John DAVIS
Biography

DAVIS, JOHN, statesman, b. in Northborough, MA, 13 Jan 1787; d. in Worcester, MA, 19 Apr 1854. He was graduated at Yale with honor in 1812, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1815, and practiced with success in Worcester. He was elected to congress as a Whig in 1824, and re-elected for the fouor succeeding terms, sitting from Dec 1825, till Jan 1834, and taking a leading part as a protectionist in opposing Henry Clay's compromise tariff bill of 1833, and in all transactions relating to finance and commerce. He resigned his seat on being elected Governor of Massachusetts. At the conclusion of his term as Governor he was sent to the US senate, and served from 7 Ddec 1835 till Jan 1841, when he resigned to accept the governorship a second time. In the senate he was a strong opponent of the administration of Jackson and Van Buren, and took a conspicuous part in the debates as an advocate of protection for American industry, replying to the free-trade arguments of southern statesmen in speeches that were considered extremely clear expositions of the protective theories. A declaration in one of his speeches, that James Buchanan was in favor of reducing the wages of American workingmen to ten cents a day, was the origin of the epithet "ten-cent Jimmy," which was applied to that statesman by his political opponents for several years. A short speech against the sub-treasury, delivered in 1840, was printed during the presidential canvass of that year as an electioneering pamphlet, of which more than a million copies were distributed. He was again elected US senator, and served from 24 March 1845 till 3 March 1853, but declined a re-election, and died suddenly at his home. He protested vigoriously against the war with Mexico. In the controversy that followed, over the introduction of slavery into the US territories, he earnestly advocated its exclusion. The Wilmot proviso received his support, but the compromise acts of 1850 encountered his decided opposition. He enjoyed the respect and confidence of his constituents in an unusual degree, and established a reputation for high principles that gained for him the popular appellation of "honest John Davis."

Appletons' Cyclopedia of American Biography, 1600 - 1889, vol II

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