Thomas Davis (December 18, 1806July 26, 1895) was a British-American manufacturer, politician and

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

. He was a Democratic member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

, and served in the Rhode Island State Senate and the

Rhode Island House of Representatives The Rhode Island House of Representatives is the lower house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, the upper house being the Rhode Island Senate. It is ...

Early life and education

Davis was born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

on the

island of Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially named Irelanda sovereign state covering five-sixths of th ...

(the entirety of which was then part of the U.K.), where he attended private schools. He was of an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the State rel ...

background, being of English and Welsh descent, and was part of the landowning

Protestant Ascendancy The Protestant Ascendancy (also known as the Ascendancy) was the sociopolitical and economical domination of Ireland between the 17th and early 20th centuries by a small Anglicanism, Anglican ruling class, whose members consisted of landowners, ...

. Davis attended the

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

. In 1817, he emigrated with his family to the United States and they settled in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

. In Providence, he engaged in jewelry manufacturing and became quite wealthy.

Political career

He became involved in politics and was a member of the Rhode Island State Senate from 1845 to 1853. Davis was elected to the Thirty-third Congress, and served from March 4, 1853, to March 3, 1855. While in Congress, he was outspoken about his disapproval of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. In 1854, he was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the Thirty-fourth Congress, and returned to his manufacturing pursuits. Davis hoped to return to Congress, and was an unsuccessful candidate for election to the Thirty-sixth, Forty-second, Forty-third, and Forty-sixth Congresses. He served in the State Senate again in 1877 and 1878, and was a member of the State House from 1887 to 1890. He was an abolitionist and was against the real estate requirement for voting that Rhode Island imposed upon naturalized citizens. Davis was on the

North Providence, Rhode Island North Providence is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 34,114 at the 2020 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the Town of North Providence has a total area of , of which ...

executive school committee, and was a member of the

Rhode Island Historical Society The Rhode Island Historical Society is a privately endowed membership organization, founded in 1822, dedicated to collecting, preserving, and sharing the history of Rhode Island. Its offices are located in Providence, Rhode Island. History Foun ...

Death and legacy

Davis died in Providence on July 26, 1895, and is interred in

Swan Point Cemetery Swan Point Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Established in 1846 on a 60-acre (0.24 km2) plot of land, it has approximately 40,000 interments. History The cemetery was first organize ...

. In 2003, he was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame.

Family life

Davis' first wife was Eliza Chase. Following Eliza's death, he married abolitionist,

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to vo ...

, and educator Paulina Kellogg Wright Davis in 1849. The couple adopted two daughters, and remained together until Paulina's death in 1876.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Thomas English Welsh 1806 births 1895 deaths Irish emigrants to the United States Democratic Party members of the Rhode Island House of Representatives Politicians from Providence, Rhode Island Democratic Party Rhode Island state senators Politicians from Providence County, Rhode Island Abolitionists from Rhode Island Burials at Swan Point Cemetery Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Rhode Island 19th-century American businesspeople 19th-century members of the Rhode Island General Assembly 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives