Author: Andrew Duppstadt, DNCR
This article originally appeared in Recall, the magazine of the North Carolina Military Historical Society; republished with permission.
Davidson County, located in the central portion of the state, was formed out of Rowan County in 1822 and is named in honor of General William L. Davidson. Gen. Davidson served North Carolina in the American Revolution and died in action at Cowan’s Ford on the Catawba River in 1781 while delaying British General Lord Cornwallis’s advance toward Guilford Courthouse.
Davidson was born in Lancaster County, PA to Irish immigrant parents who moved the family to the piedmont of North Carolina when William was very young. They settled initially in what is now southern Iredell County. William attended school near Charlotte and married into the Brevard family. Davidson served in the militia prior to the American Revolution and was an adjutant to Col. Griffith Rutherford in 1775 before joining the Continental Army as a Major. He was with the Fifth Regiment at Wilmington, Germantown, and Valley Forge before returning to North Carolina to recruit in 1778. When units were consolidated, he was transferred to the Third Regiment.
Davidson was on furlough visiting his wife and six (soon to be seven) children when most of the North Carolina Continental Line surrendered at Charleston in May 1780. Davidson offered his services to the militia and was wounded at Colson’s Mill shortly thereafter. He was called back into service in late 1780 or early 1781 as Cornwallis made his advance northward from South Carolina, and was killed on February 1, 1781, while attempting to check the British advance at Cowan’s Ford.
Following the war, his family received land in what is now Tennessee, establishing Davidson County, TN in 1783. In 1784, Nashville (named for NC General Francis Nash, killed at the Battle of Germantown) was made the county seat. Davidson’s children scattered throughout the South, including Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, and Kentucky; only one remained in North Carolina. That son, William Lee, settled in Mecklenburg County and sold to the Presbytery the land on which Davidson College was established. The college is also named in honor of Gen. Davidson.
Parts of Davidson County were later annexed to Forsyth County in 1889 and 1921. Davidson is bounded by Randolph, Montgomery, Rowan, Davie, Forsyth, and Guilford counties. The current population of the county is near 170,000. The county seat is Lexington, and the largest city is Thomasville. Badin Lake and High Rock Lake are both located in Davidson County. Aside from the namesake college, the county is also home to Davidson-Davie Community College. Other attractions include the Richard Childress Racing Museum, Childress Vineyards, and the Denton Farm Park, home of the Southeastern Old Threshers Reunion.
For more information and to learn more, visit: https://www.ncmilitaryhistoricalsociety.org/