Background

John Chandler Bancroft Davis was born on December 29, 1822 in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. He was the son of John Davis and Eliza (Bancroft) Davis, a sister of George Bancroft.

Education

After attending the Worcester public schools, Davis entered Harvard College with the class of 1840.

Unjustly suspended in his senior year, he did not return, but was given the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1847.

He studied law, was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1844.

Career

In 1844 Davis opened an office in New York City. On August 31, 1849, he succeeded John R. Brodhead as secretary of the American legation in Great Britain, acting as charge d’affaires for several months during the absence of the newly appointed minister, Abbott Lawrence. Resigning on November 30, 1852, he returned to his profession in New York, entering the firm of Kent, Eaton & Kent, which afterward became Kent, Eaton & Davis.

From 1854 to 1861 he was American correspondent of the London Times.

Because of ill health he retired from practise in 1862, and after two years abroad settled on a farm in Orange County, New York. Having regained his vigor, Davis was elected to the New York legislature in 1868, and on Mar. 25, 1869, accepted an appointment as assistant secretary of state, a post for which he had exceptional qualifications.

He was an arbitrator in a dispute between Portugal and Great Britain regarding their African possessions. When, in 1871, a Joint High Commission was appointed to arrange a settlement of the dispute between the United States and Great Britain arising out of the depredations of the Alabama and other cruisers during the Civil War, he was made secretary of the commission on the part of the United States.

After the signing of the Treaty of Washington (May 8, 1871) providing for a Tribunal of Arbitration to meet at Geneva, Davis, who had the full confidence of Secretary Fish and was familiar with all the details of the prolonged controversy, was designated as American agent. He personally prepared “The Case of the United States”. The sixth chapter, which contained the formal statement of claims, was not submitted in advance by Davis for American criticism, as the other chapters had been.

In it compensation was demanded not only for losses directly due to the activities of the Confederate cruisers, but also for general injuries to United States commerce, for enhanced insurance rates, and for the expenditures necessitated by the prolongation of the war. Opinions differ as to the merits of Davis’s presentation, and particularly as to the wisdom of incorporating the latter claims, termed “national” or “indirect, ” which aroused bitter British protests. Whether or not his advocacy of American claims was marked by undue assertiveness, it was at least spirited. The case was presented to the Tribunal on December 16, 1871. Meanwhile Davis had sailed for Europe, reaching Havre in November and proceeding to Geneva. Here he set to work preparing the “Counter Case of the United States”, which was delivered on April 15. When the matter of the indirect claims seemed likely to disrupt the Tribunal, Davis’s friendly relations with the British agent, Lord Tenterden, enabled him, with the assistance of Caleb Cushing, to devise a plan by which the arbitrators declared themselves in an extra-judicial announcement as not favoring the American demands. After the award, giving the United States a lump sum of $13, 500, 000 in gold for direct damages, had been announced (September 14, 1872), Davis sailed for home and made a formal report to the Department of State.

On January 24, 1873, he was reappointed assistant secretary of state, but resigned in July 1874, to become minister to Germany, in succession to his uncle, George Bancroft. He spent the next three years in Berlin, with occasional intervals of travel in the Mediterranean countries. After the inauguration of President Hayes, Davis resigned, only to be appointed judge of the United States Court of Claims, on which he served from January 1878 until December 1881. Then, at President Arthur’s request, he accepted an assignment as assistant secretary of state, on special duty.

At the expiration of six months, he was reappointed to the Court of Claims.

Retaining this position until November 5, 1883, he then accepted an appointment as reporter of the United States Supreme Court, editing in this capacity Volumes 108-186 of the United States Reports.

He retired after nineteen years and spent his last days in Washington.

Among his publications were: The Massachusetts Justice (1847); a revision of “Treaties and Conventions Concluded between the United States of America and other Powers, ” etc. ; Mr. Fish and the Alabama Claims (1893), and a pamphlet on the Origin of the Book of Common Prayer of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America . He was recognized as an authority on historical data relating to the judicial functions of the United States government.

Achievements

• Davis prepared “The Case of the United States” an imposing book of nearly 500 pages in which American grievances were fully stated.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Mr. Fish and the Alabama Claims, a Chapter in Diplomatic History

    (Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)

  • Lectures On the Constitution of the United States

    (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

  • Origin of the Book of Common Prayer of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America: Privately Printed for the Use of the Churchman's League of the Diocese of Washington

    (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

  • The controversy over neutral rights between the United States and France, 1797-1800; a collection of

    (This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)

  • THE MASSACHUSETTS JUSTICE: A Treatise Upon the Powers and Duties of Justices of the Peace, with Copious Forms

Connections

On November 19, 1857 Davis married Frederica Gore, daughter of James Gore King and grand-daughter of Rufus King. They had no children.

Father:

John Davis Davis

Mother:

Eliza (Bancroft) Davis

Wife:

Frederica Gore