Col. Daniel Rogers Davidson

1820 - 1884  (64 years)

• Name	Daniel Rogers Davidson
  Prefix	Col.
  Born	12 Jan 1820	Connellsville, Fayette Co., PA
  Gender	Male
  1850 Census	2 Aug 1850	Connellsville, Fayette Co., PA
  	p. 412a Daniel R. Davidson    30  M   Farmer  $12000   Penna. Margaret      "             20  F                                   " John             "              3  M                                   " Sarah           "              1   F                                   " Barbary Livingstone  18  F                                    "
  1860 Census	26 Jul 1860	Connellsville, Fayette Co., PA
  	Connellsville PO, p. 206 Daniel B. Davidson    40  M  Farmer   ----  ----  Pennsylvania Margaret C.   "           30   F                                    " Sarah N.        "           11   F                                    "                   school Charles          "             9  M                                    "                        " William            "            7   M                                    "                        " Elizabeth R.    "            3   F                                     "              George           "       7/12  M                                     " Martha Catherwood  28  F   Domestic                     " Hugh         "                 4                                           "
  1870 Census	20 Jul 1870	Beaver, Beaver Co., PA
  	Darlington PO, pp. 617a-618 Davidson, Daniel   50  M  W   Farmer   $10000  $25000   Penna                                      citizen ---, Margaret C      40  F  W    Keeping House                   Penna   Father Foreign born  ---, Sarah              21  F  W    At home                              Penna ---, Charles           19  M  W    Student                               Penna                                     school -----  p. 618  ----- Davidson, William  17  M  W   Student                                Penna                                     school ---, Elizabeth         12   F  W   At Home                               Penna                                         " ---, George            10  M  W   At Home                               Penna                                         " ---, James               8   M  W   At Home                               Penna                                         " ---, Lewis               4   M  W   At Home                               Penna                                         ---, Frederick     7/12   M  W   At Home                               Penna                                    Dec Beddow, Nancy   20   F   B    Domestic Servant                Penna
  1880 Census	1 Jun 1880	Beaver, Beaver Co., PA
  	ED 174, p. 1 Davidson, Daniel R    W  M  60   Head  Md   Coal Mcht            PA  PA        PA ---, Margarett             W  F  50    Wife  Md    Keeping House   PA  Ireland  PA ---, Sarah M.              W  F  31    Dau   S       At Home             PA  PA        PA ---, Wm. J.                  W  M  27   Son   S       Post Master        PA  PA        PA ---, Geo.                     W  M  20   Son    S      At School            PA  PA        PA ---, James                  W  M  18    Son   S            "                     PA  PA        PA ---, Lewis                   W  M  14    Son   S            "                     PA  PA        PA ---, Frederick              W  M  10    Son   S            "                     PA  PA        PA Carley, Lucy               B   F   17   Servant  S   Servant              DC  DC        DC
  Book Article	1882	Philadelphia, Philadelphia Co., PA
  	History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, pp. 406-409, by L. H. Everts & Co.
  	Daniel Rogers Davidson. Somewhere in Beaver County, Pa., near Brighton, we believe, now resides, and of Pittsburgh makes his business centre, Col. Daniel R. Davidson, who belongs rather to the State of Pennsylvania than to Fayette County, in which he was born, and where he passed perhaps fifty years of residence, and in which county he still holds large busines and proprietary interests and spends considerable time, a sketch of whom it is our lot to prepare for the history of Fayette County. Mr. Davidson took great interest in the history of his native county during its preparation for the press, and rendered willing aid to those who were engaged in it whenever he could, contributing to whatever department of the work he was requested to assist in until a biography of himself was demanded, when the proposing interviewer was met with the polite but positive refusal od Mr. Davidson to furnish any item whatever regarding himself, he easily baffling the inquirer with the naive remark that he never knew anything about himself, never understood himself as a boy or man, and could not, therefore, say anything of himself; in fact, he would prefer that nothing be said, and he left no uncertainty about his quiet but firm declaration that whatever might be written of him for the history must be obtained from others. However, persistent inquiry evoked from him the statement that he believed himself to have been born at Connellsville, Jan. 12, 1820; but subsequent inquiry of others casts doubt upon this date, and leaves the writer unable to say whether Mr. Davidson was born a year or two before or a year or two after that time. Mr. Davidson is so markedly "sui generis" in character, as everybody who has his acquaintaince knows, or should know, that it is quite unessential to mention herein, as in biographical sketches in general, the mortal stock of which he is a derivative; and yet it would seem that somewhat of his phsical and spiritual nature is inherited; as his father, the late Hon. William Davidson, of Connellsville, is represented by old citizens who knew him well as a man of large mould and extraordinary mental powers, as well as a sensitive and potent moral nature (mixed with a degree of religious sentiment which in the last years of his life made him an though constant zealot); while his mother, Sarah Rogers, some years deceased, is pictured as a lady of remarkable gifts, a woman of great energy and extreme perspicacity. William Davidson was born in Carlisle, Cumberland Co., Pa., Feb. 14, 1783, and came into Fayette COunty about 1808. He was first manager of the Laurel Furnace, and afterwards an iron-master at Break Neck. He was several times a member of the State Legislature, at one time president of the House, and was also a member of the Senate. He was highly esteemed as an active, intelligent, and honest legislator. It appears that the first or immigrant Davidson ancestor of William, came from the north of Ireland and lived in Londonderry during the famous siege. Mr. and Mrs. William Davidson were the parents of three sons and two daughters. Daniel R. was their fourth child. It is learned that he went to a common school in his extreme young years; but he was never known by his schoolmates to study anything. The every-day mystery to them was how, without study, "Dan" got to know more about everything than did they who studied hard. Of course the boys he played with had no capacity to comprehend him. They knew nothing of him any more than they did about the the mysteries of the attraction of gravitation when they fell off the dunce-block, or why the water ran down the Youghiogheny, gliding past their school-house. Frankl always, but not bold in utterance, Daniel Davidson grew up to sixteen years of age, as little understood by his father, it is evident (and perhaps by his mother too), as he understood himself; and the fear being that this uncomprehended boy would never amount to anything of himself, and would ever be "a ne'er-do-well," he was at that age taken from the school which he cannot said to have "attended" and banished from "from Rome," -- that is, sent into quarters over which the central power or home government held empire, but of which the boy was given experimental charge, -- a sort of procuratorship. It was an act of dispair on the part of his father when he made, as he thought, a fixture of Dan on the Davidson farm, north of the borough of Connellsville, which farm it was supposed Dan would need all his life to glean necessary food from. So little did the paternal mind understand the boy. But lo! Dan, who now had a world of his own to move in, at once began to exhibit extraordinary executive ability. He greatly imporved the farm, and reaped a revenue from it which surprised everybody; and then it was that his career commenced. The peculiar, great-souled boy had with one stride stepped from youth to mature manhood, and was already putting to himself large problems of a practical character, and projecting in his clear head how they should be solved, -- problems concerning the public weal and involving the elements of his private fortune. It was at this time of his life, when near twenty-one years of age, that he became interested in the project of a railroad from Pittsburgh to Connellsville (the present Pittsburgh Division of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad). He threw his great energy into that matter, against the advice and solicitations of his hopeless friends and even the demands of his father, the people regarding him as little less than wild. But he kept straight on courageously and with immense industry in his course. He foresaw what none others perceived, the vast advantages to the county and to himself of the project; and tirelessly he pursued his path, securing rights of way from this and that one through his extreme eloquence in picturing the bright future, and from others by sagacious conditional bargains; and got charters, too, by piecemeal, fighting and out-plotting all the old heads in opposition. He, let it be remembered, was the only man (and then an untried boy) who had the energy to do this tremendous work. At this matter of the railroad he spent some five years, not, however, neglecting his farm imporvement and culture, and attending meanwhile to other important thinkgs which had come to his hands to do. At last the road was built and equipped. Crowds gathered at Connellsville on the day on which the first train ran through the borough, bearing an illustrious Pennsylvania protectionist on the running-board of the engine, and by his side Daniel Davidson, who as the train stopped in the midst of the people, shouted, "Here's the end of the Pittsburgh Road, with 'Tariff Andy' on its back!" and the doubters, who of course jeered and condemned him years before, now also of course applauded him to the echo, and literally bared their heads before him. Cannon were fired, and the great uproar of praise shook the sky. William Davidson, the father of Dan, the banished, "luckless wight," looked on in silence that day, and then turned away, walking speechless into his house near by. Perhaps he grieved over his wild boy's victory, perhaps he was proud. SInce that day sensible people have not questioned Daniel Davidson's judgment, his prognostic powers, his great capacity and energy. From this point on, we might proceed recaunting the struggles and conquests of this man, but our space is limited to permit much detail. Many have not forgotten the time, not long after the railroad was finished, when a mob of Connellsville people of "high respectability" threatened dire things against Mr. Davidson on account of sundry bonds connected with the building of the road, and to pay money loaned on which, to the matter of twenty thousand dollars or so, it was feared they were to be heavily taxed. How they raged and fumed is a matter of history, as well as how Dan laid a plan by which they were lightly taxed, and the bonds gotten back by him into their hands in indemnity, they severally receiving bonds in proportion of their taxes; and how some tore theirs up or burned them in rage and contempt and punished themselves, while others kept theirs and eventually profited by them some sex hundred per cent. And while we are talking of railways, it must not be forgotten that in later years it was this same Dan who was a principal promoter of the Fayette County Railroad, which took the county-seat and its adjuncts out of the night of decay that was settling down upon them and gave them new life, while many gave him the encouragement of gibes and scoffs, sneering declaring that a four-horse coach could carry all the passengers the railroad would ever convey! The county also owes to Mr. Davidson more than to any other man the advantages which she has for years enjoyed through the Southwest Pennsylvania Rialroad. he was the originator of the project of its building, rendered indispensible services in obtaining its charter or charters, and gave his time and talents whenever needed to the work. Mr. Davidosn resided for years in his farm near Connellsville, and became universally sought for counsel in business, politics and confidential affairs. It is probable that he settled more neighborhood and domestic difficultiesthan did all other men during his time in Connellsville. In politics he became a great diplomatist. In extensive and subtle combinations in political fields, in making men see things as he saw them, and in pointing out to easy, safe, and self-sustaining victories, he became recognized among leaders as a power long before the gray hairs began to creep into his locks. He liked politics intensely for the field it opened for the play of his forces, but he cared not for office. Indeed, he has been pressed to take important offices, but has always refused. Before Mr. Davidson left his farm as a place of family residence, indeed early in life, he foresaw what a mighty work would yet be done in the coking coal fields of Fayette County. We cannot go into detail here, but it is meet that we make note the he started in the business (first helping others to enter upon it before seeking to secure especial advantages to himself, however) when everybody said he was crazy for so doing. (He has always been "insane!") He was one of the great prime movers in the vast enterprise of developing on a huge scale the mineral resources of the county; indeed, he was the one intellectual power which moved it. Others furnished brawn and ignorant energy. In his time he has owned more extensive coking coal lands than any one else who can be named. In the measure of upbuilding the business of Fayette County through her coal-beds, he ran against the popular "judgment," as he had done in many other matters, but, as in this case, he always carried his measures to final popular approval and indorsement. But we are giving this article the full length of a preface to the book which might be written of the man and the great part which Daniel Davidson has played in the world, and when we took up our pen we had no purpose to do more than make a synopsis of a preface; but the subject is an inspiring one, and the material concerning it voluminous. The labor is not in expanding but in coming to a halkt; for every year of Davidson's life for the last four decades would build a volume of record. It is not easy to biographize the living, since regarding them one may not be so direct and personal as if talking of the dead. Too much truth about either, a stupid public (genral readers) will not usually bear, but whoever shall live to write of Davidson when he shall have gone will have a subject full worthy of the greatest pen, and may write the full truth about whatever may be his faults and failings; but to the writer of this Mr. Davidson's faults seem quite unworthy of notice, as really no part of him, -- incidents of his life, not outgrowths of his character, not of the man any more than his worn-out and torn boots or old coat. There are some men whom faults do not blemish more than do spots of thin rust a tried Toledo blade. They are the current records or telling symbols, not vital parts of a great life of sturdy warfare. Indeed, there have been and are men whom crimes do not sully. Bacon was one of them. But meanesses too low for the law to classify into misdemeanors even, these are the things which stain the soul, or the rather, they are the exponents of essential natures, proofs that the soul guilty of enacting them is not great, whatever the man's frontispiece before the world. Of such the world accuses not Davidson; and while the history of Fayette County will be searched in vain in the chapter of her illustrious dead for one native born the superior of Davidson in all that goes to make great manhood, so among the living of Fayette County and of Western Pennsylvania a similar search would surely be in vain. He has once been aspersed and thrust into the civil courts, and he came out thoroughly a victor, and justly and nobly triumphant over the attempted wrong and persecution. Mr. Davidson has wide acquaintanceship among the leading men of the country, especially those of the South and West, and commands their esteem, as he does that of the people of his own State. Where, when, or how in his strong-willed, successful career he has gathered to himself the funds of information which he possesses upon many topics is unknown to the writer, for he cannot learn that Mr. Davidson has been a close student of books. But Carlyle, it is said, could exhaust five octavo volumes a day. He turned over the leaves of a book, read here and there a page, cauaght the key-note, and saw the manner of treatment of a subject, and could talk more wisely then of the book than another man who had spent three weeks in reading it. Mr. Davidson evidently possesses some power or art, and we are told that his memory is prodigious. But over all his powerful, logical brain reigns; and we are inclined to think that out of the depths of his own being, by the accretions of his own mind, more than from acquirements of any sort, is it that the successes of Daniel Davidson have been builded. But however made, or created, or modified, sure it is that no son of Fayette County was ever his superior in intellectual and moral forces, in mental equipoise, in quiet but tremendous energy given to great works of practical character for the well-being of the county; in that mental forecast which amounts to prophecy in the power to move and persuade men by gentle means, opening their eyes that they may see, and, seeing, believe the things in practical life hidden to them, but clear to his keen vision. In these and many other things Davidson stands unsurpassed, felt as to his power in every part of the county, but yet "unknown," save only to the wise few, but by them inderstood but partially, and careless, we think, as to whether or not he shall ever be understood by the masses.
  Died	18 Mar 1884	Hot Springs, Garland Co., AR
  Buried	Aft 18 Mar 1884	Hill Grove Cemetery, Connellsville, Fayette Co., PA
  Book Article	1889	Chicago, Cook Co., IL
  	Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Fayette County, Pennsylvania, John M. Gresham, p. 485
  	Hon WILLIAM DAVIDSON, deceased.  The late Hon William Davidson was a distinguished citizen of Fayette county.  A man of fine intellect, he was born in Carlisle, Cumberland county, Penna, February 14, 1783, and died at Connellsville, March 2, 1867, aged eighty four years.  He was descended from a Davidson who was a native of the north of Ireland and was a resident of Londonderry during its celebrated siege.     William Davidson was a surveyor in Cumberland county, came to Connellsville in 1808 where he remained during his long and useful life; was engaged in farming, merchandising and the iron business.  Mr Davidson was manager of Laurel Iron Works and afterwards proprietor of Breakneck Furnace.  In the War of 1812 he was taken prisoner at the disgraced surrender of Detroit.   He served several years in the legislature of Pennsylvania, was speaker of the house in 1818, and afterwards served acceptably in the State senate.     On December 19, 1813, he was married to Mrs Sarah Rogers Blackstone, a woman of great talent and wonderful energy.  They had five children: Thomas R Davidson, a prominent lawyer of Western Pennsylvania, married Isabella Austin, and died November 3, 1875; William H Davidson; John R Davidson, dead; Colonel Daniel R Davidson, dead; and Sarah Davidson, wife of Baldwin Norton of Ohio, and dead.  Mrs Sarah Davidson died November 21, 1856, aged seventy two years.     William Davidson read the Bible through twice before he was nine years of age, and master the Latin, Greek and Hebrew languages without a teacher.  He was over six feet in height and of the fine personal address. He was an "Old Line Whig" and a member of the Disciple church, a fluent talker and a perfect gentleman.      The late Col Daniel Rogers Davidson, fourth son of Hon William Davidson, was born at Connellsville, January 12, 1820.  He attended school, gave no heed to his lessons but seemed to acquire knowledge by intuition.  At sixteen he was placed in charge of a farm, and his wonderful management of the land and stock gave him promise of a future successful career.   In 1846 he was married to Miss M C Johnston.      Col Davidson was the master-spirit, acting quietly but all-powerfully, in the successful development of Fayette county's wonderful mineral resources.  To him Fayette county principally owes her connection with the outside world by railways.  Against great opposition, he was largely instrumental in securing a railroad from Pittsburgh to Connellsville, the present Pittsburgh division of the B & O R R.  He was the principal promoter of the Fayette County Railroad, and was the originator of the project for building the Southwest Pennsylvania Railroad.      In 1884 Col Davidson repaired to Hot Springs, Arkansas, on account of his health, and where he died on March 18th the same year.  His remains were brought home and interred in the Connellsville cemetery.  He always took great interest in the history of Fayette county.  He liked politics intensely for the field it opened for the play of his forces, but he did not care for office.  Sensible persons never questioned Col Davidson's judgment, his prognostic powers, his great capacity and energy.  The history of Fayette county will be searched in vain for one native born the superior to Col Davidson in all that goes to make great manhood.
  Person ID	I5632	Pennsylvania Davidsons
  Last Modified	13 Aug 2013

  
  

  Father	Col. William Davidson,   b. 14 Feb 1783, Carlisle, Cumberland Co., PA ,   d. 2 Mar 1867, Connellsville, Fayette Co., PA  (Age 84 years)
  Mother	Sarah Rogers,   b. 3 Nov 1784, ____, ____, PA ,   d. 21 Nov 1856, Connellsville, Fayette Co., PA  (Age 72 years)
  Married	19 Dec 1813	Connellsville, Fayette Co., PA   [1]
  	Fayette County, Pennsylvania Vital Records, 1750-1890 Name:      Davidson, William Sr. Birth Date:      14 Feb 1783 Birth Place:      Cumberland co., PA Spouse:      Sarah Rogers (Widow Blackstone) Marriage Date:      19 Dec 1813 Marriage Place:      Fayette co., PA Children:      Thomas, William, John, Daniel, Sarah, Date of Death:      2 Mar 1867 Place of Death:      Fayette co., PA Other:      War 1812, taken prisoner at the surrender of Detroit.
  Family ID	F5249	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Margaret "Maggie" Clark Johnston,   b. 3 Apr 1830, Connellsville, Fayette Co., PA ,   d. 18 Jan 1897, Beaver, Beaver Co., PA  (Age 66 years)
  Married	25 Dec 1846	Connellsville, Fayette Co., PA
  	Fayette County, Pennsylvania Vital Records, 1750-1890 Name:      Davidson, Daniel R. Birth Date:      12 Jan 1820 Birth Place:      Fayette co., PA Father's Name:      William Davidson, Sr. Mother's name:      Sarah Rogers Spouse:      M.C. Johnston Marriage Date:      1846 Marriage Place:      Fayette co., PA Children:      Children Date of Death:      18 Mar 1884 Place of Death:      Hot Springs, AR
  Children	1. John Davidson,   b. 1847, Connellsville, Fayette Co., PA ,   d. Between 1850 and 1860, Connellsville, Fayette Co., PA  (Age 3 years)   2. Sarah Norton Davidson,   b. 1849, Connellsville, Fayette Co., PA ,   d. 5 Dec 1898, Beaver, Beaver Co., PA  (Age 49 years)   3. Charles O. Davidson,   b. 3 Oct 1850, Connellsville, Fayette Co., PA ,   d. 16 Feb 1921, Connellsville, Fayette Co., PA  (Age 70 years)   4. William J. Davidson,   b. 2 Sep 1852, Connellsville, Fayette Co., PA ,   d. 14 Dec 1884, Beaver, Beaver Co., PA  (Age 32 years)   5. Florine Davidson,   b. Abt 1854, Connellsville, Fayette Co., PA ,   d. Abt 1854, Connellsville, Fayette Co., PA  (Age ~ 0 years)   6. Alexander Johnston Davidson,   b. Abt 1855, Connellsville, Fayette Co., PA ,   d. Abt 1855, Connellsville, Fayette Co., PA  (Age ~ 0 years)   7. Elizabeth Rogers Davidson,   b. 1857, Connellsville, Fayette Co., PA ,   d. 18 Jul 1896, New Castle, Lawrence Co., PA  (Age 39 years)   8. George Davidson,   b. 13 Oct 1859, Connellsville, Fayette Co., PA ,   d. 15 Aug 1930, Beaver, Beaver Co., PA  (Age 70 years)   9. Daughter Davidson,   b. 13 Oct 1859, Connellsville, Fayette Co., PA ,   d. 13 Oct 1859, Connellsville, Fayette Co., PA  (Age 0 years)   10. Hon. James Johnston Davidson,   b. 5 Nov 1861, Connellsville, Fayette Co., PA ,   d. 2 Jan 1897, Phoenix, Maricopa Co., AZ  (Age 35 years)   11. Louis Rogers Davidson,   b. 6 May 1866, Connellsville, Fayette Co., PA ,   d. 28 Aug 1941, Buffalo, Erie Co., NY  (Age 75 years)   12. Frederick Davidson,   b. 29 Oct 1869, Connellsville, Fayette Co., PA ,   d. 5 Oct 1916, Atlantic City, Atlantic Co., NJ  (Age 46 years)
  Last Modified	10 Aug 2013
  Family ID	F5272	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 12 Jan 1820 - Connellsville, Fayette Co., PA Married - 25 Dec 1846 - Connellsville, Fayette Co., PA 1850 Census - 2 Aug 1850 - Connellsville, Fayette Co., PA 1860 Census - 26 Jul 1860 - Connellsville, Fayette Co., PA 1870 Census - 20 Jul 1870 - Beaver, Beaver Co., PA 1880 Census - 1 Jun 1880 - Beaver, Beaver Co., PA Book Article - History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, pp. 406-409, by L. H. Everts & Co. - 1882 - Philadelphia, Philadelphia Co., PA Died - 18 Mar 1884 - Hot Springs, Garland Co., AR Buried - Aft 18 Mar 1884 - Hill Grove Cemetery, Connellsville, Fayette Co., PA Book Article - Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Fayette County, Pennsylvania, John M. Gresham, p. 485 - 1889 - Chicago, Cook Co., IL  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Photos

  Daniel Rogers Davidson (1820-1884)

  
  

• Notes

  Son of William and Sarah Davidson, he married Margaret Clark Johnston in 1846 at age 26. A school drop-out at age 16, his father had given him the northern part of his own farm. After making a success of the farm, he discovered coal on his land and became very involved in the Pittsburgh and Connellsville Railroad. He then became involved in the coke industry in southwestern Pa. He also established the Love Sewing Machine Company in Rochester, Pa. He was president of the Shoe and Leather Bank in Pittsburgh in 1874 and aided in organizing the Pittsburgh National Bank of Commerce and the Commercial National Bank of Pittsburgh. He owned cotton plantations near Baton Rouge, Louisiana and had gold and silver mining interests in Colorado in the east. He removed himself, wife, and eight living children to Beaver around 1870. Following a railroad Pullman Car accident and illness, he went to Hot Springs, Arkansas in January of 1884 to recover, but after two months, he died and his body was brought back to Connellsville, where he was interred next to his 4 children who had died as infants.

  
  

• Sources

  [S3] Fayette County, Pennsylvania Vital Records, 1750-1890, Herrin, Cynthia, ed., (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999.). Birth date:  Feb 14, 1783 Birth place:  Cumberland co., PA Death date:  Mar 2, 1867 Death place:  Fayette co., PA Marriage date:  Dec 19, 1813 Marriage place:  Fayette co., PA http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=sse&db=fayettepa1890&h=2127&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt