Document List

Nicholas Davis, Jr.

Lawyer

Nickname:

Nick

Born:

January 14, 1825, Athens, AL

Died:

November 3, 1874, Huntsville, AL

Buried:

Maple Hill Cemetery, Huntsville, AL

Brother of:

Captain Dewitt Clinton Davis

Brother of:

Zebulon Pike Davis

Notes:

•  Son of Colonel Nicholas Davis Sr. and Martha Hargrave - Alabama Biography Bio

•  He was educated in Alabama and completed his legal studies at the University of Virginia. - Alabama Biography Bio

•  "He served as a lieutenant in a company commanded by Capt. Higgins, in Col. Jere Clemens' 13th infantry regiment during the Mexican War, serving part of the time as a staff officer. The war over, he completed his studies, was admitted to the bar, and located in Athens. He entered upon the practice of law and in 1851 was elected to the house of representatives from Limestone County. He located at Huntsville in 1853; was elected solicitor in 1855, an office which he held for five years. In 1852 he canvassed the State as a Scott elector; and in 1860 was on the Douglas electoral ticket. He stumped Northern Alabama in opposition to the secession movement, and was elected to the secession convention of 1861 as a Union delegate. He maintained that the delegates had no authority to take the State out of the union without a vote of the people, but when the State withdrew, he threw his fortunes with his State. He was elected to the provisional congress of the Confederacy to succeed Dr. Thomas Fearn who had resigned. Soon he was made lieutenant colonel of the 19th Alabama infantry regiment, hut declined the commission. He later commanded a battalion for a short time. He refused to take the Federal oath of allegiance, and his property suffered along with that of his neighbors. Immediately after the war he resumed the practice of his profession, specializing in criminal law." - Alabama Biography Bio

•  "Married: 1859 in Huntsville, AL, to Sophia Saraj, daughter of Gen. Bartley M. Lowe, a native of South Carolina, captain in the Revolutionary War, removed to Florida, where he accepted service under the Spanish Government, for which he secured a large grant of land, later located in Huntsville where he became a most successful merchant, first president of the Huntsville bank, fought in the Indian War of 1836, and in 1838 settled in New Orleans, La., where he became a cotton factor." - Alabama Biography Bio

•  Sophie Lowe, Nicholas Davis, Jr.'s wife, was "a fine social light of Huntsville, and a most attractive woman." - Saunders

•  Father of:
1. Lowe, born 1862, married Lucy Meriwether
2. Sophia Lowe, born 1869, married Ben Lee Young, of Huntsville
3. William "Willie" born 1864
4. Nicholas Clint, a student in the University of Alabama, 1883-85, and a private in the Spanish-American War, 1898 - Alabama Biography and Ancestry.com

•  Said of his son, Lowe Davis: "a sad and tragic fate of dissipation." - Saunders

•  "During the war he was in Huntsville much of the time, and was harassed by the federals, but refused to take the oath of allegiance. Since that time he has held no position. His personal appearance is that of a large, stalwart, and handsome man, with blue eyes and very dark hair. As an orator he is voluble and pointed, with a clear voice, easily modulated. He is open-hearted and chivalrous, self-willed and energetic." - Brewer

•  He cast an unpopular vote against secession and the article decribes the early ramifications. - Huntsville Historical Review, Unpopular

•  "From a survey of those delegates who refused to sign the Ordinance of Secession, it is evident that taking such action made it necessary for them to withstand criticism which continued for the rest of their lives." - Huntsville Historical Review, Unpopular

•  "Nick Davis, Jr. was a close friend to Jeremiah Clemens. He dedicated his book 'Mustang Gray' to Nick and wrote, 'But it is not these alone that move me to write your name on the first page of this volume. The last words your mother was ever heard to speak, were warm regard for me, and to the hour of his death your father honored me with a friendship which is among my proudest recollections. In the whole range of my acquaintance I have never known two persons more remarkable for unswerving integrity of thought and action or more distinguished for a lofty scorn of all that was low or vile in humanity.'" - Huntsville Historical Review, Unpopular

Related Links:

• Ancestry.com - Page owned by genolgyfan and requires Ancestry.com membership to view. (Originally found at http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/17680090/person/1580525504.)

• Brewer - Alabama, Her History, Resources, War Records, and Public Men: From 1540 to 1872 by Willis Brewer, © 1872, p. 365.

• Heritage - The Heritage of Madison County, AL by Madison County Heritage Book Committee, printed in 1998, p. 160.

• Huntsville Historical Review, Disaffection - Huntsville Historical Review. "Disaffection in Madison County Before and During the Civil War," by S. E. Bounds, from Volume 4, #2, April of 1974, page 5-7.

• Huntsville Historical Review, Unpopular - Huntsville Historical Review, "Eleventh Day of January, 1861 (Secession in Alabama)", by Shapiro, N., from Volume 23, #2, Jul-96, page 22 (The article includes two quotes from "The Huntsville Democrat" criticizing his vote against secession and telling of a bar fight.)

• Saunders - Early Settlers of Alabama by James Edmonds Saunders & Elizabeth Saunders Blair Stubbs, printed 1899, page 476.

The Following Pages Link to this Page:
•  Alabama Biography Bio
•  Alabama Biography House
•  Brewer
•  Captain Dewitt Clinton Davis
•  Huntsville Historical Review, Disaffection
•  Huntsville Historical Review, Unpopular
•  Saunders
•  Zebulon Pike Davis