BIOGRAPHIES - DAVIS, Garrett, Bourbon County, Kentucky From: Bob Francis http://www.shawhan.com Date: 07 Feb 2000 The biographies are taken primarily from William Perrin's "The History of Bourbon, Scott, Harrison and Nicholas Counties, Kentucky" and E. Polk Johnson's "The History of Kentucky and Kentuckians," Vol. III. Many Bourbon County, Kentucky, researchers have pointed out mistakes and they are notated. Name: Garrett DAVIS _________________________________________ GARRETT DAVIS.1 Among the list of the illustrious dead of Kentucky, no name has passed into history, bearing with it greater honors as a statesman, a patriot, and an honest and faithful servant of the cause of liberty, the Union and his State, than the lamented Garrett Davis. Living, as he did, from the early morn until the eventide of the nineteenth century, at a time when the nation most needed men of stalwart principle and sterling integrity, Garrett Davis filled the busy years of his faithful life full of noble deeds and heroic, unfaltering labor for the nation’s good, and that of his native State, and fearlessly battled for what, in his unprejudiced mind, seemed right. The following brief statement of facts concerning his useful and eventful life, are gleaned from a published volume of Memorial Addresses on his Life and Character, delivered in the Senate and House of Representatives of the Forty-second Congress of the United States, Dec. 18, 1872, upon which occasion eulogies were delivered by Senators Stevenson of Kentucky, Cameron of Pennsylvania, Thurman of Ohio, Sumner of Massachusetts, Bayard of Delaware, Trainbull of Illinois, and many other noted statesmen. Garrett Davis was a native of Kentucky; he was born at Mount Sterling, Sept. 10, 1801. His father and mother emigrated from Montgomery Co., Maryland, to the county of the same name in Kentucky. His mother was a Miss Garrett-a family widely known in Maryland, and it was from her family that he derived his baptismal name. His father was a man of marked character; to energy and industry he added strong will and great personal popularity. He was for many years the Sheriff of his adopted county, and several times represented his district in the lower branches of the General Assembly of Kentucky. Garrett Davis was one of three brothers. The brilliant talents of two of them, also long since departed this life, are still remembered in Kentucky. Garrett enjoyed the advantages of what is known in Kentucky as a common school education. His early years were, however, fraught with a constant study of books, and he thus acquired a good English education, and a practical knowledge of the Latin and Greek languages; at an early age he determined to study law, and with a view of gaining practical knowledge, he sought and obtained employment as a deputy in the Circuit Court Clerk’s office of Montgomery County. In 1823, he removed to Bourbon County, where he continued to prosecute his legal studies, and where he occupied a clerical position similar to that held in Montgomery County. About the year 1824, he commenced the practice of his profession in Paris, and to it be consecrated the earlier years of his life with enthusiastic devotion. His first wife was the daughter of Robert Trimble, a distinguished Jurist, who became subsequently a Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. His second wife was a Mrs. Elliott, widow of a prominent lawver, also of Paris. Mr. Davis was an assiduous law student, and his industry received its reward. His business rapidly increased, and he soon rose to a high position at a bar which then numbered some of the most eminent lawyers of the Commonwealth. He regarded the law as the noblest science of intellectual triumph, and loved the administration of justice. All who have encountered him as an opponent in the trial of an important cause, will bear willing testimony to his high qualities as an able and strong lawyer. His last argument but one, in the Supreme Court of the United States, in the reported case of Missouri vs. Kentucky, is a lasting memorial of his legal learning and professional power. Mr. Davis always took an active and prominent part in the political contests of Kentucky, from his earliest manhood—always an ardent Whig, and frequently the selected standard-bearer of his party. In its most excited struggles, his clarion voice rang throughout this Commonwealth in defense of the principles of that patriotic and gallant organization. He was the trusted and true friend of Henry Clay, and enjoyed to a pre-eminent degree his confidence and regard. He represented Bourbon County in the lower branch of the General Assembly of Kentucky for many years. Always conservative in his views, he took a prominent and successful part in shaping the legislation of the State. For eight consecutive years he was chosen over able and distinguished competitors by the electors of the Ashland district, their Representative to the House of Representatives of the United States, and then voluntarily retired. The debates of that body during that period attests his power and strength as a ready and skillful debater. He was nominated as Lieutenant Governor on the Gubernatorial ticket with John J. Crittenden, but at his earnest request was excused by the convention. In 1861, amid perils and dangers of a revolutionary struggle, he was elected as an old line Union Whig, to succeed John C. Breckinridge in the United States Senate. He was the strongest opponent of secession, and at the period of his election, an earnest advocate of the rigid prosecution of the war to restore the Union. The result of the war, so far as it resulted in the overthrow of the rebellion, was as agreeable to him as to any other union man. But the changes in the form of government, the constitutional amendments, the acts of reconstruction, and other governmental acts which, by the dominant party, were deemed necessary in order to make the Government conform to the altered condition of things, were very repulsive to him, and he opposed them bravely and earnestly, though sustained by a hopeless minority. In 1867, he was re-elected to the United States Senate, a proud tribute to his fidelity and zeal in upholding the honor and guarding the interest of his State. For twelve years he occupied his seat in the Senate. Constitutional questions, novel and startling in their character, were during his time discussed and adopted, and Garrett Davis was never silent when duty prompted him to speak, and he was never known to quail before the power of an overwhelming political majority, and amid the bitterest party contests of the past, his honesty was never impeached or his spotless purity of character ever questioned. With him as a Representative, the conscientious discharge of his duty was paramount to every other consideration. His actions were prompted by conviction, and his convictions were the creations of a well-ordered mind, greatly strengthened by a pure and manly spirit, and throughout life he maintained the same elevated standard. In the death of this truly great and good man, Kentucky lost one of its most illustrious sons, his country, one of its purest and ablest statesmen. Such a man was Garrett Davis, and what higher praise could human statesmanship deserve? He died at his home in Paris, upon the 22d of September, 1872, and all that was mortal of the beloved Kentucky statesman rests beneath the blue grass sod of Bourbon County, in the Paris cemetery. Sources 1. Perrin, pp. 458-460. ------------------------------ USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free genealogical information on the Internet, data may be freely used for personal research and by non-commercial entities as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may not be reproduced in any format or presentation by other organizations or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for profit or any form of presentation, must obtain the written consent of the file submitter, or his legal representative and then contact the listed USGENWEB archivist with proof of this consent. 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