John J. Davis (congressman)
| John J. Davis | |
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from West Virginia's 1st district |
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In office March 4, 1871-March 3, 1875 |
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| Preceded by | Isaac H. Duval |
| Succeeded by | Benjamin Wilson |
| Member of the West Virginia House of Delegates | |
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In office 1869-1870 |
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| Member of the Virginia House of Delegates | |
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In office 1861 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
John James Davis May 5, 1835 Clarksburg, Virginia, USA |
| Died | March 19, 1916 (aged 80) Clarksburg, West Virginia USA |
| Resting place | former Odd Fellows Cemetery on South Chestnut Street in Clarksburg WV |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Other political affiliations |
Independent Democrat |
| Spouse(s) | Anna Kennedy |
| Children | John W. Davis |
| Alma mater | Lexington Law School |
| Occupation | Lawyer, politician |
John James Davis (May 5, 1835 – March 19, 1916) was an attorney and politician who helped found West Virginia and later served as a United States Representative in Congress from that state.
John James Davis was born in Clarksburg, Virginia (now West Virginia) in 1835 to master saddler John Davis (1797-1863) and his New York born wife Eliza Arnold Steen Davis (1799-1866). He had a younger brother, Rezin Caleb Davis (1847-1910, who initially apprenticed with their father, but was a Confederate soldier and later became a lawyer in Kentucky). The family included at least two sisters: Regina (b. 1837) and Ann (b. 1839). Their grandfather Caleb Davis (1767-1834) had been born across the Potomac River at Oldtown, Allegheny County, Maryland but had moved to , Shenandoah County, Virginia where J. J. Davis's father John Davis had been born. After learning his trade, John Davis moved to Clarksburg shortly before Virginia authorized construction of the Northwestern Turnpike. John Davis served as the Harrison County sheriff, ruling elder in his Presbyterian church and (unlike his son John James Davis) sympathized with the Confederacy and died in 1863. His wife Eliza (J.J. Davis' mother) was a pioneer school teacher in Harrison County, who taught Stonewall Jackson as well as her sons and many other local children.
Young J. J. Davis attended the Northwestern Virginia Academy at Clarksburg (the Harrison County seat). When he was 17, he moved to Lexington, Virginia to attend the Lexington Law School (now the law department of Washington and Lee University). Graduating in 1856, J. J. Davis was admitted to the Virginia bar that same year and began what would become his life-long legal practice in Clarksburg.
On August 21, 1862, John J. Davis married Anna Kennedy (1841-1917) in Baltimore, Maryland, her home city. She was the daughter of a lumber merchant and college-educated. They later had a son John William Davis John W. Davis(1873-1955); who followed his father's career and became a lawyer and Congressman, although he also left West Virginia and was an unsuccessful Democratic Presidential candidate in 1924). They also had four daughters: Lillie Davis Preston (1863-1939)of Lewisburg, West Virginia, Emma Kennedy Davis (1865-1943) who never married and was secretary of the local Red Cross in World War I as well as assistantchari of the Harrison County Democratic committee, Anna Holmes Davis Richardson (1869-1945) whose first husband was a Uniterian minister in New York, and Catherine Estelle Davis (1874-1881).
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