Stanley Woodward Davenport

Stanley Woodward Davenport (July 21, 1861 – September 26, 1921) was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district.

Stanley W. Davenport was born in Plymouth, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Edwin Davenport and Mary McAlarney. He was educated in the public schools of Plymouth and attended Wyoming Seminary, and graduated from the Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, in 1884 earning a Bachelor of Arts.

After completing college, he was associated in business for two years with his brother, Andrew L. Davenport, who owned a book store on Main Street in Plymouth, PA. While working in the book store, he decided to study law and later entered the office of the Honorable George W. Shonk, a relative. He studied law and was admitted to the Luzerne County Bar in 1890 and commenced practice in Plymouth in 1891.

He was elected the Register of Wills in 1884, being the only Democrat on the ticket who was not defeated, and later, he was appointed a director of the poor for the central district of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, in 1893. He later served 28 years as secretary and treasurer of the Central Poor Board. He was the register of wills of Luzerne County from 1894 to 1897. He married Mary Weir on June 13, 1889, and had two daughters: Marian Livingston Davenport, born May 1, 1890; and Mary Isabel Davenport, born September 5, 1918.

In 1898, he was nominated by his party for Congress and Davenport was elected as a Democrat to the 56th United States Congress, serving March 4, 1899 - March 3, 1901. He was an unsuccessful candidate for re-nomination in 1900. He resumed the practice of law in Plymouth and died in 1921, aged 60, after a prolonged illness and complications. Services were held at his home at 108 Gaylor Avenue in Plymouth. He was interred in the Shawnee Cemetery in a family plot where his wife Mary was also buried at age 70. He was survived by his wife, Mary Weir Davenport, and their two children: Marian, Mrs. Bryce Wadhams Blair, of Charlestown, WV; and Isabel, Mrs. James Edward James, of Bethlehem.