James H. Davidson

James Henry Davidson (June 18, 1858 – August 6, 1918) was an American lawyer and Republican politician from Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He represented eastern Wisconsin for nine terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, serving from 1897 to 1913, and from 1917 until his death in 1918. He was chairman of the House Committee on Railways and Canals from 1901 to 1911. Earlier in his career, he was district attorney of Green Lake County, Wisconsin, and city attorney of Oshkosh.

Early life and education James H. Davidson was born in the town of Colchester, New York, and raised on his father's farm. As a child, he attended the district schools in the Winters and worked on his father's farm, or joined him lumbering in the nearby woods the rest of the year. At age 18, he began teaching school in Delaware and Sullivan counties to raise funds to further his education. He attended the Walton Academy, in the nearby town of Walton, New York, and worked as a janitor to help pay his tuition.

During these years, he determined to become a lawyer and began studying law in the office of and In 1883, he was able to attend Albany Law School with a loan from a family friend. He graduated in 1884 as president of his class and was admitted to the bar at Binghamton, New York. Within months, he decided to move out west for new opportunities. In the general election, Davidson prevailed with 57% of the vote over Democrat William F. Gruenewald. At the time, the 6th congressional district comprised Davidson's home county, Winnebago, plus Calumet, Manitowoc, Marquette, Green Lake, and Waushara.

During his first term, in the 55th Congress, Davidson gave a lengthy speech supporting the annexation of Hawaii; his speech was then printed and distributed as a pamphlet. Davidson was appointed to the House Committee on Rivers and Harbors, which allowed him to play an important role in appropriating funds for projects relevant to his part of the state. When running for re-election, Wisconsin newspapers remarked that Davidson had a notable first term, and was diligent and attentive to constituent services and issues of local concern. He was easily renominated, but had a more competitive general election, receiving just 53% of the vote against Democrat Frank C. Stewart. In 1900, he faced former state representative James W. Watson, but won by a comfortable margin.

Following the 1900 United States census, Wisconsin was apportioned an additional seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, necessitating a significant redistricting of the state's congressional map. Under the new map, the 6th congressional district shifted south, and Davidson was drawn into the 8th congressional district. His new district comprised the counties of Winnebago, Calumet, Manitowoc, and Waushara from his previous district, and added Portage and Waupaca. He faced some opposition for renomination at the 8th congressional district convention, but was renominated on the first ballot, receiving 65% of delegate votes. He won by a comfortable margin in the general election, receiving nearly 58% of the vote.

In the 57th Congress, Davidson was appointed chair of the House Committee on Railways and Canals. He would hold the chair for five terms. During the 1904 election season, Davidson was seriously ill with Typhoid fever, but was renominated and re-elected without serious difficulty. In 1906, Davidson was appointed to the executive committee of the National Republican Congressional Committee. 1906 was Wisconsin's first election in which party nominations were determined by primary election. Davidson faced no opponent in the primary, but the Democrats of the district failed to properly nominate any candidate for the primary. An emergency ruling of the Wisconsin Supreme Court ultimately determined that write-in primary candidate John E. McMullen would be considered the official nominee of the Democrats in the district and ordered his name to appear on the ballot, but McMullen did not actively campaign for the seat, and Davidson easily won his sixth term. He won again in 1908 and 1910 by similar margins.

Until 1912, Davidson largely avoided the bitter intra-party Republican feud of this era between progressive and stalwart factions. In 1912, however, he firmly endorsed the campaign of Wisconsin's progressive U.S. senator Robert M. La Follette seeking the Republican nomination for the presidency. Ultimately, La Follette did not win the nomination in 1912 and Theodore Roosevelt split the party with his progressive allies, starting the short-lived Bull Moose Party. Davidson did not leave the Republican Party, but ran a series of large newspaper advertisements that sought to make clear he considered himself a "progressive".

Davidson's new ideological declaration was likely influenced by his changed political circumstances at home. The 1911 redistricting significantly rearranged his district again, drawing Davidson back into the 6th district, and nearly restoring the district to its pre-1902 boundaries. Davidson faced a serious primary challenge from James N. Tittemore of Omro, an avowed progressive who spent much of 1912 questioning Davidson's progressive record. Davidson narrowly survived the primary, defeating Tittemore by just 362 votes. After the primary, Davidson largely abandoned his attempts to appease the progressive faction and aggressively distanced himself from the progressive campaign of Theodore Roosevelt. The Oshkosh Northwestern, which had been supportive of all of his previous campaigns, declared themselves disillusioned with his 1912 campaign, and suggested the Democrat, Michael Reilly, was perhaps a more progressive choice. Reilly narrowly defeated Davidson in the general election, receiving 48% of the vote to Davidson's 45%.

Davidson took a short break after losing his seat, but quickly returned to politics, running for another term in the House in 1914. He faced a primary rematch with James Tittemore, but this time a third candidate, Philip Lehner, also sought the nomination. Davidson easily won the three-way contest, but lost the general election rematch to Reilly by a narrow margin. He ran again in 1916, and faced another three-way primary, prevailing again by a comfortable margin. In their third matchup, Davidson finally defeated Michael K. Reilly in the 1916 general election and reclaimed his seat in the House of Representatives.

During the 1916 campaign, Davidson ran on a platform of strict neutrality in World War I, and stuck to that position after his election. He was one of only fifty members of the House to vote against the declaration of war on Germany in April 1917. After war was declared, however, Davidson quickly agreed to support any necessary war measures, unlike some other opponents to the war.

Death Davidson announced in July 1917 that he would not run for another term in Congress after being hospitalized in Washington, D.C. After a month in the hospital, Davidson died of pericarditis. He was interred at Riverside Cemetery in Oshkosh.

Personal life and family James H. Davidson was the youngest of five children born to James Davidson and his wife Ann ( Johnson). His father was a farmer and lumberman, he was born in Scotland and emigrated as a child with his parents; his maternal grandfather was an Irish immigrant, and his maternal grandmother was a descendant of Jacobus Turck, a pioneer Dutch settler of the New Amsterdam colony.

Electoral history

U.S. House, Wisconsin's 6th district (1896–1900) Year Election Date Elected Defeated Total Plurality 1896 General Republican 26,649 57.66% Dem. 18,944 40.99% 46,220 7,705 Proh. 626 1.35% 1898 General Republican 20,107 53.58% Dem. 16,680 44.45% 37,526 3,427 Proh. 738 1.97% 1900 General Republican 26,326 55.81% Dem. 19,758 41.89% 47,168 6,568 Proh. 869 1.84% Soc.D. 215 0.46%

U.S. House, Wisconsin's 8th district (1902–1910) Year Election Date Elected Defeated Total Plurality 1902 General Republican 19,553 57.82% Dem. 12,651 37.41% 33,817 6,902 Proh. 811 2.40% Soc.D. 802 2.37% 1904 General Republican 25,233 63.10% Dem. 12,889 32.23% 39,991 12,344 Soc.D. 1,092 2.73% Proh. 777 1.94% 1906 General Republican 16,966 59.70% Dem. 9,594 33.76% 28,417 7,372 Soc.D. 1,103 3.88% Proh. 700 2.46% Ind.R. 54 0.19% 1908 General Republican 23,097 57.28% Dem. 14,984 37.16% 40,321 8,113 Soc.D. 1,389 3.44% Proh. 851 2.11% 1910 General Republican 15,934 55.22% Dem. 10,654 36.92% 28,857 5,280 Soc.D. 2,005 6.95% Proh. 261 0.90%

U.S. House, Wisconsin's 6th district (1912–1916) Year Election Date Elected Defeated Total Plurality 1912 Primary Republican 3,572 52.64% Rep. 3,210 47.30% 6,786 362 General Democratic 16,742 48.65% Rep. 15,505 45.06% 34,411 1,237 Soc.D. 1,659 4.82% Proh. 505 1.47% 1914 Primary Republican 4,592 50.80% Rep. 2,396 26.51% 9,039 2,196 Rep. 2,051 22.69% General Democratic 15,115 49.54% Rep. 13,998 45.88% 30,512 1,117 Soc.D. 1,005 3.29% Proh. 392 1.28% 1916 Primary Republican 5,020 46.99% Rep. 3,029 28.36% 10,682 1,991 Rep. 2,620 24.53% General Republican 20,317 52.33% Dem. 17,080 43.99% 38,825 3,237 Soc.D. 9292.39% Proh. 498 1.28%