John Wesley Davis

John Wesley Davis

John Wesley Davis (born April 16, 1799 in New Holland , Lancaster County , Pennsylvania , † August 22, 1859 in Carlisle , Indiana ) was an American politician . He was the 22nd Speaker of the US House of Representatives from 1845 to 1847  and also governor of the Oregon Territory in 1853 and 1854 .

Life

Davis' family moved to Shippensburg , Cumberland County shortly after he was born , where he attended private school. He then completed a medical degree, which he graduated from Baltimore Medical College in 1821 . Two years later, he moved to Carlisle, Indiana, to work as a medical doctor .

politics

House of Representatives

Davis became a probate judge in Sullivan County in 1829 , which he remained until 1831. He then moved into the Indiana House of Representatives until 1833 , where he was speaker in 1831 . On March 4, 1835, he became a member of the Jacksonians in the 24th Congress . In 1836 he did not stand for re-election due to illness, which is why he left Congress in 1837. However, this time as a Democratic candidate , he was re-elected in the 1838 election and entered the 26th Congress in 1839. His re-election two years later failed again; this time it was up to the voters, which is why he was re-elected to the Indiana House of Representatives in 1841. He was again speaker there in the same year, but left the state parliament again in 1843 to return to the United States House of Representatives . In the 28th Congress he was chairman of the Committee on Public Lands , in the 29th Congress from March 4, 1845 to March 3, 1847 then the speaker of the House of Representatives. In the 1846 election he could not be re-elected, but was appointed envoy to the Empire of China by President James K. Polk in 1848 to succeed Alexander Hill Everett , which he remained until 1851. From 1851 to 1852 and then again in 1857 he was again a member of the Indiana's House of Representatives.

Governor of Oregon

When Joseph Lane resigned from the post of governor of the Oregon Territory in May 1853, he was followed by George Law Curry . After about six months he was replaced by John Wesley Davis, who was to take over this position at the request of then President Franklin Pierce . Davis had led the campaign team that gave Pierce the presidency, which is why the latter chose him as a thank you to be the penultimate governor of Oregon until the states of Oregon , Idaho and Washington were formed from the area on Valentine's Day 1859 . Davis resigned as governor on August 1, 1854; the population had never been benevolent to him during this time, as they would have preferred to see one of their Oregon-based politicians at the head of the territory. After his departure - not even a sum of 40,000 dollars approved by Congress could calm the public's mood - his predecessor George Curry took over the leadership again. He was succeeded in 1859 by John Whiteaker .

Web links

• John Wesley Davis in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• John Wesley Davis in the database of Find a Grave (English)