Horace A. Davenport, 98, first African American judge in Montgomery County

Horace Alexander Davenport, 98, of Norristown, grandson of a slave and the first African American judge to sit on the Common Pleas Court bench in Montgomery County, died of cardiopulmonary arrest Tuesday, March 21, at home.

In 1975, he was elected to the court for the first time. In 1989, at age 70, he retired, but was asked to return to the bench as a senior judge. By using his no-nonsense approach to running a courtroom, he reduced a backlog of 4,000 cases to 400.

Over the years, Judge Davenport experienced many of the indignities to which African Americans have been subjected, his family wrote in an appreciation, but "he was able to rise above these adversities through his respect and appreciation for hard work, his calm temperament, and the continual respect and care for his fellow citizens."

Judge Davenport's life was filled with professional accomplishments, community service, and charitable giving well beyond what might have been expected of a farmer's son, his family wrote. Through it all, he never sought praise or the limelight.

"He was under the radar. He just did," said his daughter, Alice Alexander. "That's what he taught us – to let your deeds speak for who you are."

When he was 4, he and his family joined the migration of African Americans out of the rural South to the industrialized North, where economic opportunities beckoned. He moved from Newberry, S.C., to Bridgeport with his maternal grandparents.  His parents, William and Julia Green Davenport, and his six siblings soon followed, and the family settled in Norristown.

At age 12, he moved back to the family farm in Newberry to live with his paternal grandparents. His grandfather, who was born into slavery and never learned to read or write, taught him the importance of hard work and education.

Two years later, he returned to Norristown, and in 1938 graduated from Norristown High School.  He was awarded a football scholarship to Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, N.C., and was just weeks from graduating when he was drafted into the Army.

During World War II, he served as an engineer, and was honorably discharged with the rank of first lieutenant. While on leave in 1944, he met Alice Iola Latney. The couple married in December.  They were together 73 years and had four children.

Judge Davenport completed a bachelor's degree at Howard University and a master of science degree in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1947. He earned a degree from Penn's Law School in 1950. The following year, he set up a private practice.

Judge Davenport's initial goal was to practice insurance law, but he was rebuffed by the company he most wanted to work for due to racial bias. Several years later, while in private practice, he successfully argued on behalf of a client against that same company.

As an attorney, he handled cases involving insurance, zoning, trusts and estates, and real estate.  He developed an expertise in school law, serving as solicitor for the Norristown Area School District, the Norristown Area School Authority, and Central Montgomery County Vocational-Technical School. When he became a founding partner of the law firm Gerber Davenport & Wilenzik in 1971, school law constituted the bulk of his practice.

After he became a judge, he was known for his prowess at prying out-of-court settlements from even the most hostile opposing parties. In 1996, the Conference of Trial Judges awarded him the Golden Crowbar Award for that achievement. He was further acknowledged in 2001 when the Montgomery County Bar Association opened its first dispute resolution center in his name.

The judge reluctantly resigned from the judiciary in 2003 when the state Supreme Court revised the mandatory retirement age for sitting judges to 80.  At age 84, he had already exceeded the new limit. "He was so upset," his daughter said. "He loved the law."

Judge Davenport was a busy volunteer. He served as president of the La Mott Historical Society and a trustee of Johnson C. Smith University, which awarded him an honorary doctoral degree. As a board member of the historically black university, he chaired both its presidential search committee and its $6 million fund-raising campaign.

Judge Davenport was a director of the Central Montgomery County American Red Cross and served on the boards of Montgomery Hospital and the Montgomery County Bar Association.  He was an active member of the George Washington Carver Community Center, the Central Montgomery County Council on Human Rights, and the Citizens Council of Montgomery County.

He was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, the Commissioners, the Ashanti, and the Alpha Boule, Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity.  In addition, he was a member of the Martin Luther King Jr. Consistory 86 of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Prince Hall Affiliation, Northern Jurisdiction, U.S.A. Inc., 33rd degree, and the Improved Benevolent Order of Elks of the World, Elmwood Lodge 438.

Besides his wife and daughter, he is survived by children Beverly, Horace Jr., and Nina Davenport Arnold; three grandchildren; and two great-granddaughters.

A public memorial service is being planned for late May.

Donations may be sent to the Horace A. Davenport Endowed Scholarship Fund, Johnson C. Smith University, Institutional Advancement Division, 100 Beatties Ford Rd., Charlotte, N.C. 28216.