Charles N. Davenport

Charles N. Davenport
From 1884's Gazetteer and Business Directory of Windham County, Vt., 1724-1884
Born	(1830-10-20)October 20, 1830 Leyden, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	April 12, 1882(1882-04-12) (aged 51) Brattleboro, Vermont, U.S.
Resting place	Prospect Hill Cemetery Brattleboro, Vermont, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Attorney Businessman Newspaper publisher
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Louisa C. Haynes (m. 1854) Roxana J. (Whiting) Dunklee (m. 1871)
Children	6

Charles N. Davenport (October 10, 1830 – April 12, 1882) was an American attorney, businessman, and political candidate from Vermont. A Democrat during the American Civil War and post-war era when Republicans won every election for statewide office, Davenport was an unsuccessful candidate for offices including governor and U.S. representative. He was a delegate to many local, state, and county Democratic conventions, and was the founder of the Brattleboro Reformer newspaper.

A native of Leyden, Massachusetts, Davenport was educated at academies in Massachusetts and Vermont, studied law, and became an attorney in the Vermont town of Wilmington. A highly regarded orator and courtroom advocate, he practiced in the state and federal courts of Vermont, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, and was frequently called upon to give speeches at political gatherings and other meetings. After relocating from Wilmington to Brattleboro, Davenport continued to practice law while also becoming active in banking, railroads, and ownership of a farm in Guilford.

Davenport was a Democrat in politics during the era when Vermont became a one-party Republican state as a result of Vermonters' opposition to slavery. He was a delegate to many local, state, and national conventions, and was an unsuccessful candidate for offices including state's attorney, lieutenant governor, governor, and United States representative. In his later years, he opposed the state and national Republican and Democratic parties because he regarded them as rife with corruption. He attempted to found an independent anti-corruption party in Vermont in the 1870s, but by 1880 he had returned to the regular Democratic fold.

In 1882, Davenport sold his legal practice because he was in ill health. He operated a lumber business and sawmill, hoping that physical activity in the outdoors would help him regain his health. It improved temporarily, but he died in Brattleboro on April 12, 1882. Davenport was buried at Prospect Hill Cemetery in Brattleboro.