Husband Col. Daniel Rogers Davidson 1 2 3 4 5
Born: 12 Jan 1820 - Connellsville, Fayette Co, PA 3 4 6 7
Christened:
Died: 17 Mar 1884 - Hot Springs, Garland Co, AR 4
Buried:
Father: Hon. William Davidson (1783-1867) 2 3 4 8 9 10
Mother: Sarah Rogers (Abt 1784-1856) 3 11 12
Marriage: 1846 - Fayette Co, PA 12
• Biographical Sketch: Franklin Ellis, History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: L. H. Everts & Co., 1882).
To read this brief biographical sketch of his life and career, click here.
Wife Margaret Clark Johnston 3 5 12
Born:
Christened:
Died: 1898 12
Buried:
Father: Alexander Johnston ( - ) 13
Mother: Margaret Clark ( - ) 13
Children
1 M Charles Davidson 5 14
Born: Abt 1851
Christened:
Died: 16 Feb 1921 5
Buried:
Spouse: Fannie Johns ( - ) 5
Marr: May 1884 5
2 F Sarah Davidson 14
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3 M William J. Davidson 14
Born:
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Died: Bef 1899
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4 F Elizabeth Davidson 14
Born:
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Died: Bef 1899
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5 M George Davidson 3 12 15
Born: 13 Oct 1859 - Connellsville, Fayette Co, PA 12 15
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Spouse: Mary Wilson ( - ) 15 16
Marr: 1883 16
6 M Hon. James J. Davidson 2 17 18
Born: 5 Nov 1861 - Connellsville, Fayette Co, PA 18 19
Christened:
Died: 2 Jan 1897 - Phoenix, Maricopa Co, AZ 18 20 21
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Spouse: Emma E. Eakin ( -Aft 1914) 21 22
Marr: 31 Jan 1889 20 21
7 M Louis R. Davidson 14
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8 M Frederick Davidson 3 7
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General Notes: Husband - Col. Daniel Rogers Davidson
In his early childhood he attended the common schools of his native borough, and in those days he was something of a prodigy and a good deal of a mystery to his preceptors and school-fellows, for, while he was never known actually to study his lessons, even remotely, he displayed a knowledge of the subjects far beyond that acquired by his mates through hard grinding. He, in this respect, was the envy of his class, but he himself little knew that his precocity and oddities were the seeds of a budding genius. Nor did his father and his mother understand him and his ways of doing things and of looking at things. He was just about arriving at the age of sixteen years when he was beginning to understand himself, when his father, despairing of his son making a start to anything worth-while in the world, saw to it that he was placed on the Davidson farm, north of the borough of Connellsville. There, the fond father and devoted mother supposed, the boy "Dan" would require the remainder of his natural life in order to eke out a living. But not so; Daniel bent his energies to greatly improving the farm. He surprised all who knew him and of his "predicament" by making the farm a revenue-producer. Actually, it was the farming-out of Daniel R. Davidson that was the foundation or the beginning of his useful career. By making what was supposed to be a forlorn hope a striking success, he had found himself. When not quite twenty-one years of age he again surprised his family and the home friends by financially interesting himself in the project of building a railroad from Pittsburgh to Connellsville, (this line later became the Pittsburgh Division of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad). He had the vision of a wider and more prosperous era through the opening up and development of great areas which should feed the railroads with the natural and manufactured resources of the regions to be served. With boundless enthusiasm and resistless energy he gave himself to the railroad project, turning a deaf ear to the advice of his perturbed friends and to the demands of his father. They appeared to be fully convinced that Daniel R. Davidson had gone out of his head. For five years he continued to give his close attention to the railroad matter, the while he did not neglect his farm improvement and culture. Other affairs of importance also came to his hand in the meantime, and to these he gave of his time and intelligent application. Finally, the last spike in the Pittsburgh & Connellsville railroad was driven, and the line was equipped with its motive power and rolling-stock. He then became the prime mover in the building of the Southwest Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad. In later years it was he who became the chief promoter of the Fayette County Railroad, which enterprise injected new life into the county-seat, and set the whole county aglow with the fires of revived and new furnaces, encouraged industries and effected a general all-round business renaissance.
In political matters Mr. Davidson was keen and capable; he was a born diplomat. He delighted in making and working out political combinations in conjunction with his associates, and in bringing others to the point of seeing things as he beheld them. He was an intrepid, and yet a wise and safe, leader of men; as witness his numerous and well-won victories. There were forces within him that were given free rein in the realm of politics, and he delighted in the thrill, the verve and the accomplishments that often attended the playing of the game. Important political offices were to be his for the mere acceptance of the proffer of them, but he steadfastly refused to ascend from the ranks of the campaigners. Aside from politics, and, constructively, far superior to it, his greatest service to the State and County and Borough was his developing upon a remarkably large scale the mineral resources of Fayette County. One of the outstanding results of his endeavors in this line was his ultimate possession of extensive and highly valued coking coal fields, his holdings in the county being the largest in number and the most important in volume of output of all the operators in the section.
He died at Hot Springs, Arkansas, whither he had gone in the hope of regaining his health.
He and his wife were the parents of twelve children.
General Notes: Wife - Margaret Clark Johnston
She was a cousin of Sen. Champ Clark of Missouri, father of the copper king, W. A. Clark of Montana, and kinswoman to William Clark of the Lewis and Clark expedition.