In 1851 he was tried before Benjamin F. Hallet, U. S. Commissioner, for complicity in the rescue of Shadrach, a fugitive slave. The charge was that as he was entering the court room, Shadrach was going out, and that he held the door in such a way as to make the escape effectual. Though he was acquitted, I never knew how much or how little, if at all, he aided the negro in his flight. In 1853 Mr. Davis was a member of the state constitutional convention, and in that year changed his residence to Plymouth, and building a house, established there his permanent home. In 1856 he was appointed a member of the State Board of Agriculture, and in the same year chosen President of the Plymouth County Agricultural Society, retaining the latter office until 1876. In 1859 he was chosen an overseer of Harvard University. In 1861 he was appointed by Gov. Andrew on a commission to propose a plan for a State Agricultural College, and after the establishment of that institution, served as one of its trustees many years. In 1862 he represented his town in the General Court, and in the same year was appointed under the U. S. Revenue law assessor for the first District, holding that office until 1869. In 1874 he was appointed Judge of the 3d District Court, and remained on the bench until his death. He loved his native town, and was always recognized as a public spirited man, who would make a liberal response to every call aiming at its welfare. He built Davis building in 1854, the brick block at the corner of Railroad avenue in 1870, and was for many years the largest individual holder of real estate in the town. He married November 19, 1845, Hannah Stevenson, daughter of Col. John B. Thomas and Mary (LeBaron) Thomas, and has two children living, Joanna, wife of Richard H. Morgan, and Charles S. Davis, a graduate at Harvard in 1880, and now practicing law in Plymouth.