Robert Davidson

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History Of Rural Hill Robert and Isabella (Ramsay) Davidson Family tradition has it that Robert Davidson was born in Scotland and immigrated to northern Ireland. In the early 1730’s, he settled in Chestnut Level, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and married Isabella Ramsay, also from Scotland. Isabella moved to North Carolina with her two children after Robert Davidson died. John and Violet (Wilson) Davidson John Davidson (1735-1832) was born on December 15, 1735 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He became a blacksmith and moved from Rowan County to Mecklenburg County about 1760. On June 2, 1761, he married Violet Wilson (1742-1818), the daughter of nearby plantation owner Samuel Wilson. John & Sarah Harper (Brevard) Davidson Major John and Violet Davidson had 10 children who survived into adulthood. In 1823, when John was eighty-eight, he decided to retire, turned “Rural Hill” over to his son John, called “Silver Headed” Jacky and went to live with his son-in-law and daughter, William Lee and Betsy Davidson at Beaver Dam. Adam Brevard & Mary Laura (Springs) Davidson In 1835, Adam Brevard Davidson, Major John Davidson’s grandson, contracted for and supplied the lumber to build Davidson College, all of which he sawed at his own mills. In 1837, Brevard’s father, Jacky, retired to “Rural Retreat”, which had grown to have eight rooms, and turned “Rural Hill” over to his son Adam Brevard and daughter in law, Mary Laura Springs, of York County, South Carolina. John Springs & Margaret Abigail “Minnie” (Caldwell) Davidson In 1861 the War Between the States broke out and following in the military tradition of the Davidson family, Brevard’s son, John Springs Davidson, answered the call of the Confederacy. He served until the surrender of General Lee’s army on April 9, 1865. The last of the “Rural Hill” Davidsons In 1894, Brevard conveyed “Rural Hill” to his grandson, Joseph Graham Davidson and his wife, Annie Mary (Alexander) Davidson. Jo Graham agreed to divide the property five ways, reserving one parcel for himself with the others for his brothers and sisters. The settlement of his estate resulted in the present configuration of the last 265.3 acres of what was once a 5,000 acre plantation. In 1992 the last of the direct line of the Davidsons, John Springs and his sisters Elizabeth and May, sold “Rural Hill” to Mecklenburg County. “Their Children Rise Up and Call Them Blessed”