Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 03.djvu/179

 DAVIS

DAVIS

corporation. He was promoted major in 1894; was on duty in the office of the secretary of war, 1893-98; and was president of the board of publi- cation of the '* Official Record of the War of the Rebellion " (1893-98). In 1898 he was lieutenant- colonel of the 14:th U.S. infantry and was pro- moted brigadier-general of volunteers in the war with Spain, commanding the 2d division, 3d army corps. After the close of hostilities he was placed in command of the military department of Pinar del Rio, Cuba. In February, 1899, he was a member of the court of inquiry to investi- gate allegations of General Miles respecting the quality of food issued to the army in the war with Spain. In April, 1899, he was appointed military governor of Puerto Rico, and was retired July 26, 1903. He was elected a life member of the Metropolitan club, Washington, D.C., in 1880, and was elected a member of the Loyal Legion in 1888. He was married, April 30, 1870, to Carmen Atocha.

DAVIS, Hasbrouck, soldier, was born in Worcester, Mass., April 18, 1827; son of the Hon. John and Eliza (Bancroft) Davis; and a brother of John Chandler Bancroft Davis. He was graduated at Williams college in 1845; studied in Germany, 1846-47 ; taught in Worces- ter high school, 1847- 48, and was pastor of the Unitarian society, Watertowu, Mass., 1849-54. In 1854 he was admitted to the bar of Massachusetts, where he practised his profession, but soon removed to Chi- cago. In 1862 he joined the 11th Illi- nois cavalry as lieu- tenant-colonel. He was with the army of the Potomac under McClellan on the ad- vance on Richmond in 1862 and his regiment made up a portion of Stoneman's command which pursued the Confederates on their re- treat from Yorktown in April, 1862. He was in command of the cavalry operating against Martinsburg and Harper's Ferry; led his com- mand through the Confederate lines to Green- castle, Pa., on the night of Sept. 14, 1862, and in the raid captured an ammunition train. He was promoted colonel, Jan. 5, 1864, and on March 13, 1865, was brevetted brigadier-general. He was elected city attorney of Chicago in 1866. In 1870 he sailed for Europe from New York city on board the steamer Cambria, and was lost at sea with that steamer, Oct. 19, 1870.

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DAVIS, Henry, educator, was born in East Hampton, N.Y., Sept. 15, 1771; son of John and Mary (Conkling) Davis. His first ancestors in America came from Kidderminster, England, and settled in New Haven, Conn., removing thence across the sound to East Hampton, Long Island. He was prepared for college at Clinton academy, was graduated at Yale in 1796, and was a tutor at Williams college, 1796-98. He then studied theology with the Rev. Dr. Charles Backus at Somers, Conn., and was licensed to preach by the association of Tolland county. He was tutor at Yale, 1798-1803, and professor of Greek at Union in 1807. He was ordained in 1809; was presi- dent of Middlebury college, Vt., 1809-17, resign-

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ing in 1817 to accept the presidency of Hamilton college made vacant by the death of President Backus, Dec. 28, 1816. He served Hamilton as' its president, 1817-33. He declined the presi- dency of Yale and the chair of Greek in Union. He aided largely in the establishment of the Auburn theological seminary, of which institu- tion he was a trustee, 1820-34, and president of the board, 1820-24. He was a promoter of the American board of commissioners for foreign missions. He was married, Sept. 22, 1801, to Hannah Phoenix, daughter of Judge Thomas Treadwell of Plattsburgh, N.Y., and their son, Thomas Treadwell Davis, was graduated from Hamilton in 1831 and became a lawj^er. He received the honorary degree of M.A. from Williams college in 1799, and that of D.D. from Union in 1810. He published: Narrative of the Embarrassments and Decline of Hamilton College (1833). He died in Clinton, N.Y., March 8, 1852. DAVIS, Henry Gassoway, senator, was born in Howard county, Md., Nov. 16, 1823; son of Caleb and Louisa (Brown) Davis. His education was acquired in the neighboring schools and at the age of twenty he found employment on the Baltimore & Ohio railroad. In 1858 he removed to Piedmont, Va., where he was president of the Piedmont national bank. He soon became prominent in local politics, and in 1865 was elected as a Democrat a representative in the West Virginia legislature. He was a state sena- tor, 1868-71 ; a delegate to the Democratic na- tional conventions in 1868 and 1872, and in 1870 was elected a U.S. senator, serving by re-election