John Davenport (January 16, 1752 – November 28, 1830) was a

United States 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 ...

from

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

Biography

Born in Stamford in the

Connecticut Colony The ''Connecticut Colony'' or ''Colony of Connecticut'', originally known as the Connecticut River Colony or simply the River Colony, was an English colony in New England which later became Connecticut. It was organized on March 3, 1636 as a settl ...

, he pursued academic studies, and graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1770. He engaged in teaching there in 1773 and 1774; he also studied law and was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

in 1773, practicing in Stamford. He was a member of the

Connecticut House of Representatives The Connecticut State House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an ...

from 1776 to 1796, and served in the

commissary A commissary is a government official charged with oversight or an ecclesiastical official who exercises in special circumstances the jurisdiction of a bishop. In many countries, the term is used as an administrative or police title. It often c ...

department of the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

during the Revolutionary War, attaining the rank of major in 1777. Davenport was elected as a

Federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of de ...

to the Sixth and to the eight succeeding Congresses, serving from March 4, 1799 to March 3, 1817. He was chairman of the Committee on Revisal and Unfinished Business during the Seventh Congress. He declined to be a candidate for reelection in 1816 and died in Stamford in 1830; interment was in North Field (now Franklin Street) Cemetery.

James Davenport James Davenport may refer to: *James H. Davenport (born 1953), professor of information technology at the University of Bath *James Davenport (clergyman) (1716–1757), American clergyman from Connecticut *James Davenport (Connecticut politician) ( ...

, John's brother, also represented Connecticut in the House as a Federalist.

References

Retrieved on 2009-05-22 {{DEFAULTSORT:Davenport, John (Connecticut) 1752 births 1830 deaths Continental Army staff officers Members of the Connecticut House of Representatives Politicians from Stamford, Connecticut Yale College alumni Federalist Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Connecticut Deans of the United States House of Representatives