from the point where he expected the enemy to cross to the place where they did, was fired upon, a rifle ball passed through his heart and he fell dead from his horse. As the British only had muskets, and the Tories rifles, and he was slain by a rifle shot, it is believed he fell by the hand of a Tory.*
* It is said, and the
tradition is, that a Tory by the name of Hager, shot General
Davidson.
General Henry Lee in his "Memoirs of the War," says:
"The loss of General Davidson would have always been felt at any stage of the war. It was particularly detrimental in its effect at this period, as he was the chief instrument relied upon, by General Greene for assembling of the militia.
"A promising soldier, was lost to his country, in the meridian of life, and at a moment when his services would have been highly beneficial to her. He was a man of popular manners, pleasing address, active and indefatigable."
The Congress of the United States in 1781, passed a resolution to erect a monument to his memory, but it has never been done. Tradition says that Richard Barry, one of the signers of the Mecklenburg Declaration, and David Wilson bore his body away and buried it by torchlight, in the graveyard of Hopewell church:
"We buried him darkly at dead of night,
The sod with our bayonets turning,
By the straggling moonbeam's misty light,
And our torches dimly burning."
Many of General Davidson's descendants still live in this region, honored and respected. A county embalms his name, and a flourishing institution of learning perpetuates his memory.
II. Dr. Ephraim Brevard was the eldest son of John Brevard. When a boy, he had the misfortune to lose one of his eyes. His education was not neglected, however, and after a course of preparatory studies, he entered Princeton College, New Jersey. He studied medicine, and settled in Charlotte as a practicing physician. Here by the amiability of his manners, his superior qualifications and principles, he acquired friends and influence. The war for independence had commenced, and the blow had been struck at Lexington.
It was clear to all that England thought the colonies had to submit to any measures she thought necessary. The spirit of the people was aroused, and a meeting was called composed of delegates from each captain's district for consultation, to meet at Charlotte. This convention was organized by appointing Abram Alexander as chairman, and John McKnitt Alexander and Dr. Brevard as secretaries, and a committee was appointed who drafted resolutions, one of which declared themselves "free and independent people, and are, and of right ought to be, a sovereign and self-governing association under the control of no power other than that of our God and of the general government of the Congress; to the maintenance of which they pledged their lives, their fortunes and their most sacred honor."
These resolutions were drawn up by Dr. Brevard, who, with two others, was a committee for that purpose, and they were read and unanimously adopted.
Copy of a manuscript in the handwriting of Adam Brevard, the brother of Dr. Ephraim Brevard, the author of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, from the copy in the possession of Rev. J. M. McRea, of Salem, Indiana:
Iredell County, N. C., July 13, 1824.
July 4, 1776, a mere speck on the great and fleeting current of time, but from which emanated the most important decision of the combined human intellect--I mean the Declaration of Independence--an era which will grace the historic page, while freedom and liberty, with their concomitant blessings, are the portion of the human race. The inquiring mind spontaneously traces so rich a stream in a retrograde direction in order to reach the fountain from which it issued. What section or particular portion of the United States may claim the greatest, or some minor share in the above celebrated instrument, is immaterial to the following disclosure, which fell under the observation of
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