Representative Richard David Davis

Richard David Davis (1799 – June 17, 1871) was an American lawyer and Democratic politician who served two terms as a U.S. Representative from New York from 1841 to 1845. He was born in Stillwater, New York, in 1799, during the early years of the American republic, and came of age in a period of rapid political and territorial development in the United States.

Davis pursued higher education at Yale College, from which he graduated in 1818. His Yale education placed him among the relatively small number of formally educated professionals of his generation and prepared him for a career in the law. After completing his collegiate studies, he read law in the traditional manner of the time and undertook the training necessary for admission to the bar.

In 1821 Davis was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law in Poughkeepsie, New York. As a young attorney, he built his professional life in the Hudson River Valley, a region that was then an important commercial and political center in the state. His legal practice provided the foundation for his later public service and helped establish his reputation within Democratic Party circles in New York.

Davis entered national politics as a member of the Democratic Party representing New York. He was elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-seventh and Twenty-eighth Congresses, serving from March 4, 1841, to March 4, 1845. His service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history marked by debates over economic policy, territorial expansion, and the balance of power between the federal government and the states. As a representative, he participated in the legislative process and worked to represent the interests of his constituents in New York.

During his second term, Davis held a notable leadership role in the House of Representatives as chairman of the Committee on Revolutionary Claims in the Twenty-eighth Congress. In this capacity, he oversaw the consideration of claims arising from the Revolutionary War, an area of legislation that connected the contemporary Congress with the nation’s founding generation. His chairmanship reflected the confidence of his colleagues in his judgment and his ability to manage complex historical and financial questions before the committee.

Davis chose not to seek further national office and was not a candidate for renomination in 1844. After leaving Congress at the conclusion of his second term in 1845, he withdrew from both political and professional life, stepping away from the active practice of law and from partisan affairs. This transition marked the end of his formal public career and the beginning of a quieter phase devoted to private pursuits.

In his later years, Davis engaged in agricultural pursuits in Waterford, New York. His move into farming was consistent with a common pattern among former public officials of his era, who often returned to or adopted agricultural life after service in government. He remained in Waterford for the rest of his life. Richard David Davis died there on June 17, 1871, and was interred in Waterford Rural Cemetery, closing a life that had spanned from the early national period through the post–Civil War era.