Davis Elkins (January 24, 1876 – January 5, 1959) was a United States senator from West Virginia.

Davis Elkins
United States Senator
from West Virginia
In office
January 9, 1911 – January 31, 1911
Appointed byWilliam E. Glasscock
Preceded byStephen B. Elkins
Succeeded byClarence W. Watson
In office
March 4, 1919 – March 3, 1925
Preceded byNathan Goff, Jr.
Succeeded byGuy D. Goff
Personal details
Born(1876-01-24)January 24, 1876
Washington, D.C.
DiedJanuary 5, 1959(1959-01-05) (aged 82)
Richmond, Virginia
Political partyRepublican

Biography

edit

Born in Washington, D.C., he attended the Lawrenceville School, Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts and Harvard University. During the Spanish–American War he enlisted as a private in the First West Virginia Volunteer Infantry, becoming assistant adjutant general in 1898.

Elkins was an industrialist with interests in railroads, banking, utilities, and coal mining; he was appointed as a Republican to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of his father, Stephen Benton Elkins, and served from January 9 to January 31, 1911, when a successor was elected. During World War I he served as a major with the 7th Division of the United States Army in France, 1917–1918. He was then elected to the U.S. Senate and served from March 4, 1919, to March 3, 1925; he was not a candidate for renomination in 1924. While in the Senate he was chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of Commerce (Sixty-sixth Congress).

From 1936 to 1956 he was owner of the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad Company. Davis Elkins died in Richmond, Virginia in 1959; interment was in Maplewood Cemetery, Elkins, West Virginia.

Davis Elkins' father, Stephen B. Elkins, and his grandfather, Henry Gassaway Davis, were both U.S. senators from West Virginia. He was married to Mary Reagan Elkins and had 3 children. His sister Katherine Hallie "Kitty" Elkins (Jan. 14, 1886 – Sept. 3, 1936) was engaged for some time to Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi (1873–1933), a cousin of the king of Italy.

See also

edit

References

edit
  • United States Congress. "Davis Elkins (id: E000109)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved on 2008-04-04
edit
Party political offices
First Republican Party nominee for U.S. Senator from West Virginia
(Class 2)

1918
Succeeded by
U.S. Senate
Preceded by Class 2 Senator from West Virginia
1911
Succeeded by
Preceded by Class 2 Senator from West Virginia
1919–1925
Succeeded by