Sarah Elizabeth Frew

1772 - 1812  (40 years)

• Name	Sarah Elizabeth Frew
  Born	14 Feb 1772	Edenton, Chowan County, North Carolina
  Gender	Female
  Died	11 Jul 1812	Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina
  Person ID	I21249	DNA Family 1 Genealogies
  Last Modified	3 Oct 2011

  
  

  Father	Archibald Frew,   d. 7 Oct 1783, Halifax, Halifax County, North Carolina
  Mother	Mary McCollough,   d. 1 Jan 1780, Edenton, Chowan County, North Carolina
  Family ID	F7421	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Thomas Davidson,   b. Learne, ____, Ireland, UK ,   d. 1801, Tennessee
  Married	1794
  Children	1. Mary Long Davidson,   b. 1796,   d. 27 Jun 1802  (Age 6 years)
  Last Modified	18 Apr 2009
  Family ID	F8562	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 2	William Davidson,   b. 2 Sep 1778, Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina ,   d. 16 Sep 1857, Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina  (Age 79 years)
  Married	Bef 1803
  Children	1. Margaret Alexander Davidson,   b. 28 May 1803, Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina ,   d. 21 Mar 1839  (Age 35 years)   2. Sarah Frew "Sally" Davidson,   b. 1804, North Carolina ,   d. 1892  (Age 88 years)   3. Harriet Elizabeth Davidson,   b. 12 Feb 1806,   d. 4 Jul 1845, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina  (Age 39 years)   4. William Archibald Frew Davidson,   b. 13 Aug 1810, Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina ,   d. 1887, Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina  (Age 76 years)
  Last Modified	18 Apr 2009
  Family ID	F7420	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 14 Feb 1772 - Edenton, Chowan County, North Carolina Died - 11 Jul 1812 - Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Notes

  http://www.historicrosedale.org/history.html The Davidsons Sarah Frew was the sister of Archibald Frew, and a very progressive woman for her time. We know little about her childhood. Family tradition has it that Sarah was born in 1772 and that her parents both died when she was very young. She first appears in the records of Charlotte in 1796 on a mortgage to Isaac Cook, who owned Cook's Tavern, where George Washington stayed when he visited Charlotte in 1791. Sarah loaned Cook 256 pounds with his tavern contents as collateral. This was a good sum of money for a young woman of approximately twenty-one, who listed her occupation as seamstress. Sarah Frew married Thomas Davidson in 1794, according to family tradition. By the laws of the time, Sarah gave up all rights to land, money, and property when she wed. Everything she owned became the property of Thomas Davidson. They had one daughter, Mary Long Davidson. Although we know little about Thomas, we can tell he was a very successful man by the estate that he left at his death in 1801. He left his beloved wife, Sarah, 1,000 pounds. He assigned his executor, John McKnitt Alexander, to sell several slaves, their home on the square in Charlotte and 29 lots in the town of Charlotte. All his remaining property and belongings he left to his daughter, Mary Long Davidson. On May 1, 1802, Sarah purchased from her husband's estate the following: "Lot No.'s 17 and 18 in the town plan of Charlotte, including the house in which the said Davidsons lived (on the corner of Trade and Tryon where Polk Park now stands); 29 lots in the town of Charlotte; and three slaves. When William Davidson, nephew of Thomas Davidson, had proposed to Sarah soon after the settlement of her husband's estate, Sarah was not willing to lose rights again to all her hard-earned property. William agreed to sign a deed of trust giving Sarah rights to legally retain her property and money after the marriage. This property was to remain hers until her death and then be inherited by her daughter or future heirs. William was born in 1778. He and Sarah had four children: Margaret, born 1803; Sarah Frew (Sally), born 1804; Harriett Elizabeth, born 1806; and William Archibald Frew Davidson, born probably in 1808. They lived on the southwest corner of Trade and Tryon in the home Sarah had purchased from Thomas' estate. Sarah died in the year 1812, leaving William with four small children to raise. The very next year, William took his place in the N. C. Senate, where he served until 1817. In 1814 William took his three daughters to the Girls' Boarding School in Salem, North Carolina, where they would board and attend school until 1816. At Salem the girls took classes in grammar, geography, and the two older girls took music. Later the girls were enrolled in the Raleigh Female Academy, in Raleigh, North Carolina. William left for Washington in 1818, where he would serve in the U. S. Congress until 1821. Although Sarah died in 1812, the Davidson family believes that it was Sarah's money that purchased Rosedale, when her brother was in dire straits in 1818. William never took possession of the property or lived there, as best we can tell from the records. Archibald continued to live there until his death. William Davidson was at one time thought to be the richest man in Mecklenburg County. In 1850 he owned 21 slaves, which put him in the planter class. His obituary in the Western Democrat on September 22, 1857, states that he died several days after being thrown from his carriage by a runaway horse. He had served in the State Senate for nine terms and in the U. S. Congress from 1818 - 1821.