Home > West's Encyclopedia of American Law > Davis, David

David Davis served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1862 to 1877. An Illinois attorney and judge, Davis acted as Abraham Lincoln's campaign manager in the 1860 election, working tirelessly to win the REPUBLICAN PARTY nomination and the general election for Lincoln.

Davis was born in Sassafras Neck, Maryland, on March 9, 1815. He attended Kenyon College at the age of thirteen. Following graduation he read the law in a Massachusetts law firm, before attending New Haven Law School for less than a year. In 1835 he moved to Illinois and was admitted to the bar, and opened a law firm in Pekin. In 1836 he purchased a law practice in Bloomington, Illinois, where he remained a resident the rest of his life.

He was soon drawn into politics. After losing a bid for a seat in the Illinois Senate in 1840, he was elected to the Illinois House...