Sarah Davidson b. 25 Dec 1759 d. 20 Mar 1843 Henderson County, North Carolina: Davidson Genealogies

1759 - 1843 (83 years)

Name	Sarah Davidson
Born	25 Dec 1759 [1, 2]
Gender	Female
Name	Sarah Scott Davidson [1]
Group	Davidson 001 Family of Immigrant John Davidson
	Descendants of immigrant John Davidson of DNA Family 001
Group	Davidson DNA Family 001
	Descendants of John, George, and Samuel Davidson of Beverley Manor, Virginia, and Iredell county, North Carolina
Alt. Death	Buncombe County, North Carolina
Alt. Death	20 Mar 1813 [2]
Alt. Death	1815 [1]
Died	20 Mar 1843	Henderson County, North Carolina
Buried	Aft 20 Mar 1843	Davidson River Cemetery, Pisgah Forest, Transylvania County, NC
	SACRED to the memory of SARAH relict of LAMBERT CLAYTON who was born December 25, 1759 and died March 20, 1843 "With her patriotic spirit of the women of - 76 she (can't read this part) that made her (can't read) beloved (not lamented)" The tombstones for Lambert and Sarah appear to be of the period of about 1850. I suspect his was not erected when he died, but both were probably put up shortly after she died.
		Davidson River Cemetery, Transylvania County, NC Carolyn & John Lisle visited this cemetery on 18 September 2008
		Headstone for Sarah (Davidson) Clayton Davidson River Cemetery, supplied by Jim Mackey
Person ID	I635	DNA Family 1 Genealogies
Last Modified	24 Mar 2011

Father	Thomas Davidson, b. Abt 1733, Ireland , d. Abt 1764, Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina (Age ~ 31 years)
Mother	Sarah [--?--], b. Bef 1742, d. Aft 1778 (Age ~ 37 years)
Married	Bef 1759
Family ID	F67	Group Sheet \| Family Chart

Family Lambert Clayton, b. 22 Jun 1755, Rising Sun near Dover, Kent County, Delaware , d. 12 Jul 1828, Buncombe County, North Carolina (Age 73 years)

Married 14 Dec 1782 Rowan County, North Carolina [1]

Children

	1. Jane Clayton, b. 6 Nov 1783, Buncombe County, North Carolina , d. 1 Mar 1873, Transylvania County, North Carolina (Age 89 years)
	2. John "Swamp John" Clayton, b. 31 Dec 1785, Rowan County, North Carolina , d. 20 Aug 1868 (Age 82 years)
	3. George Clayton, b. 11 Mar 1788, North Carolina , d. 16 Nov 1876 (Age 88 years)
	4. Thomas Davidson Clayton, b. 26 Jul 1790, North Carolina , d. 14 Nov 1872, Cecil County, Maryland (Age 82 years)
	5. Nancy Ann Clayton, b. 7 May 1793, North Carolina , d. 1 Aug 1840 (Age 47 years)
	6. Sarah S. Clayton, b. 19 Oct 1798, Buncombe County, North Carolina , d. 26 May 1874 (Age 75 years)
	7. Rachel Clayton, b. 8 May 1799, Buncombe County, North Carolina , d. 21 Oct 1884 (Age 85 years)
	8. Henrietta Clayton, b. 13 Mar 1802, d. 17 Feb 1849 (Age 46 years)
	9. Col. Ephraim Clayton, b. 9 Mar 1804, North Carolina , d. 9 Aug 1892, Emma, Buncombe County, North Carolina (Age 88 years)

Last Modified 4 May 2006

Family ID F396 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Event Map

	Alt. Death - - Buncombe County, North Carolina
	Married - 14 Dec 1782 - Rowan County, North Carolina
	Buried - Aft 20 Mar 1843 - Davidson River Cemetery, Pisgah Forest, Transylvania County, NC

= Link to Google Earth

Notes

After Lambert's death, Sarah Davidson Clayton lived with her daughter Henrietta and her husband Elijah Young.
______________

Sarah Davidson Clayton died the 20 March 1843. This is on her tombstone, in her obit, and in the Pension papers where she drew a Rev. War Widows Pension. She is buried in Davidson River Cemetery, now in Transylvania County, NC, but was in Henderson County when she died. [This is one of those spots that was in Rutherford County when the Clayton's moved there, was then in Buncombe County, then Henderson County, and finally today is Transylvania County.]
_____________

I have been trying to identify the true parentage of Sarah Davidson, wife of Lambert Clayton. One of the clues that I noticed in studying the names of her children and grandchildren was that most of the time the name Thomas was given, the middle name of Davidson was given.

There are several examples of this:

   Thomas Davidson Clayton, s/o Lambert & Sarah Davidson
   Thomas Davidson Clayton, s/o John Clayton & Susan Wetzel
   Thomas Davidson Neill, s/o George Clayton Neill & Nancy Ann Clayton
   Thomas Davidson Brittain, s/o William Brittain & Rachel Clayton
and more in the following generations. (Surprisingly, it is not seen in the Orr family that I have found.)

The only other grandchildren named Thomas that I am aware of are:

   Thomas Young, s/o Elijah Young & Henrietta Clayton
   Thomas L.(?) Clayton, s/o Ephraim Clayton & Nancy McElroy

And the use of Davidson as a middle name in those generations was exclusively used with a forename of Thomas.

And there was no Thomas Davidson that I am aware of in the Old Buncombe county area in this time period. So, as a working assumption, I theorized that maybe her father's name was Thomas Davidson.

Here is what we know about Sarah:

* According to her tombstone she was born on or about 25 Dec 1759.
* She married in Rowan County, NC on 14 December 1782.
* She died in what is now Transylvania county 20 March 1843, probably at the home of her daughter Henrietta Young.
* She was buried in Davidson River Cemetery. Tombstone Reading:
   SACRED
   to the memory of
   SARAH
   relict of
   LAMBERT CLAYTON who was born
   December 25, 1759
   and died March 20, 1843

Then there's a statement that I can't read all of in this picture
     "With her patriotic spirit
       of the women of - 70
      she (can't read this part)
      that made her (can't read)
      beloved (not lamented)"

The tombstones for Lambert and Sarah appear to be of the period of about 1850. I suspect his was not erected when he died, but both were probably put up shortly after she died.

* Lambert Clayton was born in Delaware in 1755 and served in the Rev War.
* Iredell County was broken off from Rowan County in 1782.

Census Data:

Lambert Clayton
1790 Iredell Co., NC, p. 155 (389), 1-4-2-0-1
1800 Buncombe Co., NC, p. 165, 03010-30010-01 (Sarah 26-45, Sarah b. 1755-1774)
1810 Buncombe Co., NC, p. 84, 10101-21101-00 (Sarah >45, Sarah b. bef 1765)
1820 Buncombe Co., NC, p. 110, 001101-00101-2 (Sarah >45)

James Neill
1830 Buncombe Co., NC, p. 206, 120 021 000 0000 - 000 001 001 0000 (?Sarah 60-70)

Elijah Young
1830 Buncombe Co., NC, p. 223, 200 001 000 0000 - 010 010 001 0000 (?Sarah 60-70)
1840 Henderson Co., NC, p. 131, 322 001 000 0000 - 011 001 000 1000 (Sarah 70-80)

The census data is consistent with her birth in 1759/1760, probably no later than 1765.

It is time to review various existing theories.

The Mary Maxwell 1927 Lambert Clayton book says that "Sarah Davidson ... was the daughter of John Davidson and Nancy Brevard, both of whom were killed by the Indians on the headwaters of Catawba River, in North Carolina, prior to the Revolutionary War, the exact date and place is not known. The daughter escaped by reason of being on a visit to her grandfather, John Brevard, and she was raised by her uncle, Dr. Ephraim Brevard."

Robert Stephens Hand in his book on the Davidson Family points out that there are several problems with this assignment. Judge John Davidson was the son of Col. George Davidson and Catherine Penelope Reese who were married in 1749, probably in Statesville area of North Carolina. John Davidson was their first child.

John was born about 1750 in Rowan Co. (known as Anson Co. at the time). Nancy Brevard was the daughter of John Brevard and Jane McWhorter of Rowan County, and she was born about 1757. They were married in Rowan County, NC on 27 Nov 1779.

The date of the massacre has been suggested to be either about July 1776 or 1782. If they were not married until 1779, then 1782 is a more reasonable date for the massacre. But anyway, any child of that marriage would only be 3 years old at the most. And that is the year that Lambert Clayton was married! Clearly, these dates do not match up. What is clear is that this raid is real; and Sarah Davidson was not the child who survived.

However, Indian attacks on the Carolina frontier were common. Maybe the legend of an Indian attack killing her parents is real, but the names of parents were confused.

Another theory that has been recently proposed to me is that she was the daughter of John one eye Davidson and Jane. This promoted by two items:

* first, the names of the first children of Lambert and Sarah were John and Jane whose names do not fit the family. (However, Jane ?Tucker (Davidson) Morrison may have recently died, and this is a way of honoring John and Jane Davidson - see below.)

* second, there was supposedly an inscription on Sarah's tombstone indicating that her parents were One eye John and Jane; however, recent photos and readings do not bear this out.

I believe that several Davidsons of this family have vision problems, notably lazy eye or crossed eye. The designation "One Eye" might refer to a number of people, but in this time period, it was the common nickname for Col. George's youngest brother John, who was born in 1744 in Augusta County, VA and died in 1825 in Maury Co., TN. The key challenge that I have NOW with this is that John was in Burke county - his mother JANE ?Tucker married William Morrison after the death of his father John Davidson in 1749, and William and Jane removed to Burke county with family where they lived, as recorded in 1790 census. Sarah was married from Rowan county. And the ages are also a challenge. Of course, there could be an issue of an out of wedlock child, but ...

OK.

This led me to research all of the known Davidson families in the area to see where a Sarah could fit. (E.g., Family of Joseph, Family of Alexander, Family of Samuel of Augusta Co., VA - including sons James and Benjamin, John Davidson of Mecklenburg Co., NC, George Davidson - Old John's Brother). I needed to find a Sarah, born about 1759, and most families already had a Sarah accounted for.

I also looked into the possibility that Sarah might have been a young widow. But I could not within those families find a man who had married a Sarah, who could have been born in 1759, who had died before 1782. But this is trickier as we are now looking 20 years later when more families entered the area and more possibilities exist.

I also searched through the known Davidson lines in the area for any Thomas Davidsons that might have been old enough to have had a daughter born in 1759-1765 time frame.

The most likely Thomas that I could find was the most obvious: Thomas (b. abt. 1730, Ireland), son of old John Davidson (b. abt 1709 - d. 1749) who was the brother of Col. George, Samuel, Maj. William, and John One-eye Davidson and whose family history has not been documented anywhere that I have found.

Little has been recorded about this Thomas Davidson. What was known in family stories is that he went to Charleston and died there and left a family. It had also been alluded to that he was the Thomas Davidson who served in the Revolution and was at Cowan's Ford with Gen. Davidson.

Based on this, I began inquiries with the South Carolina Dept. of Archives and History concerning wills, deeds, and any other documents extant mentioning Thomas Davidson. I found two distinct individuals.

1. I found a Thomas Davidson of Culleton Co. who was married to a Rosanna, who served in the War and drew a pension, and died in November 1807. I have not yet found a will for this individual or any estate papers. The papers that I do have talk about a man with young children. Based on the census reports, I am going to suggest that this Thomas Davidson was born in the 1760s. This is not my candidate. However, based on the documents that I now have, I think that this individual could somehow tied into the family.

2. I found a Thomas Davidson who left a will in 1764 in Charleston County. He addressed it to two of his brothers George and William to act as his executors. His wife's name was Sarah and he mentions a daughter Sarah. His land was based on a grant from Matthew Rowan on Fishing Creek given in 1754 that because of a boundary change between North and South Carolina became part of South Carolina.

I have the following documents:

    * WPA transcript of this will;

Will of Thomas Davidson - Will Book, 1760-1767, p 419.

Thomas Davidson, wife Sarah, dau. Sarah Davidson. 1 March 1764
George and William Davidson are executors.
Samuel West, Andrew Neill, Samuel Davidson, - witnesses
Proved: 6 sept 1764. Qualified William and George Davidson as Executors.

    * copy of the original clerk's copy that the WPA transcript was made from;

    * copy of a Mar 1775 document - part of a series of actions that were being made at the time to sort out land that was changing province as a result of the new boundary between NC and SC: from George Davidson that identifies the source of the land patent from Matthew Rowan to Thomas Davidson, deceased. It also identifies George Davidson as the current owner;

    * copy of an Indenture made 3 June 1778 between Sarah Davidson of Rowan County and Thomas and Samuel Carson of Camden District, Craven Co., SC regarding the sale of the land.

I believe that this Thomas Davidson is the son of Old John Davidson, and that he and his wife Sarah are very likely to be the parents of the Sarah Davidson who married Lambert Clayton.

Further, I believe, although more work needs to be done in North Carolina records, that Sarah Davidson and her daughter went back to Rowan County to live with the family of Col. George Davidson, her brother-in-law, (or maybe she went to live with her own family in Rowan Co. that is still unidentified.)

Some additional commentary: Thomas Davidson would have been in his early 30s at the time of his death in the 1760s. It could be assumed that his daughter would be young so the time frame of our Sarah is appropriate. As he had just one child mentioned in the will also suggests that the Thomas Davidson of the will was young.

A young death could be disease or accident, but it could also be because of an Indian raid. It is also possible that his wife died as we have no record of her remarriage. The Sarah Davidson in 1777 could have been either daughter or mother.

What is left to be proved?

First, we need to find some way to prove that this daughter Sarah was the Sarah who married Lambert Clayton. This may prove difficult unless we can find some record of her mother's death and a will to go along with it.

Second, who was Sarah Davidson's mother. There is one story that the name Scott is somehow involved with the family. Some people actually give her name as Sarah Scott Davidson. There was definitely a Scott family in the area where they lived in SC as I have a document signed by a Scott. Sarah, who would have been born about 1740, could also be from a number of the early families in Rowan County. I suspect that because of the story dealing with the Brevard family, that she might turn out to be a Brevard. And that she might have lived with them after Tom's death and not with the Davidsons.

We need to look into more probate and land records in North Carolina to see if we can find solid additional clues.

I welcome comments and suggestions.

John Lisle
Nashua, NH
16 September 2003

Sources

[S8] Davison/Davidson Family, Robert Stephens Hand, (2nd Ed., 1991), p. 150 (Reliability: 3).
[S30] Personal Communication - Penny Picklesimer, Penny Picklesimer, (Jan 1999) (Reliability: 3).
Sarah Davidson born 12-25-1759 died 3-20-1813 married Lambert Clayton born
6-22-1755 died 7-12-1828.