Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 03.djvu/190

 DAVIS

DAVIS

viceable life-line one and a half miles to the nearest shore. His earliest publication, pre- pared when he was an undergraduate, entitled, Formula; for the Calculation of Jiailroad Earth- irork and Average Haul (1876;, was at once adopted as a text-book by six engineering scliools in the United States. Other notable mathe- matical works, originally published in Van Xos- trand's Engineering Magazine (1879), include: A Xeir Rule for Calculating the Contents of Land Mur- reys; The Prismoidal Formula; A Xeto Centre of Grarity Formula of General Applicability ; A Xeic and General Moment of Inertia Formula, and ^4 Xeiv Graphical Method for Finding the Centre of Gravity of a Polygon. They have all been copied and are to be found in standard works. The first of these essays was received in late editions of Davies's, Gillespie's and Jolinson's surveying, in Halsted"s mensuration, and in Newcomb"s geometry and trigonometry. This method superseded the Pennsylvania or Rittenhouse method invented by Thomas Burgh of Ireland about 1780, for the discovery of which Mr. Burgh received froni parliament 20,000 pounds sterling. Mr. Davis published: Dynamics of the Sun (1891); Behavior of the Atmosp?ieres of Gas and Vapor Generating Globes in Celestial Space; and The Condensing Nebula (1898).

DAVIS, Joseph Emory, lawyer, was born near Augusta. Ga., Dec. 10, 1784; the eldest son of Samuel and Jane (Cook) Davis. He was an elder brother of Jefferson Davis. He removed with his father to Christian county, Ky., in 1796, but did not remain on the farm, taking a position when quite young in a mercantile house. He studied law at RusseUville, and upon his father's removal to Wilkinson county, !Miss., in 1811, he settled there in the practice of law with an office in Pinckneyville. and afterward in Greenville. He represented Jefferson county in 1817 in the constitutional convention w^hich organized the state government, and was promi- nent in the committee charged with the framing of the con.stitution. He removed to Natchez in 1820, and for seven j-ears practised law in part- nership with Thomas B. Reed, at that time the leader of the Mississippi bar. In 1827 he re- moved to his father's large estates at Hurricane Bend on the Mississippi, near Vicksburg, and engaged in planting. His place, known as " The Hurricane," was one of the most produc- tive on the river and was celebrated for the hos- pitality extended b}- the owner. " Brierfield," the plantation of the president of the Confeder- ate States, was a part of this tract. Both places were made the objects of special depredation by the Federal army during the civil war, and Mr. Davis's fine horses were confiscated by the Union officers, one becoming the favorite war horse of

General Grant. He regained his landed property from the Freedmen's bureau after the war, but made his residence in Vicksburg, Miss., where he died Sept. IS. 1S7.

DAVIS, Joseph John, jurist, was born in Franklin county, N.C., April 13, 1828. He at- tended Wake Forest college, and was graduated in law at the University of North Carolina in 18.")0. He was admitted to the bar and practised at Oxford, N.C., removing thence to Louisburg, N.C In 1861 he joined the Confederate army and was appointed a captain. He served with the 47th North Carolina regiment until the battle of Gettysburg, where he was taken captive and imprisoned at Fort Delaware. He was later transferred to Johnson's Island and there carried on law classes among his fellow prisoners. After the close of the war he re- turned to Louisburg, and was representative in the state assembh* in 1866. He was a represent- ative in the 44th, 45th and 46th congresses, 1875-81. He was a justice of the North Carolina supreme court from Feb. 12, 1887, until his death. He received the degree of LL.D. from the Universit}* of North Carolina in 1887. He died at Louisburg. N.C, Aug. 7, 1892.

DAVIS, Lowndes Henry, representative, was born in Jackson, Mo., Dec. 14, 1836; son of Greer W. and Elizabeth (McGuire) Davis, and grandson of David Davis. He was graduated from Yale in 1860 and from Louisville university law school in 1863, and practised law in his native city. He was states' attorney for the 10th district of Missouri, 1868-72; a presidential elector in 1872; a member of the state constitu- tional convention in 1875; a member of the Missouri assembly in 1876; and a Democratic representative in the 46th, 47th and 48th con- gresses, 1879-85.

DAVIS, Nathan Smith, physician, was born in tlie townslijp of (Treene, N.Y., Jan. 9, 1817; son of Dow and Eleanor (Smith) Davis. He was graduated in medicine from the College of physicians and surgeons of the western district of New York (Fairfield) in January, 1837, and practised at Binghamton, N.Y., 1837-47. He removed to New York city in 1847, and in ad- dition to general practice, he was assistant demonstrator of anatomy and lecturer on medi- cal jurisprudence in the College of physicians and .surgeons of New York, and editor of the Annalist, 1847-49. He was professor of pliysiology and pathology in the Rush medical college, Chi- cago, III., 1849-50, and of principles and practise of medicine, 1850-59; and held a similar position in the Chicago medical college, afterward the Northwestern university medical school, 1889- 92, officiating as dean of the faculty, 1865-98. He was one of the chief founders of the Mesey