The son of J.D. and Corrie McClung Kerr, John Davis Kerr was born in Abbeville on April 24, 1903 and died on July 28, 1964, at his home in Spartanburg.
He was educated at Washington and Lee University and at the University of South Carolina Law School. He was admitted to the Bar in 1925, practiced for one year in Abbeville and then moved to Spartanburg where he became an eminently successful practitioner. On December 26, 1931, he married Victoria Howie of Abbeville.
He served as a Trustee of the University of South Carolina for twelve years and was often appointed to serve as a Special Circuit Judge. He was a leader and possessed of great wisdom when serving as a Judge. He was active in the Presbyterian Church, in the Spartanburg, South Carolina (President in 1957) and American Bar Associations, the Judicial Conference of the Fourth Judicial Circuit and other organizations.
A Christian gentleman possessed of an extremely high sense of professional rectitude, he exerted an enviable influence upon his profession. Such and more was John Davis Kerr.