Early Years
At the University of Virginia
Polite, affable, kindhearted, and fair-minded, Davis was both liked and respected at the university. One of his pupils wrote that he was "generally considered the best professor here." Davis was also a zealous enforcer of the university's regulations, many of which the students heartily disliked. In the autumn of 1836 the student militia began drilling on campus without permission and refused to desist, submit to conditions, or disband. On November 11, the university expelled about seventy students, an action that resulted in a riot the following evening. Davis, as chair of the faculty, favored conciliation and allowed students to return to class so long as they affirmed that they had not taken part in the disturbance or were sorry they had done so.
Death
Major Works
- A Lecture on the Constitutionality of Protecting Duties (1832)
- A Treatise on Criminal Law, with an Exposition of the Office and Authority of Justices of the Peace in Virginia (1838)
Time Line
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March 5, 1802 - John A. G. Davis is born in Middlesex County.
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1819–1820 - John A. G. Davis attends the College of William and Mary.
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June 14, 1821 - John A. G. Davis and Mary Jane Terrell, a grandniece of Thomas Jefferson, marry in Williamsburg.
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1822 - John A. G. Davis is admitted to the Virginia bar.
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1824 - By this year John A. G. Davis and his family have moved from Middlesex County to Albemarle County.
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1825 - John A. G. Davis attends the University of Virginia.
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1827 - John A. G. Davis cofounds the Virginia Advocate newspaper.
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1829 - John A. G. Davis helps to publish the first edition of Thomas Jefferson's writings.
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July 1829 - The University of Virginia board of visitors appoints John A. G. Davis secretary to the board.
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July 20, 1830 - John A. G. Davis joins the University of Virginia faculty as a professor of law.
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1835–1837 - John A. G. Davis serves as faculty chairman at the University of Virginia.
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1835 - John A. G. Davis joins the Christ Episcopal Church in Charlottesville.
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November 11, 1836 - The University of Virginia expels about seventy student-militia members for drilling without permission and other infractions. A riot ensues.
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1839–1840 - John A. G. Davis serves as faculty chairman at the University of Virginia.
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November 12, 1840 - John A. G. Davis, a law professor and chairman of the faculty at the University of Virginia, is fatally shot by a student.
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November 14, 1840 - John A. G. Davis, a law professor at the University of Virginia, dies from a gunshot wound. He is buried in the University of Virginia Cemetery.
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July 1847 - Joseph G. Semmes, the student believed to have murdered Professor John A. G. Davis at the University of Virginia in 1840, kills himself at his brother's home in Georgia.
References
Further Reading
External Links
Cite This Entry
- APA Citation:
Haggard, R. F., & the Dictionary of Virginia Biography. John A. G. Davis (1802–1840). (2016, August 22). In Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved from http://www.EncyclopediaVirginia.org/Davis_John_A_G_1802-1840.
- MLA Citation:
Haggard, Robert F. and the Dictionary of Virginia Biography. "John A. G. Davis (1802–1840)." Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, 22 Aug. 2016. Web. READ_DATE.
First published: March 24, 2016 | Last modified: August 22, 2016
Contributed by Robert F. Haggard and the Dictionary of Virginia Biography.