Cushman Davis

Cushman Kellogg Davis (June 16, 1838 – November 27, 1900) was an American politician who served as the 7th Governor of Minnesota from January 7, 1874 to January 7, 1876 and as a U.S. Senator 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.

He was born in Henderson, New York, and went to Wisconsin Territory with his parents before he was a year old. 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, first as a lieutenant in charge of volunteers, where 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.