Davis, John G.

Born: 1810-10-10 Fleming County, Kentucky

Died: 1866-01-18 Terre Haute, Indiana

Born near Flemingsburg, Kentucky, John G. Davis was a farmer, sheriff, court clerk, Democrat, U.S. congressman, and merchant. He moved to Indiana with his parents while still a boy, settling in Rockville in Parke County in 1819. He received an education in the local country schools and farmed for a time. He served as sheriff for the county from 1830 until his resignation in 1833. He then became a clerk for the county court, where he worked until 1850. That year, Indiana voters elected him to the U.S. House of Representatives. He served two terms, then lost his bid for reelection in 1854. He returned to the U.S. House in 1857, and was reelected again in 1858 as an anti-Lecompton Democrat. He did not seek reelection in 1860, and instead turned his attention to meat-packing and mercantilism—first in Montezuma, Indiana, then in Terre Haute. His wealth increased substantially over time. In 1850 he owned nearly $15,000 in real property; by 1860 he owned nearly $130,000 in real and personal property. Davis was married to Jane Willis Cornelius, with whom he had at least three children.

Biographical Directory of the American Congress 1774-1996 (Alexandria, VA: CQ Staff Directories, 1997), 143-44, 147-48, 155-56, 159-60, 914; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Parke County, IN, 280; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Rockville, Parke County, IN, 56; Lineage Book National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (Washington, DC: N.P., 1923), 65:196; Gravestone, Highland Lawn Cemetery, Terre Haute, IN.