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Oil on canvas, W.D. Murphy, 1911, Collection of U.S. House of Representatives |
DAVIS, John Wesley, a Representative from Indiana; born in New Holland, Lancaster
County, Pa., April 16, 1799; moved to Cumberland County, Pa., with his parents,
who settled near Shippensburg; completed preparatory studies; studied medicine;
was graduated from the Baltimore Medical College in 1821; moved to Carlisle,
Ind., in 1823 and practiced medicine; surrogate of Sullivan County 1829-1831;
member of the State house of representatives 1831-1833 and served as speaker in
1831; commissioner to negotiate an Indian treaty in 1834; elected as a
Jacksonian to the Twenty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1835-March 3, 1837);
declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1836 because of ill health;
elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-sixth Congress (March 4, 1839-March 3,
1841); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1840 to the Twenty-seventh
Congress; again a member of the State house of representatives 1841-1843 and
served as speaker in 1841; elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-eighth and
Twenty-ninth Congresses (March 4, 1843-March 3, 1847); chairman, Committee on
Public Lands (Twenty-eighth Congress); Speaker of the House of Representatives
(Twenty-ninth Congress); was not a candidate for renomination in 1846;
appointed by President Polk United States Commissioner to China and served from
1848 to 1851, when his successor was appointed; member of the State house of
representatives in 1851, 1852, and again in 1857; delegate to the Democratic
National Convention in 1852; appointed by President Pierce as Governor of
Oregon Territory and served in 1853 and 1854; member of the Board of Visitors
to the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1858; died in Carlisle,
Sullivan County, Ind., August 22, 1859; interment in the City Cemetery.
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