The Minnesota Republicans from the beginning had been divided. Opposed to the old “Ramsey dynasty,” which had controlled the distribution of government appointments, there was at all times an array of patriotic gentlemen quite willing to enter the public service, believing themselves as deserving of party rewards as those on whom Fortune had smiled. The Civil War liberated from military service many ardent young Republicans desirous and capable of sharing in public affairs. Among these was a St. Paul attorney, Cushman Kellogg Davis, a native of Wisconsin, who had been graduated from the University of Michigan. He had done good service as a line officer in a Wisconsin regiment and as a staff officer under General Gorman. His ability and diligence as a lawyer soon gained him prominence at the bar, and his personal qualities attached to him a circle of influential friends. He was not greedy for minor offices, but served in the legislature in 1867 and was appointed, a year after, United States district attorney, at the instance of Senator Ramsey. A lecture on “Modern Feudalism” first delivered in 1870, in which he portrayed the growing dominance of corporations, gave proof of powers of insight and analysis above the ordinary. When the Republican state convention met in St. Paul on July 16, 1873, the old dynasty had no other expectation than that the nomination for governor would fall on its worthy favorite, the Hon. William D. Washburn. Few expected that Mr. Davis, whose loudest support had come from an independent St. Paul newspaper, would receive more than a complimentary vote. On the informal ballot he did not, nor on the first formal ballot. Three more ballots followed, on the last of which the favorite of the “young Republicans” was nominated by a vote of 155 to 152, 154 being necessary to a choice. As Mr. Davis’s nomination came by a slender majority, so also was his election secured by a majority of about one fourth of the nominal Republican strength. His friends had made no secret that the governorship was desired by them merely as a stepping-stone to a national senatorship. The old dynasty evidently did not expend much money or labor on that election.
Mr. Davis’s governorship during the years 1874-75, a period of depression and discouragement, was not marked by notable events. His messages were admirable for literary style, and, while counseling economy in expenditure, advised liberality towards the schools and the university. His radical suggestion as to the unfinished St. Paul and Pacific Railroad was that the bondholders in control should presently put up the money to complete the lines, or the state should have them turned over to responsible parties who would do so.