Born in Halifax County, Virginia, where his parents were living by 1783, Davenport completed preparatory studies and received a license to operate as a merchant in Meadville, Virginia. He was a captain in the county militia during the War of 1812.
Davenport was elected as a Jacksonian to the Nineteenth through the Twenty-second Congresses and elected as an Anti-Jacksonian to the Twenty-third Congress (March 4, 1825 – March 3, 1835). He chaired the Committee on Public Expenditures (Twenty-third Congress).
He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1834 to the Twenty-fourth Congress.
He died near Meadville, on November 17, 1838.
Elections
1825; Davenport was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives unopposed.
1827; Davenport was re-elected unopposed.
1829; Davenport was re-elected unopposed.
1831; Davenport was re-elected unopposed.
1833; Davenport was re-elected with 51.04% of the vote, defeating Independents Benjamin W.S. Cabell and Oden G. Clay.
