Jacob C. Davis

{{Infobox officeholder

|name = Jacob C. Davis

|image =

|caption =

|state = Illinois

|district = {{ushr|Illinois|5|5th}}

|term_start = November 4, 1856

|term_end = March 3, 1857

|predecessor = William Alexander Richardson

|successor = Isaac N. Morris

|office2 = Member of the Illinois Senate

|term2 = 1842-1848
1850-1856

|birth_name =

|birth_date = {{Birth date|1820|9|16}}

|birth_place = Staunton, Virginia

|death_date = {{Death date and age|1883|12|25|1820|9|16}}

|death_place = Alexandria, Missouri

|party = Democratic

}}

Jacob Cunningham Davis (September 16, 1820 – December 25, 1883) was a politician, a U.S. Representative from Illinois. He was one of five men tried and acquitted in Illinois of the murder in 1844 of Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement.

Political life

Born near Staunton, Virginia, Davis attended the common schools and the College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia. He moved to Warsaw, Illinois, in 1838, where he studied law. He was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Warsaw. He served as clerk of Hancock County, Illinois. He was appointed circuit clerk in 1841.

He was elected and served in the Illinois Senate from 1842 to 1848 and again from 1850 until his resignation in 1856, having been elected to Congress.

Davis was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-fourth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of William A. Richardson. He served from November 4, 1856 to March 3, 1857. He was not a candidate for re-election. After leaving Congress, Davis resumed the practice of law in Clark County, Missouri. He died in Alexandria, Missouri, December 25, 1883. He was interred in Mitchell Cemetery, near Alexandria, Missouri.

Murder trial

{{see also|Death_of_Joseph_Smith#Responsibility_and_trial|label 1=Death of Joseph Smith: Trial}}

In 1844, Davis was indicted and tried for the murders of Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith. The Smiths had been imprisoned in Carthage Jail when the prison was stormed by an armed mob that shot and killed them. As a captain in command of the Warsaw Rifle Company of the Illinois militia, Davis was accused of having ordered his men to storm the prison. At trial, Davis and four other defendantsThomas C. Sharp, Mark Aldrich, William N. Grover and Levi Williams. were found by a jury to be not guilty of the murders.

Notes

References

{{cite book| author = Dallin H. Oaks| author-link = Dallin H. Oaks|author2=Marvin S. Hill|author2-link=Marvin S. Hill| title = Carthage conspiracy| publisher = University of Illinois Press| url = https://archive.org/details/carthageconspira00oaks| url-access = registration| date = October 1975| isbn = 978-0-252-00554-1 }}
Marvin S. Hill. [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3945/is_200407/ai_n9408752/pg_1 "Carthage Conspiracy Reconsidered: A Second Look at the Murder of Joseph and Hyrum Smith"], Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, Summer 2004.
[https://web.archive.org/web/20140626134354/http://josephsmithpapers.org/person?name=Jacob+Cunningham+Davis "Jacob Cunningham Davis"], Joseph Smith Papers

{{US House succession box

| state = Illinois

| district = 5

| before= William Alexander Richardson

| after= Isaac N. Morris

| years= 1856–1857

}}

Category:1820 births

Category:1883 deaths

Category:College of William & Mary alumni

Category:People from Warsaw, Illinois

Category:Politicians from Staunton, Virginia