Person:Robert Davidson (22)

http://www.usgennet.org/usa/nc/county/mecklenburg/hopewell/pg5.htm

Robert Davidson, son of Major John Davidson, founded a home, worthy of the name, one mile west of his father's elegant mansion. He married Peggie, a daugh- ter of Adlai Osborne, from Centre congregation in south Iredell. The Osborne family was noted for patriotism, in- telligence, and and unswerving integrity. Mr. Davidson and wife had no children, but they acted the part of parents in raising several orphan boys; amongst those they were permitted to raise was Mrs. Davidson's nephew, James W. Osborne, a grandson ,of Adlai Osborne, of Revolu- tionary fame. The Hon. James XV. Osborne was quali- fied by his attainments in literature and in legal lore, to have filled any position within the gift of the American people, with credit to the country and honor to himself. As a Superior Court judge, he had no superior, and as an advocate, was without a peer. His eloquence was so appreciated and admired that he was called the Demos- ithenese of Western Carolina. The writer has heard him often before a jury, where by his pathos as well as his argument, a jury seldom failed to render a verdict in favor of his client. His speeches in ecclesiastical courts (he was an elder in the Presbyterian church) were always of a high order, being perfectly familiar with church codes, he wielded a wonderful influence. This high order of intellect that was so marked in Judge Osborne's pro- genitors has not been lost, but is continued with unabated intensity in his two sons, Hon. F. I. Osborne, Attorney father's name, James W. Osborne, of New York. Mr. General for the State, and the brilliant successor to his Davidson was a large farmer; owned several thousand acres of the most productive land bordering on the Catawba river; and was probably the largest slave owner county. He was a very humane master, and his servants were devoted to him. He and his wife, "Aunt Peggy," as every one called her, lived to a ripe old age, and were buried in the family plot marked out and occu- pied by his father, Major John Davidson, close by the family mansion. Mrs. Davidson was known far and near for her "goodness." She was "full of the milk of human kindness," and she was never heard to speak ill or dispar- aginglv of a living soul. Surely her joys of bliss were blooming before she passed through the gates.