Bancroft Davis: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|American politician (1822–1907)}}

{{Infobox US Cabinet official

| name=John Chandler Bancroft Davis

{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2011}}

| image=Bancroft Davis.gif

{{Infobox officeholder

| order=7th [[United States Assistant Secretary of State]]<br>9th [[United States Assistant Secretary of State]]<br>14th

| honorific-prefix =

| title=[[United States Assistant Secretary of State]]

| name = Bancroft Davis

| term_start=[[March 25]], [[1869]] – [[November 13]], [[1871]]<br>[[January 24]], [[1873]]

| honorific-suffix =

| term_end=[[January 30]], [[1874]]<br>[[December 19]], [[1881]] – [[July 7]], [[1882]]

| image = J. C. Bancroft Davis.jpg

| predecessor=[[Frederick W. Seward]]<br>[[Charles Hale]]<br>[[Robert R. Hitt]]

| alt =

| successor=[[Charles Hale]]<br>[[John Cadwalader (congressman)|John Cadwalader]]<br>[[John Davis (Washington DC politician)|John Davis]]

| caption =

| order2=9th

| order = 9th

| title2=[[Supreme Court of the United States Reporter of Decisions|Supreme Court Reporter of Decisions]]

| title = [[Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States]]

| term_start2=[[1883]]

| term_start = 1883

| term_end2=[[1902]]

| term_end = 1902

| predecessor2=[[William Tod Otto]]

| successor2predecessor = [[CharlesWilliam HenryTod ButlerOtto]]

| birth_datesuccessor = [[DecemberCharles 22]],Henry [[1822Butler]]

| birth_placeoffice1 =[[Worcester, Massachusetts]],Judge of the [[United States Court of Claims|USACourt of Claims]]

| death_dateterm_start1 =[[ December 27]]20, [[1907]]1882

| term_end1 = November 5, 1883

| death_place=[[Washington, DC]], [[United States|USA]]

| nominator1 =

| party=[[United States Republican Party|Republican]]

| appointer1 = [[List of federal judges appointed by Chester A. Arthur|Chester A. Arthur]]

| spouse=

| predecessor1 = ''himself''

| profession=[[Lawyer]], [[Politician]], [[Author]]

| successor1 = [[Lawrence Weldon]]

| term_start2 = December 14, 1877

| term_end2 = December 9, 1881

| nominator2 =

| appointer2 = [[List of federal judges appointed by Rutherford B. Hayes|Rutherford B. Hayes]]

| predecessor2 = [[Edward G. Loring]]

| successor2 = ''himself''

| order3 = 7th, 9th & 14th

| title3 = [[United States Assistant Secretary of State]]

| term_start3 = December 19, 1881

| term_end3 = July 7, 1882

| predecessor3 = [[Robert R. Hitt]]

| successor3 = [[John Davis (United States Court of Claims judge)|John Davis]]

| term_start4 = January 24, 1873

| term_end4 = January 30, 1874

| predecessor4 = [[Charles Hale]]

| successor4 = [[John Cadwalader (congressman)|John Cadwalader]]

| term_start5 = March 25, 1869

| term_end5 = November 13, 1871

| predecessor5 = [[Frederick W. Seward]]

| successor5 = [[Charles Hale]]

| order6 = 13th

| title6 = [[List of ambassadors of the United States to Germany|Envoy from the United States to the German Empire]]

| term_start6 = August 28, 1874

| term_end6 = September 26, 1877

| president6 = [[Ulysses S. Grant]]<br>[[Rutherford B. Hayes]]

| predecessor6 = [[George Bancroft]]

| successor6 = [[Bayard Taylor]]

| state_assembly7 = New York

| district7 = Orange County, 1st

| term_start7 = January 1, 1869

| term_end7 = March 26, 1869

| predecessor7 = William C. H. Sherman

| successor7 = Odell S. Hathaway

| pronunciation =

| birth_name = John Chandler Bancroft Davis

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1822|12|29}}

| birth_place = [[Worcester, Massachusetts]], U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1907|12|27|1822|12|29}}

| death_place = [[Washington, D.C.]], U.S.

| death_cause =

| resting_place =

| resting_place_coordinates =

| citizenship =

| nationality =

| party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]

| otherparty =

| height =

| spouse =

| partner =

| relations =

| children =

| parents =

| mother =

| father = [[John Davis (Massachusetts Governor)|John Davis]]

| relatives = [[Horace Davis]]

| education = [[Harvard University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|A.B.]])<br>[[read law]]

| alma_mater =

| occupation =

| profession =

| known_for =

| salary =

| net_worth =

| cabinet =

| committees =

| portfolio =

| awards =

| signature = Signature of John Chandler Bancroft Davis.png

| signature_alt =

| website =

<!--Embedded templates / Footnotes-->

| footnotes =

}}

'''John Chandler Bancroft Davis''' (December 29, 1822 – December 27, 1907), commonly known as ('''J. C.''') '''Bancroft Davis''', was an [[Attorneys in the United States|attorney]], [[diplomat]], [[United States federal judge|judge]] of the [[United States Court of Claims|Court of Claims]], and [[Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States]].

==Education and career==

Born on December 29, 1822, in [[Worcester, Massachusetts|Worcester]], [[Massachusetts]],<ref name="fjc.gov">{{cite web|url=https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/davis-john-chandler-bancroft|title=Davis, John Chandler Bancroft - Federal Judicial Center|website=www.fjc.gov}}</ref> Davis [[read law]] in 1844 and received an [[Bachelor of Arts|Artium Baccalaureus]] degree in 1847 from [[Harvard University]].<ref name="fjc.gov"/> He originally entered Harvard with the class of 1840 but was suspended in his senior year and did not graduate with his original class.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}} He was Secretary and [[charge d'affaires]] for the [[London]] legation with the [[United States Department of State]] from 1849 to 1852.<ref name="fjc.gov"/> He entered private practice in [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]] from 1853 to 1862.<ref name="fjc.gov"/> He was an American correspondent for the ''[[London Times]]'' from 1854 to 1861.<ref name="fjc.gov"/> Because of ill health, Davis retired from his law work in 1862, and settled on a farm in rural New York until he regained his health.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}} He was a member of the [[New York State Assembly]] (Orange County, 1st District) in [[92nd New York State Legislature|1869]] but vacated his seat on March 26, 1869 to accept a federal post.<ref name="NYTObit1907"/> He was a [[United States Assistant Secretary of State]] from 1869 to 1871, and from 1873 to 1874, under President [[Ulysses S. Grant]].<ref name="ASofS1869">{{cite news|title=Assistant Secretary of State.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1869/03/25/archives/assistant-secretary-of-state.html|accessdate=21 February 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=25 March 1869}}</ref> He was Secretary and United States Agent for the [[Treaty of Washington (1871)#Joint commission|Joint High Commission]] in [[Geneva]], [[Switzerland]] from 1871 to 1873.<ref name="fjc.gov"/> In 1874, he was appointed as the United States Envoy to the [[German Empire]], serving in that position until 1877.<ref name="NYTObit1907"/>

==Federal judicial service==

Davis was nominated by President [[Rutherford B. Hayes]] on December 12, 1877, to a seat on the [[United States Court of Claims|Court of Claims]] (later the [[United States Court of Claims]]) vacated by Judge [[Edward G. Loring]].<ref name="fjc.gov"/> He was confirmed by the [[United States Senate]] on December 14, 1877, and received his commission the same day.<ref name="fjc.gov"/> His service terminated on December 9, 1881, due to his resignation to again accept the post of United States Assistant Secretary of State from 1881 to 1882.<ref name="fjc.gov"/>

Davis was nominated by President [[Chester A. Arthur]] on December 13, 1882, to the seat on the Court of Claims vacated by himself.<ref name="fjc.gov"/> He was confirmed by the Senate on December 20, 1882, and received his commission the same day.<ref name="fjc.gov"/> His service terminated on November 5, 1883, due to his resignation.<ref name="fjc.gov"/>

==Reporter of decisions==

[[File:Bancroft Davis.png|thumb|right|200px|Bancroft Davis later in life]]

Davis served as [[Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States]] from 1883 to 1902.<ref name="fjc.gov"/>

===Role in corporate personhood controversy===

Acting as court reporter in ''[[Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad]]'', 118 U.S. 394 (1886), dealing with taxation of railroad properties, Davis plays a historical role in the [[corporate personhood debate]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The murky history of J. C. Bancroft Davis and corporate personhood|url=https://booksbelow.wordpress.com/2010/01/21/the-murky-history-of-j-c-bancroft-davis-and-corporate-personhood/|website=Thoughts and Observations|accessdate=21 February 2017|date=22 January 2010}}</ref> The position of court reporter entailed that he write "a summary-of-the-case commentary." Why Bancroft Davis's role in the controversy is worth mentioning is that he noted in the headnote to the court's opinion that the Chief Justice [[Morrison Waite]] began oral argument by stating, "The court does not wish to hear argument on the question whether the provision in the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth Amendment]] to the [[Constitution of the United States|Constitution]], which forbids a State to deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws, applies to these corporations. We are all of the opinion that it does."<ref>118 U.S. 394 (1886) - Official court Syllabus in the United States Reports</ref>

In a published account of Bancroft's collected Supreme Court reports and notes from 1885 to 1886,<ref>{{cite book|last=Davis|first=J.C. Bancroft|title=Vol. 118 of United States Reports: Cases Adjudged in the Supreme Court at October Term 1885 and October Term 1886|date=1886|publisher=Banks & Brothers Publishers|___location=New York City}}</ref> he wrote of the ''Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad'' case that, "The defendant Corporations are persons within the intent of the clause in section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which forbids a State to deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."<ref>{{cite book|last=Hartman|first=Thom|title=Unequal Protection: The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Theft of Human Rights|date=2002|publisher=Rodale|___location=New York, NY|isbn=1-57954-627-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/unequalprotectio00hart/page/107 107]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/unequalprotectio00hart/page/107}}</ref>

Journalists and authors such as [[Thom Hartman]] have since cited Davis's prior position as president of Newburgh and New York Railway as evidence of a conflict of interest in the [[corporate personhood]] interpretation of a Supreme Court ruling dealing with a railroad.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Hartmann|first1=Thom|title=To Restore Democracy: First Abolish Corporate Personhood|url=http://www.thomhartmann.com/articles/2001/12/restore-democracy-first-abolish-corporate-personhood|website=Thom Hartmann - News & info from the #1 progressive radio show|accessdate=21 February 2017|date=31 December 2001}}</ref> The controversy regarding Bancroft Davis's summary remains unsolved.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2018/03/corporations-people-adam-winkler/554852/|title='Corporations Are People' Is Built on an Incredible 19th-Century Lie|last=Winkler|first=Adam|date=2018-03-05|work=The Atlantic|access-date=2018-08-14|language=en-US}}</ref>

==Death==

Davis died on December 27, 1907, at his residence, 1621 H Street NW, in [[Washington, DC]]<ref name="NYTObit1907">{{cite news|title=JOHN C. B. DAVIS DIES. {{!}} He Had Been Reporter for the Supreme Court Twenty-four Years.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1907/12/28/archives/john-cb-davis-dies-he-had-been-reporter-for-the-supreme-court.html|accessdate=21 February 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=28 December 1907}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Obituary 1 -- No Title|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1907/12/30/101032303.html?pageNumber=7|accessdate=21 February 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=December 30, 1907|language=en}}</ref>

==Family==

Davis was the son of [[John Davis (Massachusetts Governor)|John Davis]], a [[United States Whig Party|Whig]] [[List of Governors of Massachusetts|Governor of Massachusetts]], and was the older brother of [[United States Representative]] [[Horace Davis]].<ref>{{cite news | title=Davis, John Chandler Bancroft (1822–1907) | url =http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/davis5.html#RK40GFFXZ | work=Political Graveyard | accessdate = September 17, 2008 }}</ref>

==Personal==

On November 19, 1857, Davis married Frederica Gore King (1829–1916).<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=E. |first=H. H. |date=April 1908 |title=Obituaries: John Chandler Bancroft Davis |url=https://www.americanantiquarian.org/proceedings/44806538.pdf |journal=[[Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society]] |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=17}}</ref> Frederica was the daughter of [[James G. King]] (1791–1853), an American businessman and [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig Party]] politician and the granddaughter of both [[Archibald Gracie]] and [[Rufus King]], who was the [[Federalist Party (United States)|Federalist]] candidate for both [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] ([[1804 United States presidential election|1804]] and [[1808 United States presidential election|1808]]) and [[President of the United States]] ([[1816 United States presidential election|1816]]).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lamb |first=Martha J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XkM4AQAAMAAJ |title=History of the City of New York: Its Origin, Rise, and Progress |last2=Harrison |first2=Burton |publisher=[[Alfred Smith Barnes|A. S. Barnes and Company]] |year=1896 |volume=III |___location=New York |pages=384–385 |author-link=Martha J. Lamb |author-link2=Constance Cary Harrison}}</ref> They did not have any children.<ref name=":0" />

==Honors==

Davis was elected a member of the [[American Antiquarian Society]] in 1851.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.americanantiquarian.org/memberlistd|title=MemberListD|website=American Antiquarian Society}}</ref>

==Works==

*(1847) ''The Massachusetts Justice'' {{LCCN|05017539}}

*(1871) ''The Case of the United States Laid before the Tribunal of Arbitration at Geneva'' {{LCCN|10016624}}

*(1873) ''Treaties and Conventions Concluded between the United States of America and Other Powers, Since July 4, 1776'' (Revised edition) {{LCCN|11033794}}

*(1893) ''Mr. Fish and the Alabama Claims: A Chapter in Diplomatic History'' {{LCCN|11024903}}, {{LCCN|71095065}}

*(1897) ''Origin of the Book of Common Prayer of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America''

==See also==

{{Commons category|John Chandler Bancroft Davis}}

*[[Davis political family]]

==References==

'''John Chandler Bancroft Davis''', commonly known as '''Bancroft Davis''' ([[December 22]], [[1822]]&ndash;[[December 27]], [[1907]]) was an [[United States|American]] [[lawyer]] and [[diplomat]]. He was also the ninth [[Supreme Court of the United States Reporter of Decisions|reporter of decisions]] of the [[United States Supreme Court|U.S. Supreme Court]], serving from [[1883]] to [[1902]].

{{Reflist}}

==Sources==

Davis was born in [[Worcester, Massachusetts|Worcester]], [[Massachusetts]], the son of [[John Davis (Massachusetts Governor)|John Davis]], a [[United States Whig Party|Whig]] [[List of Governors of Massachusetts|governor of Massachusetts]], and was the older brother of [[congressman]] [[Horace Davis]]. He received his [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree from [[Harvard University]] in [[1847]]. In [[1849]], Davis became secretary of the American [[embassy]] in [[London]] and later its [[charg&#233; d'affaires]]. He practiced law in [[New York City]] and was the correspondent for ''[[The Times]]'' in London. Because of ill health, he retired from the law in [[1862]], but in [[1868]] he was elected to the [[New York State Assembly]]. In [[1874]], he was appointed as the U.S. Minister to [[Germany]], serving in that position until [[1877]].

* {{cite web|url=https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/davis-john-chandler-bancroft|title=Davis, John Chandler Bancroft - Federal Judicial Center|website=www.fjc.gov}}

* ''The United States Court of Claims : a history'' / pt. 1. The judges, 1855–1976 / by Marion T. Bennett / pt. 2. Origin, development, jurisdiction, 1855–1978 / W. Cowen, P. Nichols, M.T. Bennett. Washington, D.C. : Committee on the Bicentennial of Independence and the Constitution of the Judicial Conference of the United States, 1976 i.e. 1977–1978. 2 vols.

* {{cite book |last1=Schlup |first1=Leonard |editor1-last=Schlup |editor1-first=Leonard C. |editor2-last=Ryan |editor2-first=James Gilbert |title=Historical Dictionary of the Gilded Age |year=2003 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |isbn=9780765621061 |page=124 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lhRqUo9HzVwC&pg=PA124 |accessdate=March 4, 2016}}

* {{cite news | title=Annual Report of the State Engineer and Surveyor of the State of New York, and of the Tabulations and Deductions from the Reports of the Railroad Corporations for the Year Ending September 30, 1867 | year=1868 | publisher=The Argus Company, Albany, NY | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=hJIaAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA336 | pages=336 | accessdate=2009-10-04 }}

{{s-start}}

Under [[President of the United States|President]] [[Ulysses S. Grant]], he was [[Assistant Secretary of State]] in [[1869]]&#45;[[1871|71]] and again in [[1873]]&#45;[[1874|74]], after being secretary of the commission which concluded the [[Treaty of Washington (1871)|Treaty of Washington]] in [[1871]] which produced the settling the [[Alabama claims]]. He was the United States at the Geneva Court of Arbitration which met at [[Geneva]] December 15, [[1871]]. The American case was prepared by him.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_International_Encyclopedia] He died in [[Washington, DC]].

{{s-par|us-ny-hs}}

{{s-bef|before=William C. H. Sherman}}

{{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|[[New York State Assembly]] Orange County, 1st District}}|years=1869}}

{{s-aft|after=Odell S. Hathaway}}

{{s-legal}}

{{s-bef|before=[[Edward G. Loring]]}}

{{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Judge of the [[United States Court of Claims|Court of Claims]]}}|years=1877–1881}}

{{s-aft|after=himself}}

{{s-bef|before=himself}}

{{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Judge of the [[United States Court of Claims|Court of Claims]]}}|years=1882–1883}}

{{s-aft|after=[[Lawrence Weldon]]}}

{{s-bef|before=[[William Tod Otto]]}}

{{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|[[Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States]]}}|years=1883–1902}}

{{s-aft|after=[[Charles Henry Butler]]}}

{{s-end}}

{{US Ambassadors to Germany}}

==Works==

* ''The Massachusetts Justice'' (1847)

* ''The Case of the United States Laid before the Tribunal of Arbitration at Geneva'' (1871)

* ''Treaties of the United States, with Notes'' (new edition, 1873)

{{startAuthority boxcontrol}}

{{succession box

|title=[[United States Assistant Secretary of State]]

|before=[[Frederick W. Seward]]

|after=[[Charles Hale]]

|years=1869 – 1871}}

{{succession box

|title=[[United States Assistant Secretary of State]]

|before=[[Charles Hale]]

|after=[[John Cadwalader (congressman)|John Cadwalader]]

|years=1873 – 1874}}

{{succession box

|title=[[United States Ambassador to Germany]]

|before=[[George Bancroft]]

|after=[[Bayard Taylor]]

|years=1874 – 1877}}

{{succession box

|title=[[United States Assistant Secretary of State]]

|before=[[Robert R. Hitt]]

|after=[[John Davis (Washington DC politician)|John Davis]]

|years=1881 – 1882}}

{{succession box

|title=[[Supreme Court of the United States Reporter of Decisions]]

|before=[[William Tod Otto]]

|after=[[Charles Henry Butler]]

|years=1883 – 1902}}

{{end box}}

[[Category{{DEFAULTSORT:1822 births|Davis, Bancroft]]}}

[[Category:19071822 deaths|Davis, Bancroftbirths]]

[[Category:New1907 York lawyers|Davis, Bancroftdeaths]]

[[Category:MembersAmerican oflegal the New York Assembly|Davis, Bancroftwriters]]

[[Category:Harvard University alumni]]

[[Category:U.S. Supreme Court Reporters of Decisions|Davis, Bancroft]]

[[Category:UnitedRepublican StatesParty Assistant Secretariesmembers of the New York State|Davis, BancroftAssembly]]

[[Category:AmericanNew legalYork writers|Davis,(state) Bancroftlawyers]]

[[Category:PeoplePoliticians from Worcester, Massachusetts|Davis, Bancroft]]

[[Category:Reporters of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States]]

[[Category:Harvard University alumni|Davis, Bancroft]]

[[Category:Ambassadors of the United States|Davis, Bancroftto Germany]]

[[Category:AmericanUnited diplomats|Davis,States Bancroftassistant secretaries of state]]

[[Category:Judges of the United States Court of Claims]]

[[Category:United States Article I federal judges appointed by Rutherford B. Hayes]]

[[Category:19th-century American judges]]

[[Category:United States Article I federal judges appointed by Chester A. Arthur]]

[[Category:19th-century American diplomats]]

[[Category:Gardiner family]]

[[Category:19th-century members of the New York State Legislature]]