David Dickson Terry was a U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from Arkansas

Arkansas

Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

 and son of William Leake Terry.

Born in Little Rock, Arkansas

Little Rock, Arkansas

Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...

, Terry attended public schools, along with the Bethel Military Academy in Fauquier County, Virginia

Fauquier County, Virginia

As of the census of 2000, there were 55,139 people, 19,842 households, and 15,139 families residing in the county. The population density was 85 people per square mile . There were 21,046 housing units at an average density of 32 per square mile...

 and the University of Virginia

University of Virginia

The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...

 at Charlottesville. He graduated from the law department of the University of Arkansas

University of Arkansas

The University of Arkansas is a public, co-educational, land-grant, space-grant, research university. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with very high research activity. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and is located in...

 at Fayetteville

Fayetteville

Fayetteville is the name of a number of places in the United States of America. Many are named for General Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette, a French officer who fought under General George Washington in the American Revolutionary War....

 in 1903. Later, he also attended the University of Chicago

University of Chicago

The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...

 in Chicago, Illinois. After he was admitted to the bar

Admission to the bar in the United States

In the United States, admission to the bar is the granting of permission by a particular court system to a lawyer to practice law in that system. Each U.S. state and similar jurisdiction has its own court system and sets its own rules for bar admission , which can lead to different admission...

 in 1903, Terry commenced practice in Little Rock.

During the First World War, Terry enlisted on June 5, 1918 and was later commissioned a second lieutenant of Infantry. He was discharged on December 20, 1918.

From 1929 to 1933, Terry served as member of the Little Rock School Board. He was elected to the State House of Representatives in 1933. Then Terry was elected as a Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 to the Seventy-third

73rd United States Congress

The Seventy-third United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1933 to January 3, 1935, during the first two years...

 Congress to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Heartsill Ragon

Heartsill Ragon

Heartsill Ragon was a U.S. Representative from Arkansas.Born in Dublin, Arkansas, Ragon attended the common schools, the Clarksville High School, the College of the Ozarks , Clarksville, Arkansas, and the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.He graduated from the law department of Washington and...

. Terry was reelected to the Seventy-fourth

74th United States Congress

-House:Also 2 Delegates, 3 Resident Commissioners-Senate:*President of the Senate: John N. Garner *President pro tempore: Key Pittman -Majority leadership:*Majority leader: Joseph T. Robinson...

 and to the three succeeding Congresses, where he served from December 19, 1933 to January 3, 1943. He did not run for reelection in 1942, in order to run for the United States Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

. His run was unsuccessful, and he returned to the practice of law.

Terry served as director of the Division of Flood Control Water and Soil Conservation of the Arkansas Resources and Development Commission from 1945 until 1953.

Terry died in Little Rock, Arkansas, on October 6, 1963. He was interred in Mount Holly Cemetery.