Thomas Terry Davis (before 1789 – November 15, 1807) was a

United States representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, 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 Artic ...

from

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

Education and early career

Davis studied law and in 1789 was admitted to the Kentucky bar. He was a lawyer in private practice and was deputy attorney, Kentucky; he was first

prosecuting attorney A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in civil law. The prosecution is the legal party responsible ...

for district, Kentucky and was a member of the

Kentucky House of Representatives The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form a ...

from 1795 to 1797.

National political career

Davis was elected as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party (also referred to by historians as the Republican Party or the Jeffersonian Republican Party), was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early 1790s. It championed l ...

to the 5th, 6th and 7th Congresses, serving from March 4, 1797, to March 3, 1803. He was appointed United States judge of

Indiana Territory The Indiana Territory, officially the Territory of Indiana, was created by an organic act that President of the United States, President John Adams signed into law on May 7, 1800, to form an Historic regions of the United States, organized incor ...

Supreme Court on February 8, 1803, and was

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of Indiana Territory in 1806 and 1807. He presided over the treason trial of

Davis Floyd Davis Floyd (1776 – December 13, 1834) was an Indiana Jeffersonian Republican politician who was convicted of aiding American Vice President Aaron Burr in the Burr conspiracy. Floyd was not convicted of treason however and returned to public ...

during his tenure there.

Personal life

Davis was a

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

, he married Elizabeth Robards, who went on to marry Floyd 2 years after Davis' death. He died in

Jeffersonville, Indiana Jeffersonville is a city and the county seat of Clark County, Indiana, Clark County, Indiana, United States, situated along the Ohio River. Locally, the city is often referred to by the abbreviated name Jeff. It lies directly across the Ohio Riv ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Thomas Year of birth unknown 18th-century births 1807 deaths Indiana state court judges Indiana Territory officials Members of the Kentucky House of Representatives Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 18th-century members of the United States House of Representatives