Rowland L. Davis (July 11, 1871 - February 2, 1954) was a

New York State Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...

Justice.

Early life

Davis, of

Cortland, New York Cortland is a city and the county seat of Cortland County, New York. Known as the Crown City, Cortland is in New York's Southern Tier region. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 17,556. The city of Cortland, near the county's western bo ...

, was born in Dryden,

Tompkins County Tompkins County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 105,740. The county seat is Ithaca. The name is in honor of Daniel D. Tompkins, who served as Governor of New York and Vice Preside ...

, New York, on July 11, 1871. He was the son of Lucius Davis (1835-1912) and Harriet (Francis) Davis (1839-1915.) Davis attended the district school near McLean and graduated from the Cortland

Normal School A normal school or normal college is an institution created to train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high school level, turni ...

(today SUNY Cortland). While at the normal school he became a member of the Young Men's Debating Club (later to be known as the

Delphic Fraternity The Delphic Fraternity, Inc., also known as Delphic of Gamma Sigma Tau (), is a historic multicultural fraternity originally founded in New York State in 1871 and re-established in 1987. The fraternity can trace its origin back to the ''Delphic S ...

.) Davis then graduated from

Cornell Law School Cornell Law School is the law school of Cornell University, a private Ivy League university in Ithaca, New York. One of the five Ivy League law schools, it offers four law degree programs, JD, LLM, MSLS and JSD, along with several dual-deg ...

in 1897. He was admitted to the bar on July 6, 1897.

Legal career

Davis practiced law from 1897 to 1915. From 1897 to 1902, Davis practiced law in Cortland with Bronson & Davis and from 1902 until 1915 with Davis & Lusk. In March 1899, he was elected a police justice of the Village of Cortland, and when the village first became a city, he was elected first city judge in 1903. Justice Davis was elected to the New York Supreme Court in 1915 and was designated an associate justice of the Appellate Division, Fourth Department in 1921. Davis was a justice of the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court, 1921-39 (4th Department 1921-26, 3rd Department 1926-31, 2nd Department 1931-39.) He retired from the bench in March, 1939, moving on to two years of trial work in the 6th District before final retirement on March 31, 1941. He was a Republican.

Personal life

Davis was married to Iva A. Yager Davis (1883 - 1963). According to his

Sons of the American Revolution The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR or NSSAR) is an American congressionally chartered organization, founded in 1889 and headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. A non-profit corporation, it has described its purpose ...

Application dated Sept 26, 1932 National #52752 he was a descendant of John Lane Davis and Dolor Davis. On that same application he lists 2 children: Rowland Jr born Aug 3, 1907 and Harriet born May 2, 1910.

Death

Justice Rowland L. Davis died in Cortland, N.Y. on February 2, 1954. He was 82 years old. He was buried at the Cortland Rural Cemetery.

References

*The Cortland Normal News, February 1893, Volume 15, No. 6, page 19.
Political Graveyard.comThe Delphic Fraternity, Inc.
* ttp://www.courts.state.ny.us/ad3/history.pdf THE HISTORY AND JUSTICES OF THE NYS APPELLATE DIVISION, THIRD DEPARTMENT {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Rowland L. 1871 births 1954 deaths New York Supreme Court Justices Cornell Law School alumni New York (state) Republicans