Youth and Education

1807/1808

June 3

Born in Christian County (now Todd County) on a site that has since become a part of Fairview, Kentucky, the son of Samuel Emory and Jane Cook Davis. The spot is commemorated with a large monument. For more information about Davis' birth year, see the FAQ
 

1809/1810

Family moves to the Bayou Teche country of Louisiana and shortly thereafter to Wilkinson County, Mississippi; settles in Woodville and builds Rosemont
 

1816-18

Attends St. Thomas College near Springfield, Kentucky
 

1818-23

Returns to Mississippi; enters Jefferson College in Adams County; later transfers to Wilkinson County Academy and lives at home in Woodville
 

1823-24

Member of the junior class at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky
 

1824

July 4

Davis' father Samuel Emory Davis dies
 

1824

Enters the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York 
 

1825

August

Arrested and court-martialed for July 31 visit to Benny Havens' pub; sentence remitted
 

1826

December 25

Arrested and confined to quarters at the beginning of the "Eggnog Riot"; released in February 1827

1828

Graduates  23d in a class of 33 from the United States Military Academy