D. W. Comstock was born in Montgomery County, Ohio in 1840 and graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio in 1860. The next year he moved to Newcastle, Indiana where he began the practice of law. In 1863, he enlisted as a private in the Ninth Indiana Cavalry and served honorably in that unit until September 1865, attaining the rank of Captain.

After the war he moved to Richmond where he resumed his law practice, serving as Richmond's City Attorney, and Wayne County's Prosecuting Attorney. In 1878 he was elected to the State Senate from Wayne County. In 1884 he was elected Judge of the Wayne County Circuit Court and served until 1896, when he was elected Judge of the Appellate Court for the Fourth District. He was elected four times and served until 1911. Additionally, he served as President of the Morrisson Library Committee from 1886-1892.

After his retirement from the bench, he practiced law again, this time with his son, Major Paul Comstock, who served in the military during both the Spanish American War and World War I. In 1916 Judge Comstock was elected to the United States House of Representatives from the Sixth Indiana District. Unfortunately, he died on May 19, 1917, only two months after being sworn in.

For more information see:

Daniel Webster Comstock Memorial Addresses Delivered in the House of Representatives and the Senate of the United States... Washington, [Govt. Print. Off.] 1919. [Richmond Collection B C739u]

Fox, Henry Clay.  Memoirs of Wayne County and the City of Richmond Indiana, Volume I.  Madison, Wis.: Western Historical Assn., 1912:  32-33.  [Adult Non-Fiction  977.263 F79a]

History of Wayne County, Indiana. Chicago, Inter-State Pub. Co., 1884: 560. [Adult Non-Fiction 977.263 I61]