passable writer, his real talent lay in oratory. He campaigned for

John Ireland John Benjamin Ireland (January 30, 1914 – March 21, 1992) was a Canadian actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in ''All the King's Men'' (1949), making him the first Vancouver-born actor to receive an Oscar nomin ...

, who was elected Governor in 1884, and Davis became a lecturer for the state

Farmers' Alliance The Farmers' Alliance was an organized agrarian economic movement among American farmers that developed and flourished ca. 1875. The movement included several parallel but independent political organizations — the National Farmers' Alliance and ...

that same year. Davis became one of the foremost attractions on the alliance speakers' circuit through his verbal assaults upon such opponents as banks and corporations. During the 1880s he was tagged "Methodist Jim" for the fervency of his address. He was neither a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

nor a preacher, but a lifelong member of the

Disciples of Christ The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States and Canada. The denomination started with the Restoration Movement during the Second Great Awakening, first existing during the 19th ...

. When President

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...

blamed the Democratic party's support of the coinage of silver for his failure to win the presidency in 1888, Davis left the party. He also sold the ''Franklin Herald'' and in 1889 founded the ''Sulphur Springs Alliance Vindicator''. He campaigned for Democrat Jim Hogg in his gubernatorial bid in 1890 because the Farmers' Alliance endorsed him. Thereafter, Davis cast his fortunes with the People's Party (commonly known as the Populists). He was one of only five lawyers to participate in the founding convention of the People's party in Cincinnati in 1892, where he served on both the executive and platform committees. He received the nickname "Cyclone" from an 1894 debate with Kentucky Attorney General Watt Hardin. According to an Associated Press reporter, Davis so demolished his opponent that only one sweep of the "Texas Cyclone" was sufficient cause for Hardin to cancel the remaining scheduled debates. Cyclone Davis was an unsuccessful Populist candidate for Attorney General of Texas in 1892 and he was influential in the formation of the People's Party, serving as organizer and

committeeman In the United States, a political party committee is an organization, officially affiliated with a political party and registered with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC), which raises and spends money for political campaigning. Political party ...

from 1892 to 1900. He ran for Congress as a Populist candidate for election in 1894, but he was defeated. He declined the appointment as Superintendent of Agriculture for the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

in 1914. He was elected as a Democrat to the

64th United States Congress The 64th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1915, to M ...

(1915–1917) defeating incumbent Democrat Daniel E. Garrett of

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Out of office

Garrett returned the favor two years later and defeated Davis in a rematch. Davis returned to his home in

Sulphur Springs Mineral springs are naturally occurring springs that produces hard water, water that contains dissolved minerals. Salts, sulfur compounds, and gases are among the substances that can be dissolved in the spring water during its passage under ...

and engaged in

Chautauqua Chautauqua ( ) was an adult education and social movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua bro ...

work and prohibition work after 1916. He joined the second

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

in his later years. In 1932 he came out of political retirement to oppose Joseph W. Bailey, Jr., for congressman-at-large in the Democratic primaries. The elder

Joseph W. Bailey Joseph Weldon Bailey, Sr. (October 6, 1862April 13, 1929), was a United States senator, United States Representative, lawyer, and Bourbon Democrat who was famous for his speeches extolling conservative causes, such as opposition to woman suffrag ...

had been a vehement foe of Populism in the 1890s. Davis lost in the runoff primary. He legally changed his name to "James Harvey Cyclone Davis" in 1932. He remarried Maude V. Woods in 1935, after his first wife died, and moved to

Kaufman, Texas Kaufman is a city in and the county seat of Kaufman County, Texas, United States. Its population was 6,797 at the 2020 census. History Kaufman was founded as "Kings Fort", named after Dr. William P. King, who established the fort in 1840 after pu ...

, where he died on January 31, 1940. Cyclone Davis was buried in the City Cemetery of Sulphur Springs, Texas. Davis' son Arlon Barton "Cyclone" Davis was a perennial candidate for office and ran in the Democratic Party primary of the

1948 United States Senate election in Texas The 1948 United States Senate election in Texas was held on November 2, 1948. After the inconclusive Democratic Party primary in July, a hotly contested runoff was held in August in which U.S. Congressman Lyndon B. Johnson was officially declar ...

, receiving nearly one percent of the vote. In 1964, Jim Ranchino, later a

political scientist Political science is the science, scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of politics, political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated c ...

and a

political consultant Political consulting is a form of consulting that consists primarily of advising and assisting political campaigns. Although the most important role of political consultants is arguably the development and production of mass media (largely tel ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

, wrote the

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

thesis at

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples ...

entitled ''The Work and Thought of a Jeffersonian in the Populist Movement: James Harvey 'Cyclone' Davis''.

Footnotes

External links

James H. "Cyclone" Davis Collection
at

Texas A&M University–Commerce Texas A&M University–Commerce is a public university in Commerce, Texas. With an enrollment of over 12,000 students as of fall 2017, the university is the third-largest institution in the Texas A&M University System. Founded in 1889, the inst ...