The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1886-07-01
DEATH OF JUDGE DAVID DAVIS.

non. Dayfd JaNiS, Formerly Il
Judge of the Supreme Court of the
United States. and later United States
senator from illinois, one Of the
,nost remarkable men of his age.
died at his home in Bloomington,
Ill.,, on Saturday morning. His death
which IS universally deplored. falls
with peculiar force upon his own i'm
mediate neighbors and acquaintan-
GEES, by whom she was held in the
highest esteem. ghe immediate
cause Of his death was erysipelas. the
result of Q malignant carbuncle.
complicated with diabetes. which
caused rapid waste of his giant
proportions.
David Davis was born in Cecil
county, on the eastern shore OF
Maryland. on March 9, 1915. He re-
moved to the west and settled in
Bloomington, lii. where he was admit.
ted to the bar in 1885, and commenced
the practice of his profession. He
was soon brought into public life,
and as early as 1874 was elected a
representative in the state legisla-
iture. In 1S47 he was delegate to
the constitutional convention, and
il year later was elected judge of
the circuit courts of Illinois. This
Office he held by repeated election uE-
til Ss finally resigned it in 1862, when
he was appointed by President Lin
coin judge of the supreme court
of the United States. Soon after
Davis went to ii inois, Elijah P.
Iovejoy was murdered by pro-
slavery mob IS Altor, where he pub:
aished an anti-slavery paper. This
occurrence assisted tosiinpress upon
Judge Davis mind fear that some
day the whole country would have
reason to recognize the repressive
spirit of slavery. Judge Davis saw
the birth of the Republican party,
the divisions in theDemocracy, the
disappointment of Douglas. and the
elevation of Lincoln fem a private
citizen to the presidency. Riding
'the circuit of the state to attend
courts as they were held in order,
Mr.. DAVIS became acquainted with
Lincoln. Lincoln loved Davis for
his warm. genial nature, simplicity
of character. truth and sincerity, and
they went. together like a pair of
boys, riding in the same buggy from
town to town, lodging in the same
room. lie was never an arrogant
Northern man, remembering the
temptations and attachments of
shareholders as he had seen them,
and this was probably one cause Of
the good understanding between him
and Lincoln, both having been born
in the south and bred IN the west.
Judge Davis having abiding faith in
the west began to invest his patri-
mony and earnings in lands about
Bloomington, and as the country
fifled up and improved, his property
appreciated, and thus he grew
wealthy without ever overreaching
himself or his fellow men, or engag-
ing in any Of the devious paths to
riches.
1t is believed that the mnyemeht
in 1872 to nominate q liberal Repub-
Iican, while it did not originate with
Judge Davis, was designed to pro,
mote him to the presidency. 1t be-
gan in Illinois, though it apparently
proceeded from Missouri. The CT &C.
ley element in New York intended
to nominate Dayid DAVIS to the pres.
idency. AS the TIME Of the CincIn-
natl convention approached, how
ever, personal jealousies in Illinois,
anticipating the result Of the con.
q vention, laborcd to divide that state.
Unworthy stories were told to the
prejudice Judge Davis, and, there
fore, the Blair and Brown element,
which had the confidence of the
south, finding Carl Schurz and others
attempting to give the nomination
TO Mr.. Adams of Massachusetts.
threw the purpose of the convention
away by putting up Mr.. Greeley.
Judge Davis remained on the su.
-preme bench until March 5, 1877,
when he resigned to take his seat in
the United States senate, to which
Office he had been elected by the Dem
ocrats and Independents in the Illi-
pois legislature. During his service
lis senator he maintained strict indie.
pendence, and allied himself with
the organization of neither party in
that legislative body. lie was elect
ed presiding officer of the senate soon
after Vice President Arthur assumed
the duties of higher Office following
the death of President Garfield, and
continued to hold this position up to
The expiration Of his term OF office IN
1883, when he Was succeeded by SEN
ator CuHom. After his retirem ent
from the senate Judge Davis lived
very quietly at his home in Bloom.
ington. Mr.. Davis first wife died
i'm 1879, which was a severe blow to
him. He married a second wife
Miss Addie Burr OF Fayetteville, N.