Person:Robert Davidson (23)

Advisory on Robert Davidson

There are apparently two Robert Davidsons appearing in early Augusta County that have been confused by researchers. This Robert married Isbella Ramsey, while the other Robert Davidson married Ann (possibly Dunlap), who was named in his will of 1751. Some records attributed to this Robert Davidson may belong to the other, more research is necessary. It is unclear when this Robert Davidson died, although some records claim that he died at a young age. According to some sources, Isabella Ramsey, his widow married 2nd, Henry Hendry, possibly as early as 1754.

Information on Robert Davidson

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Woods/7237/davidhist.htm#top

Now Robert Davidson is a whole different story, he is not related to this line above. In the book "Major John Davidson of 'Rural Hill' Mecklenburg County, N.C. Pioneer, Industrialist, Planter" By Chalmers Gaston Davidson, Ph.D. Associate Professor of History and Director of the Library Davidson College(printed 1943) This is how it begins

Little is known with certainty of the Davidson Family in Scotland from which the Mecklenburg, North Carolina, branch descended. It is agreed by all family chroniclers in this country that the first to arrive was named Robert and that he lived in Pennsylvania. Notes taken by members of the family several generations ago would indicate that Robert came of a connection with some claims to educational proficiency as he was said to have left a brother in Scotland who was a physician(letter from Mrs. C.R. Coolidge(widow of John C. Davidson) to Chalmers G. Davidson, March 6, 1928. John C. Davidson's note gave as his authority "Uncle Robert said Major John said this.") and to have had another relative (kinship not clear but certainly not a son as is implied) who was a Presbyterian minister and educated at St. Andrews or Glasgow University.(Brevard Davidson Sinclair, The MacLeans of Duart Castle (Columbus, Ohio, 1879), 35. Sinclair syas that this branch of the Davidson family was "Highland Scotch" and not Scotch-Irish, and gives as authority for the statement, John Davidson, son of Major John.). Mrs. T. J. "Stonewall" Jackson, a descendant of this branch of Davidsons, wrote in her memoir book that "Robert Davidson and his wife Isabella Ramsay, came, I am told, from the neighborhood of Dundee, Scotland. He was a man of wealth, and made the voyage across the Atlantic accompanied by two servants. But his charming wife loved to spend rather than to save money and in the process of time his fair estate was squandered and he died a bankrupt. He left two children." The story of the two servants seems to have come down independently through several lines and is probably true. That the first Robert died penniless is almost certainly true.

In what year Robert, Isabella, his wife, and the two servants arrived in Pennsylvania from Scotland, no records tell. The young couple settled in a Presbyterian community in Lancaster County, known as Chestnut Level. Here their son John was born on December 15, 1735. They had also a daughter, Mary. The tradition is that Robert died while still young and that his widow and orphans moved with friends to Rowan County, N.C. This migration could not have taken place before 1745-50 and was possibly a good deal later. The Davidson family of Center Church neighborhood in the present Iredell County(formerly Rowan) apparently came to North Carolina from near Chestnut Level at about this time, and it is believed that the widow Isabella came with them, though there is no documentary evidence on this point. From this Iredell Davidson family came General William Lee Davidson of the American Revolution. The relationship between the two families has not been definitely established. Colonel William Lee Davidson(1825-1899) of the Mecklenburg line wrote: "There is no question that Robert Davidson who married Isabella Ramsay was either a brother or first cousin of General Davidson's father(George). This is tradition."

http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~genea/Dzrobertramsey.html Descendants of Robert Davidson and Isabella Ramsey

Descendants of Robert DAVIDSON

First Generation

1. Robert DAVIDSON. Robert married Isabella RAMSEY in Elkton, Cecil County, Maryland. Robert had one known brother John Davidson who married Margaret Morrison. Parents Unknown. They had the following children:

2 F i. Mary DAVIDSON.

Mary married James PRICE.

+ 3 M ii. John DAVIDSON was born 15 Dec 1735 and died 10 Jan 1832.

Second Generation

3. John DAVIDSON (Robert) was born 15 Dec 1735 in Chester County, Pennsylvania. He died 10 Jan 1832 in Mecklenburg Co., North Carolina. John married Violet Winslow WILSON on 2 Jun 1761. They had the following children:

+ 4 F i. Rebecca DAVIDSON was born 20 Mar 1762 and died 24 Dec 1824.

+ 5 F ii. Isabella DAVIDSON was born 21 Sep 1764.

+ 6 F iii. Mary DAVIDSON was born 13 Dec 1766.

7 M iv. Robert DAVIDSON was born 7 Apr 1769. He died 14 Jun 1864. Robert married Margaret McQuirter OSBORNE. Margaret was born 7 Apr 1776. She died 9 Jan 1864.

8 F v. Violet DAVIDSON was born 28 Aug 1771 in Mecklenburg Co., North Carolina. Violet married William Baine ALEXANDER, son of John McNitt

ALEXANDER and Jane BAIN, on 25 Aug 1791 in Mecklenburg Coun, North Carolina.

+ 9 F vi. Sarah DAVIDSON was born 13 Jun 1774.

10 F vii. Margaret DAVIDSON was born 8 Feb 1777. Margaret married James HARRIS on 10 Dec 1813 in Mecklenburg Co., North Carolina.

+ 11 M viii. John DAVIDSON was born 12 Nov 1779 and died 1870.

12 F ix. Elizabeth DAVIDSON was born 1783 in Mecklenburg Co., North Carolina. She died 27 Apr 1845. Elizabeth married William Lee DAVIDSON Jr., son of William Lee DAVIDSON Brig. Gen and Mary BREVARD,.

+ 13 M x. Benjamin Wilson DAVIDSON was born 20 May 1787 and died 15 Sep 1829.

Third Generation

4. Rebecca DAVIDSON (John, Robert) was born 20 Mar 1762 in Mecklenburg Co., North Carolina. She died 24 Dec 1824. Rebecca married Alexander BREVARD, son of John BREVARD and Jean MCWHORTER, on 27 Apr 1784. Alexander was born 17 Apr 1755. He died 1 Nov 1829. They had the following children:

14 F i. Mary Martha BREVARD. Mary married Richart T. BRUMBY Prof..

+ 15 F ii. Harriet BREVARD.

5. Isabella DAVIDSON (John, Robert) was born 21 Sep 1764 in Mecklenburg Co., North Carolina. Isabella married Joseph GRAHAM on 1787. Joseph died in Lincoln County, North Carolina. They had the following children:

16 F i. Violet Wilson GRAHAM. Violet married Moses Winslow ALEXANDER.

6. Mary DAVIDSON (John, Robert) was born 13 Dec 1766 in Mecklenburg Co., North Carolina. Mary married William MCLEAN on 19 Jun 1792. They had the following children:

17 M i. Augustus Alexander MCLEAN. Augustus married Catherine Lenora SCHENCK.

9. Sarah DAVIDSON (John, Robert) was born 13 Jun 1774 in Mecklenburg Co., North Carolina. Sarah married Alexander CALDWELL Rev, son of David CALDWELL Rev. and Rachel CRAIGHEAD, on 9 Oct 1794 in Mecklenburg Co., North Carolina. They had the following children:

18 M i. David Alexander CALDWELL. David married Martha BISHOP.

11. John DAVIDSON (John, Robert) was born 12 Nov 1779 in Mecklenburg Co., North Carolina. He died 1870. John married Sallie Harper BREVARD on 1800. Sallie was born 26 Oct 1780. She died Jan 1864. They had the following children:

+ 19 M i. Matthew DAVIDSON.

20 M ii. Adam Brevard DAVIDSON.

21 M iii. Robert DAVIDSON.

22 M iv. William Speight McLean DAVIDSON.

23 M v. August DAVIDSON.

24 M vi. Eugene Constantine DAVIDSON.

25 F vii. Isabella DAVIDSON. Isabella married J. W. MOORE.

26 F viii. Violet DAVIDSON.

27 F ix. Mary DAVIDSON.

13. Benjamin Wilson DAVIDSON (John, Robert) was born 20 May 1787 in Mecklenburg Co., North Carolina. He died 15 Sep 1829. Benjamin married Elizabeth LATTER. They had the following children:

28 M i. Robert F. DAVIDSON. Robert married Eliza MCCOMBS.

+ 29 M ii. John Ramsey DAVIDSON.

30 M iii. James DAVIDSON. James married Sarah SPRING.

31 M iv. William Lee DAVIDSON.

32 M v. Joseph DAVIDSON. Joseph married Mary CALDWELL.

33 M vi. Benjamin DAVIDSON. Benjamin married Kate LANDON. Kate was born in Connecticutt.