Henry G. Davis | |
|---|---|
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| United States Senator fromWest Virginia | |
| In office March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1883 | |
| Preceded by | Waitman T. Willey |
| Succeeded by | John E. Kenna |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Henry Gassaway Davis (1823-11-16)November 16, 1823 Woodstock, Maryland, U.S. |
| Died | March 11, 1916(1916-03-11) (aged 92) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
Henry Gassaway Davis (November 16, 1823 – March 11, 1916) was an American politician and businessman who served as aUnited States Senator fromWest Virginia from 1871 to 1883. He was theDemocratic Party's nominee forVice President of the United States in1904.
Born on a farm inHoward County, Maryland, Davis became a railroad executive before branching out into coal mining and banking as founder of the Potomac and Piedmont Coal and Railway Company. He won election to both houses of theWest Virginia Legislature before serving in the U.S. Senate. His younger brother,Thomas Beall Davis, also served in Congress. After his tenure in the Senate ended, Davis continued to grow his business interests. In partnership with his son-in-law,Stephen Benton Elkins, Davis created the Davis Coal and Coke Company and led it to become one of the largest coal companies in the world.
The1904 Democratic National Convention nominated a ticket ofAlton B. Parker for president and Davis for vice president. Davis was chosen primarily for his ability to provide funding to the campaign. At 80 years old, he was the oldest person ever on a major American party's national ticket. TheRepublican ticket ofTheodore Roosevelt andCharles W. Fairbanks prevailed by a wide margin. After the election, Davis helped establishDavis & Elkins College. He died in Washington, D.C., at age 92.
Henry Gassaway Davis was born nearWoodstock,Howard County, Maryland, the son of Louisa Warfield (née Brown; March 10, 1799 – July 23, 1868) and merchant Caleb Dorsey Davis (March 3, 1792 – September 4, 1850). He was the great-great-great-grandson of Maryland pioneer Thomas Davis, and the great-great-great-great-grandson of Maryland politician and justiceColonel Nicholas Gassaway, both of whom were of Welsh ancestry and emigrated to Maryland in the mid 17th century.[1]
Stage coaches stopped at Woodstock five days a week en route toWashington, D.C., and Davis later often recalled one of his earliest memories: witnessing the groundbreaking of the country's first railroad on July 4, 1828, from atop his father's shoulders inBaltimore.[2]
Davis had three brothers and a sister. His father's business prospered until he won a contract to grade a section of road between Baltimore andFrederick, Maryland, which caused heavy losses. Creditors caused even the family's horses and carriages to be sold, which proved devastating to Caleb Davis's health.[3]
When his family's finances collapsed, Davis, then 15 years old, abandoned his education and took a job carrying water for workmen at a nearby quarry and then became caretaker of "Waverly," a nearby farm owned by GovernorHoward.[4] When Davis was 20, the B&O completed track from Frederick toCumberland, and needed men to run the trains and handle cargo. Thus, Davis went to work for theBaltimore and Ohio Railroad as abrakeman. His hard work and enthusiasm drew the attention of the railroad's president,Thomas Swann, who promoted him to freight conductor and then passenger conductor. Davis met many statesmen, including SenatorsHenry Clay of Kentucky (Davis came to admire him and received invitations to visit at his home),Thomas H. Benton of Missouri,Lewis Cass of Michigan,Benjamin Wade andThomas Corwin of Ohio, andStephen A. Douglas of Illinois, all of whom embarked the B&O train in Cumberland to reach Washington, D.C. (or disembarked on the reverse route). Davis also often stayed at a hotel in Washington between trips and conversed with other notables, including SenatorsWilliam C. Rives of Virginia,John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, andDaniel Webster of Massachusetts.[5]
In 1854, Gideon Bantz, Davis’s father-in-law, died and left the newlyweds an inheritance of $50,000. Davis used this money to build a fortune worth millions. In 1855, when the B&O finally completed track toWheeling on the navigableOhio River, Davis was put in charge of thePiedmont station. It was a crucial station because it was at the foot of a mountain, where trains traveling eastward added engines to surmount the slope. Until the railroad completed a house for him (so that his new wife could join him), Davis lived in a box car and also came to admire the natural landscape of the Allegheny Mountains. After four years, his brother Thomas joined him, and they established a store, often trading farm products for manufactured goods such as jeans, shoes, calico and sugar. In 1858, Davis resigned his railroad job to concentrate on the firm, Henry G. Davis & Company.[6]
When the Civil War began, even the B&O's president,John Work Garrett, initially sympathized with the Southern cause. However, the B&O was crucial for the Union armies. Davis favored the Union and also admired the new President,Abraham Lincoln. When Confederate raiders attacked the B&O and destroyed track and bridges, part of Davis' job was to restore service and keep the supplies moving. Many in western Virginia likewise favored the Union, met in twoWheeling Conventions, and adopted a statehood referendum and constitution that eventually led to West Virginia becoming the 35th state. In 1865, Davis would be elected to theWest Virginia House of Delegates as one ofHampshire County's representatives.[7]
After the war Davis systematically explored the Alleghenies, particularly the area drained by thePotomac River to the east and theCheat River on the western side of the eastern continental divide. He purchased land rich in timber or coal (often for $1 an acre). He soon built sawmills to process the lumber and extended branch railroads to new coal mines, and also invested in banking in Piedmont. By 1897, his empire included over 100,000 acres of coal land and 400 coke ovens in West Virginia. He had become a leading producer ofbituminous coal in the United States. Simultaneously he built new railways such as theWest Virginia Central and Pittsburg Railway. The lines connected much of eastern and central West Virginia to major transportation networks that enabled his coal to be shipped at low rates.[8]
On February 22, 1853, in Frederick County, Maryland. Davis married Katherine Ann Salome "Kate" Bantz.[9] Henry and Katherine had eight children, three of whom died in infancy. One of those three is unidentified; the remaining seven were:
In 1865, Davis was elected a member of theWest Virginia House of Delegates. The following year, he founded the Potomac and Piedmont Coal and Railway Company with the intent of furnishing transportation to his coal mining and timbering interests. The company was given the right to construct railroad grades inMineral,Grant,Tucker andRandolph counties. He became astate senator in 1869. In 1870, he was elected to theUnited States Senate, serving two terms, with his service ending in 1883.
Following his service in the Senate, Davis retired toElkins, West Virginia, where he resumed banking and coal mining. Davis's company now controlled 135,000 acres (550 km2), employed 1,600 men of sixteen nationalities, operated two power plants, and worked over 1,000 coke ovens and 9 mines within one mile (1.6 km) of the central office atCoketon inTucker County. By 1892, the Davis Coal and Coke Company, a partnership between Davis and his son-in-law, SenatorStephen Benton Elkins, was among the largest coal companies in the world.
Davis represented the U.S. at thePan-American Conferences of 1889 and 1901.
In1904, Davis became the Democratic nominee for vice president on a ticket withAlton B. Parker. They lost to theRepublican ticket ofTheodore Roosevelt andCharles W. Fairbanks by a wide margin. At the age of 80, Davis was and remains the oldest person to be nominated on a major party's presidential ticket.[10][Notes 1] He was chosen primarily because of his ability to provide much-needed funds to the campaign.[citation needed]
In his last years, Davis acted as chairman of the permanent Pan American Railway Committee (1901–1916) and also donated land to buildDavis and Elkins College inElkins, West Virginia. He died inWashington, D.C., on March 11, 1916, at the age of 92. He was interred in the Maplewood Cemetery in Elkins. A bronze equestrian statue of Davis was erected in 1927, at Sycamore Street and Randolph Avenue in Elkins, with an identical twin in Davis Park in downtownCharleston, West Virginia.[11][12]
| U.S. Senate | ||
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| Preceded by | U.S. Senator (Class 2) from West Virginia 1871–1883 Served alongside:Arthur I. Boreman,Allen T. Caperton,Samuel Price,Frank Hereford,Johnson N. Camden | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theSenate Appropriations Committee 1879–1881 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | DemocraticnomineeVice President of the United States 1904 | Succeeded by |
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| Class 2 | ||
Chairs of theUnited States Senate Committee on Appropriations | ||
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| People | |
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