Thomas Alexander Davidson (deceased) was born in Rockbridge County, W.Va., December 10, 1810, the son of John and Sarah (McCrea) Davidson who were married in the same county January 1, 1801 by Rev. Samuel Houston. His father (John) had settled in the old homestead (of above county) and then moved in 1816 to Madison Co., Ohio, settling near London on Deer Creek in January 1817. The family was of Scottish descent and came to America from Scotland or the North of Ireland and settled in Cumberland Co., Pa. Charles Ewing, the maternal great-grandfather of James W. Davidson, was a member of General Washington's body guard. He died at the age of ninety-five, and his wife, whose maiden name was Barbary Barb, died with ninety-seven years old.
Thomas A Davidson was the 5th in a family of eleven children, four of whom were born after the family moved to Ohio. Mr. Davidson came to Illinois in 1853, settling one mile east of Mahomet, where for three years he ran what was known as the "Nine Gal Tavern". He then bought part of the land connected with that place, and also entered 200 acres in Sections 23 and 27, Mahomet Township, where he lived from 1856 to 1871. In the latter year moving to Mahomet, where his sons, James and Jerome T. engaged in the grain business.
In December 1841, Mr. Davidson was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Jane Sidner, who was born in Madison County, Ohio and now lives in Mahomet, Champaign County at the ripe old age of eighty-one years. Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Davidson, as follows: Mary E., the wife of T.J. Scott (deceased), ex-sheriff of this county, who resides at Mahomet; James Wilson; John S., who died at the age of nineteen; Jerome Taylor; George Washington, who was born in Ohio; Francis Charles, Postmaster at Clinton, Ill.; Ida L. (Mrs. J.D. Brown), who died in 1887; Sarah Kate, who married Milton Decker and resides in Peoria; and Anna, who died in infancy.
In his religious belief Mr. Davidson was at one time a Presbyterian, but later joined the Methodist Church with his wife. He was a Republican in politics, and socially was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Formerly he was a Whig and Abolitionist. He lived a life of usefulness and passed away just at the mark of three score years and ten, leaving to his wife and family a goodly estate, a name honored by all, and a character ennobled by kindly acts and good deeds.
