Cushman Kellogg Davis

Cushman Kellogg Davis (June 16, 1838 – November 27, 1900) was an American politician who served as the seventh Governor of Minnesota from January 7, 1874 to January 7, 1876 and as a U.S. Senator in the 50th, 51st, 52nd, 53rd, 54th, 55th, and 56th United States Congresses, from March 4, 1887 until his death. Senator Davis served in the peace treaty talks that ended the Spanish-American War. He was a Republican.

Life
He was born in Henderson, New York, and went to Wisconsin Territory with his parents before he was a year old. His father, Horatio N. Davis, was a member of the Wisconsin State Senate.

He went to school at Carroll College, and then the University of Michigan, graduating in 1857. Admitted to the bar in 1860, he soon after found himself serving in the American Civil War in the 28th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment, serving first as a lieutenant in charge of Company B of this volunteer regiment. He was in action in the western campaigns, then in 1864 as an aide to General Willis A. Gorman.

His political career began with a term in the state house, in 1867. He died in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The cause of death was thought to be poisoning from aniline dyes in the socks he wore.

The old county name; Davis County Minnesota was named after him.

Cushman Davis' sister Maria Janet Davis married South Dakota jurist and diplomat Bartlett Tripp.