John A. G. Davis

John A. G. Davis (March 5, 1802, Middlesex County, Virginia – November 15, 1840, Charlottesville, Virginia) was a professor at the University of Virginia School of Law who was shot to death by a student of the university.

Davis, the son of Staige Davis (1775–1813) and Elizabeth Macon (Gardner) Davis (born 1780) of Prospect Hill in Middlesex County, was named John Andrew Gardner Davis after his mother’s uncle, Dr. Anthony Gardner.

From 1819 to 1820 Davis studied at the College of William and Mary, where the president called him "likely to be the most distinguished man of his time, in Virginia."

In 1821, Davis married Mary Jane Terrell (1803–1879), a great niece of Thomas Jefferson.

Davis was admitted to the bar in 1822 and opened a law practice in Middlesex County. The couple moved to Charlottesville in 1824, where they constructed a residence at Lewis Farm which is now on the National Register of Historic Places, and where Davis continued to practice law.

Believing that lawyers needed a broad education, Davis studied science during the first session of the University of Virginia in 1825; in 1830 he was elected the second professor of law at the University, and became the first of several law professors to reside in Pavilion X on The Lawn.

Davis and his wife had 7 children: Eugene, John Staige, Dabney Carr T., Richard Terrell, Caryetta, Elizabeth Gardiner, and Lucy Minor Davis. All of the sons attended University of Virginia.

Davis authored A Treatise on Criminal Law: With an Exposition of the Office and Authority of Justices of the Peace in Virginia, including Forms of Practice. He divided the School of Law into a junior class, which covered general material, and a senior class, which focused on the tools needed to practice law professionally. The Law Society was created under his aegis in 1833.

Characteristic of Professor Davis was the blended tact and benignity which marked his intercourse with his students, and that paternal interest he manifested, especially, but by no means exclusively, to those in his class. In sickness they were often removed to his house, and nourished with tenderest care. In their troubles, he was a sympathizing and judicious advisor. (The Alumni Bulletin of the University of Virginia, 1895)

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