Jonathan D. Davis (June 29, 1795 – May 15, 1853) was an American physician and politician. He served in the Michigan Senate in the early years of Michigan's statehood.
Jonathan D. Davis | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Michigan Senate from the 1st district | |
| In office November 2, 1835 – December 31, 1837 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 29, 1795 Hanover, New York |
| Died | May 15, 1853 (aged 57) Albion, Michigan |
| Political party | Democratic |
Biography
editJonathan Davis was born in Hanover, New York, on June 29, 1795. He worked as a store clerk and teacher to pay for his own academic and medical education.[1]
He moved to Plymouth, Michigan, in 1828, purchased land, and began a career as a doctor and farmer.[1] He served as the clerk of Plymouth Township in 1828 and 1834.[2] He was also a justice of the peace in 1828 and 1831, and commissioned as a captain in the territorial militia in 1829.[3] He was briefly commissioned twice more, once during the Black Hawk War as a major in 1832, and again during the Toledo War when he served in September 1835 as a colonel, commanding the 1st Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 1st Division (Washtenaw County).[4]
Davis served as a territorial judge and was later elected as a delegate to the state constitutional convention in 1835, then as a Democrat to the Michigan Senate in the first election under the new constitution, and served from 1835 to 1837. He was the president pro tempore of the senate in 1837.[1]
He moved to Jackson, Michigan, in 1842, and worked as the prison physician. He later moved to Albion, Michigan, where he died on May 15, 1853.[1]
Davis was married; his wife, Betsy, died in Jackson on May 19, 1880.[5]
Notes
edit- ^ a b c d Bingham 1888, p. 221.
- ^ Farmer 1890, p. 1341.
- ^ Journal of the Legislative Council 1832, pp. 34, 54, 68.
- ^ Rosentreter 2003, pp. 149, 245, 259.
- ^ Inter-State Publishing Co. 1881, p. 161.
References
edit- Bingham, Stephen D. (1888), Early History of Michigan: With Biographies of State Officers, Members of Congress, Judges and Legislators, Lansing: Thorp & Godfrey, retrieved 2018-11-12
- Farmer, Silas (1890), History of Detroit and Wayne County and Early Michigan: A Chronological Cyclopedia of the Past and Present, Detroit: S. Farmer & Company, retrieved 2018-11-12
- History of Jackson County, Michigan, Chicago: Inter-State Publishing Co., 1881, retrieved 2018-11-12
- Journal of the Legislative Council of the Territory of Michigan, vol. 5, Detroit: Geo. L. Whitney, 1832, retrieved 2018-11-12
- Rosentreter, Roger (2003), Michigan's Early Military Forces: A Roster and History of Troops Activated Prior to the American Civil War, Wayne State University Press, ISBN 978-0-8143-3081-4, retrieved 2018-11-12