Representative Charles Russell Davis

Charles Russell Davis (September 17, 1849 – July 29, 1930) was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Minnesota who served eleven consecutive terms in Congress from 1903 to 1925. Over more than two decades in the House of Representatives, he participated actively in the legislative process and represented the interests of his Minnesota constituents during a period of significant political, economic, and social change in American history.

Davis was born in Pittsfield, Pike County, Illinois, on September 17, 1849. In 1854 he moved with his father to Le Sueur County, Minnesota, then a developing region in the Upper Midwest. He attended the public schools there and also received instruction from a private tutor, reflecting both the limited institutional educational opportunities of the frontier period and his family’s commitment to formal learning. Seeking further training, he later graduated from a business college in St. Paul, Minnesota, gaining practical commercial and administrative skills that would inform his later legal and political career.

After completing his business education, Davis turned to the study of law. He read law in the traditional manner of the time and was admitted to the bar on March 6, 1872. He began the practice of law in St. Peter, Nicollet County, Minnesota, which would remain his principal home community for much of his life. In addition to his legal work, he became involved in local public affairs and civic responsibilities, laying the groundwork for a long career in public service.

Davis’s early career in public office was concentrated at the municipal and county levels. In St. Peter he was elected city attorney and city clerk, positions he held from 1878 to 1898, providing him with two decades of experience in municipal governance and legal administration. He also served as prosecuting attorney of Nicollet County from 1879 to 1889 and again from 1901 to 1903, overseeing criminal prosecutions and representing the county in legal matters. Beyond his civil roles, he was a captain in the Minnesota National Guard, reflecting his involvement in the state’s military organization and his participation in citizen-soldier traditions of the era.

Building on his local prominence, Davis entered state politics as a member of the Minnesota Legislature. He was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 1889 and 1890, participating in state-level lawmaking during a period marked by agricultural issues, railroad regulation, and the growth of Minnesota’s economy. He then served in the Minnesota Senate from 1891 to 1895, extending his influence in state government and gaining additional legislative experience that would later prove valuable in Congress. His combined service at the city, county, and state levels established him as a seasoned Republican officeholder by the turn of the twentieth century.

Davis was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-eighth Congress and to the ten succeeding Congresses, serving from March 4, 1903, to March 3, 1925. His eleven-term tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives coincided with the Progressive Era, World War I, and the early 1920s, a time of major domestic reforms and international realignment. As a member of the House, he contributed to the legislative process and participated in the democratic governance of the nation, consistently representing Minnesota’s interests in Washington. On April 5, 1917, he was one of fifty representatives who voted against declaring war on Germany, placing him in a minority that opposed U.S. entry into World War I at that moment. During the Sixty-seventh Congress he served as chairman of the powerful Committee on Appropriations, a key position that gave him substantial influence over federal spending and budgetary priorities. Despite his seniority and committee leadership, he was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1924, ending his congressional service the following year.

After leaving Congress in March 1925, Davis resumed the practice of law, dividing his professional activities between Washington, D.C., and St. Peter, Minnesota. His post-congressional career allowed him to draw on his extensive legislative experience in advising clients and remaining engaged with public affairs, even though he no longer held elective office. He maintained ties to both the national capital and his long-time Minnesota home, reflecting the dual focus of his professional life.

Charles Russell Davis died in Washington, D.C., on July 29, 1930, at the age of 80. His remains were returned to Minnesota, and he was interred in Woodlawn Cemetery in St. Peter, Nicollet County. His long record of service—from local offices in St. Peter and Nicollet County to the Minnesota Legislature and more than two decades in the United States House of Representatives—left a durable imprint on the political history of Minnesota and on the congressional deliberations of the early twentieth century.