# David Davis (Supreme Court justice) *Associate justice of the United States Supreme Court (1862–1877) and U.S. senator from Illinois* David Davis (March 9, 1815 – June 26, 1886) was an American jurist and politician. He sat as an associate justice of the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] from 1862 to 1877 and then represented Illinois in the [[United States Senate]].[^1] At the 1860 national convention of the [[Republican Party (United States)]], he was [[Abraham Lincoln]]'s campaign manager and helped secure Lincoln's nomination for president.[^1] Lincoln named Davis to the Supreme Court in 1862.[^1] Davis wrote the majority opinion in *Ex parte Milligan* (1866), which held that civilians could not be tried by military tribunals while the civil courts were functioning.[^1] In 1877 the Illinois legislature elected him to the Senate. He then withdrew from the Electoral Commission that had been formed to resolve the disputed 1876 presidential election, and he left the Court.[^1] From 1881 to 1883 he was president pro tempore of the Senate. The cached Wikipedia text records him as the only holder of that office not affiliated with any political party.[^1] ## Early life and education Davis was born into a wealthy family in Cecil County, Maryland, and went to public school there.[^1] He completed his studies at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, in 1832. He then read law in Massachusetts and studied at Yale University.[^1] Wikipedia describes him as being of Welsh descent.[^1] ## Career ### Lawyer, legislator, state circuit judge After leaving Yale in 1835, Davis moved to Bloomington, Illinois, and began practising law.[^1] He was a member of the Illinois House of Representatives in 1845. In 1847 he was a delegate to the Illinois constitutional convention.[^1] From 1848 until 1862 he was the presiding judge of the Illinois Eighth Circuit, the circuit where his friend Lincoln practised as an attorney.[^1] Davis attended the 1860 Republican National Convention in Chicago as a delegate. Together with Ward Hill Lamon and Leonard Swett, he organized Lincoln's nomination, and he ran Lincoln's campaign through the 1860 presidential election.[^1] After Lincoln was assassinated, Davis served as an administrator of Lincoln's estate.[^1] ### U.S. Supreme Court On October 17, 1862, Lincoln gave Davis a recess appointment to the seat vacated by [[John Archibald Campbell]]. Campbell had resigned on April 30, 1861, after the Civil War began.[^1] Davis was formally nominated on December 1, 1862. The Senate confirmed him on December 8, and he took the judicial oath on December 10, 1862.[^1] Davis wrote for the Court in *Ex parte Milligan* (1866).[^1] A wartime military commission had convicted Lambdin P. Milligan, a civilian, of inciting insurrection and sentenced him to death. The Court vacated that sentence. It ruled that trying a civilian before a military tribunal was unconstitutional while the civil courts were operating.[^1] ### 1872 presidential politics The Labor Reform party nominated Davis for president in 1872. He then sought the Liberal Republican nomination, but the convention chose Horace Greeley instead.[^1] Davis still received one electoral vote in the 1872 presidential election.[^1] ### Electoral Commission and Senate Congress created an Electoral Commission to settle the disputed 1876 presidential contest between Hayes and Tilden. Davis was widely expected to be its deciding member.[^1] The Democratic-controlled Illinois State Legislature then elected him to the U.S. Senate. Davis stepped aside from the Commission and resigned from the Court to take the Senate seat.[^1] A Republican was appointed in his place, and the election went to Rutherford B. Hayes.[^1] The Senate elected Davis president pro tempore for 1881 to 1883. President Garfield's assassination in 1881 had left the office of [[Vice President of the United States]] vacant, so this position put Davis first in the presidential line of succession.[^1] He chose not to run for re-election in 1882 and left public life when his term ended in 1883.[^1] ## Personal life In 1838 Davis married Sarah Woodruff Walker of Lenox, Massachusetts. Only two of their seven children, George and Sallie, lived to adulthood.[^1] Davis died in 1886 and was buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Bloomington.[^1] At his death he was the largest landowner in Illinois. His Bloomington residence, the David Davis Mansion, is now a state historic site.[^1] ### Family His great-grandson was David Davis IV (1906–1978), a lawyer and Illinois state senator.[^1] Davis was a first cousin of David Davis Walker and a first cousin once removed of George Herbert Walker. He was also a first cousin three times removed of President George H. W. Bush and a first cousin four times removed of President George W. Bush.[^1] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *David Davis (Supreme Court justice)* (revision 1378445763, retrieved 2026-10-26, CC BY-SA 4.0) — Davis's birth, education, Illinois career, 1860 convention role, Supreme Court appointment and *Ex parte Milligan* opinion, 1872 candidacies, Electoral Commission withdrawal, Senate tenure, death and family. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Davis_(Supreme_Court_justice)