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A William Davidson who appears to have been a member of my overall Davidson family married Martha Baker, who was a daughter of Douglas Baker and Jane Thompson (a daughter of Rev. John Thom(p)son). As you may know, this Douglas Baker was a member of the "Amelia/Prince Edward Co., VA Bakers" that included the "first" Caleb Baker.
William and Martha (Baker) Davidson (Martha was born circa-early-1750s) moved from the Buckingham/Prince Edward Co., VA area to Botetourt Co., VA in 1774 (for whatever reason), when they bought land there from a John and Elizabeth Murray. I photo of William and Martha's house is available on the Library of Virginia website, and as of the 1930s, it was still standing (and it may still be standing today). This home was in the part of Botetourt that became Rockbridge Co., VA in 1778. By about 1782, however, William and Martha had moved yet again to what was still Botetourt Co., VA (when they bought land from a Mr. Greenlee). William Davidson died about 1812 in Botetourt (he left a will), and Martha (Baker) Davidson died there in 1829 (per a newspaper obit). I have traced this Davidson family back to the Davidsons who were in James City Co., VA by at least the 1682.
One of the sons of William and Martha (Baker) Davidson was named Reverend Andrew Baker Davidson, and he performed a "ton" of marriages in the Rockbridge area from the early-1800s until his death in 1861. The Reverend had five grandsons in the War Between the States, and three were killed in battle. One of those five grandsons who managed to survive the war was Charles A. Davidson, and he was the notary public whose signature is on the "Amnesty document" that was signed by Robert E. Lee after the war in Rockbridge (General Lee was there to be the president of Washington College....later named Washington and Lee).
Per my research, William and Martha (Baker) Davidson had great-grandsons named General John Wynn "Blackjack" Davidson who was a West Point graduate and who fought for the Union, and John's brother, Commander Hunter Davidson, who was a Naval Academy graduate and who was the Confederate on-board officer in charge of armament when the "Merrimac" had its famous battle with the "Monitor." The General and the Commander were sons of Captain William Baker Davidson (himself a West Point grad) and his wife Elizabeth Chapman Hunter, and grandsons of William Davidson, Junior and his wife Jinny/Ginny Davidson (she was from another Davidson/Davison family in Rockbridge). Note: per my research, and supported by DNA testing, there were at least five, and maybe as many as six, "unrelated" Davidson/Davison/Davisson families in the Augusta/Botetourt/Rockbridge Co., VA area in the 1700s. This remains one of my biggest surprises in my "genealogy research." Comments?
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