[1] Born on a farm near Gaylesville, Alabama, Davenport moved with his parents to Conway, Arkansas, in 1880.

He was admitted to the bar of Faulkner County on February 14, 1890, and commenced practice in Conway.

In October of that year, Davenport moved to Muskogee, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), and in 1893 to Vinita, where he engaged in the practice of law.

Davenport was elected as a Democrat to the 60th Congress on September 17, 1907, and served from November 16, 1907, when Oklahoma was admitted as a State into the Union, until March 3, 1909.

He was elected judge of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals in November 1926.