At just 22-years-old William was given the rank of Major in the North Carolina Militia and took charge of a band of cavalrymen. In the late spring and summer of the following year, Davie, now fully recovered, again formed an independent company of cavalry. Davie’s effective performance in the House of Commons led to his selection as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention that assembled in Philadelphia in May 1787. When he was almost 2 years of age, his family emigrated to America, disembarking at New Castle, DE. The North Carolina General Assembly of April to June 1784 met in Raleigh from April 19 to June 3, 1784. Although Davie never denounced his affiliation with the Presbyterian denomination, he was rumored to be a Deist, and from 1792 to 1798, he served as Grand Master of the North Carolina Masons. Young William grew very close to his maternal uncle, Reverend William Richardson, minister of Old Waxhaw Presbyterian Church and Providence Presbyterian Church. He suffered a serious wound to his thigh in that engagement, fell from his horse, and narrowly escaped capture. His Tivoli plantation is now part of the Landsford Canal State Park in Chester County, South Carolina. There are several very distinct groups of people that fall into this category that we can call This informative booklet contains biographical sketches of the three North Carolinians who signed the Declaration of Independence (Joseph Hewes, John Penn, and William Hooper) and the five who signed the Constitution of the United States (Alexander Martin, William Richardson Davie, Hugh Williamson, William Blount, and Richard Dobbs Spaight Sr.). After briefly resuming his studies in Salisbury, Davie closed his law books again in the spring of 1779 to reenter military service. Oliver Ellsworth . His defeat, and the state’s grudging support for UNC, left Davie embittered. Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court from 1784 to 1785. Biography from the National Archives: One of the eight delegates born outside of the thirteen colonies, Davie was born in Egremont, Cumberlandshire, England, on June 20, 1756. Davie laid the cornerstone of the university in October 1793 in a full Masonic ceremony[4] as he was the Grand Master of the North Carolina Grand Lodge at the time.[5]. After three charges of British cavalry and infantry moving on his right flank, Davie and his men retreated northward. In December 1780, General Nathanael Greene, commander of Continental forces in the South, appointed Davie his commissary general–a critical yet thankless post. In addition to Franklin, many of the Founding Fathers -- men such as George Washington, Paul Revere, Joseph Warren, and John Hancock -- were Masons. One of the eight delegates born outside of the thirteen colonies, Davie was born in Egremont, Cumberlandshire, England, on June 20, 1756. John Hancock lived between the year 1737 and 1793. That threat receded, so Davie and the rest of Jones's men returned to North Carolina after marching as far south as Camden, South Carolina. He is a "Founding Father of the United States". In December 1778, Davie left Salisbury to join 1,200 militiamen led by Brigadier General Allen Jones of Northampton County, NC. William Richardson Davie was born in England and moved to North Carolina with his family as a teenager. Davie was a natural aristocrat with a polite yet slightly aloof demeanor. M ore than two centuries after July 4, 1776, the men who signed the Declaration of Independence — especially John Hancock — are famous. Promoted to the rank of major under Pulaski, Davie assumed command of a brigade of cavalry. James Iredell, the distinguished North Carolina jurist, ranked Davie alongside Alfred Moore, a future justice of the United States Supreme Court, as one of the two best lawyers in the state. After the Revolutionary War had come to a conclusion, William Richardson Davie returned home to North Carolina. The following delegates of Maryland signed the Declaration of Independence: Samuel Chase (Episcopalian), Thomas Stone, William Paca (Christian), and Charles Carroll of Carrollton (Roman Catholic). The "Davie Poplar" tree on the campus is, as legend has it, where Davie tied his horse in the late 1790s to pick out the site for the state's first university. He was preceded in death by his wife, the former Sarah Jones, whom he married in 1782. William Houstoun . Davie persuaded his state's delegation to support the compromise, allowing proportional representation in the House but equal representation for each state in the Senate, thus placing a majority of states in favor and avoiding a possible collapse of the Convention. Signed on July 4, 1776, this document put an end to the then occurring war between Great Britain and the thirteen colonies of America, and declared these thirteen colonies independent from British rule. During the Revolutionary War he was with the North Carolina militia and State troops from 1780 to 1782. In May 1779, he and his company were attached to the legion of General Casimir Pułaski, who earlier in the year had moved from Pennsylvania to South Carolina to help bolster American positions in and around Charleston. His popularity rose in the year 1968 after the British charged and labelled him a smuggler. He served as a delegate to the 1787 Constitutional Convention, where he was instrumental in breaking the deadlock over state representation in Congress in what is known as the Great Compromise, brokered by Connecticut's Oliver Ellsworth. He served in the Hillsborough (1788) and Fayetteville (1789) conventions called to consider ratification of the Constitution. William Richardson Davie … William Richardson Davie was a military officer and the 10th Governor of North Carolina from 1798 to 1799, as well as one of the most important men involved in the founding of the University of North Carolina. But, Davie, along with another North Carolina delegate, Hugh Williamson, did move that the new nationâs governing document provide a means to impeach the leader of the executive branch. Davie did not remain in that junior rank for long. Before the revolution he was a very wealthy merchant, whose wealth played an immense role in his political career at its inception in Boston. He studied law in Salisbury, North Carolina and was began practicing law in 1779. William Richardson Davie (June 20, 1756 â November 29, 1820) was a military officer and the tenth Governor of North Carolina from 1798 to 1799, as well as one of the most important men involved in the founding of the University of North Carolina.He was a member of the Federalist Party and may be considered a "Founding Father of the United States." 1. ... William Richardson Davie, Federalist ... Signer of the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation. (Raleigh, 1907); William S. Powell, ed., Encyclopedia of North Carolina Biography (Chapel Hill, 1979-91), Blackwell P. Robinson, William R. Davie (Chapel Hill, 1957); Ruth Rosenberg, “Davie, William Richardson,” in John C. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes, eds., American National Biography (New York, 1999); Louise Irby Trenholme, The Ratification of the Federal Constitution in North Carolina (New York, 1932). At thirty-eight, he was a member of the North Carolina delegation to the Constitutional Convention but rarely participated in the debates. Shortly after the Battle of Hanging Rock, Davie received word of a new army moving into South Carolina under General Horatio Gates. The Declaration of Independence wasn’t signed on July 4, 1776. WILLIAM RICHARDSON DAVIE 1756-1820 Delegate to the Constitutional Convention (North Carolina, did not sign due to absence) Biographical Data Religious Views Quotations References, Links, & ⦠While many think the Declaration was to tell the King that they were becoming independent, its true purpose was to be a formal explanation of why the Congress voted together to declare their independence from Britain. Called away on legal business before the end of the convention, Davie did not sign the Constitution. As a natural aristocrat, he believed that social progress occurred only when the masses were under the tutelage of an educated elite. By 1731, when Benjamin Franklin joined the fraternity, there were already several lodges in the Colonies, and Masonry spread rapidly as America expanded west. Badly wounded in June 1779 in the Battle of Stono Ferry near Charleston, Davie spent the next several months convalescing and reading law with Judge Spruce Macay in Salisbury. Suspecting Federalist proclivities at the school, the General Assembly soon cut the school’s funding, but Davie later won a lawsuit that overturned the legislation. 2011-10-26 22:48:25. Education William Davie attended Queen’s Museum College in Charlotte, NC (Robinson, 1986). In particular, Davie made an unsuccessful effort to oust Democratic-Republican Congressman Willis Alston. He signed the Constitution with considerable reluctance, although he supported its ratification in his home state. This Federalist slate was defeated by a wide margin. (Alston, elected as a Federalist in 1798, joined the Democratic-Republican Party during the Jefferson administration). After the Constitution had taken effect, a second convention in Fayetteville finally approved it. Davie had been named for his uncle, and many historians have falsely deduced that William Richardson adopted Davie after the boy came to America. The agreement obligated the federal government to collect rent on Tuscarora land on behalf of the tribe until July 12, 1916, at which time the Tuscarora would relinquish their title to the state. He complained that rheumatism and other aliments plagued him. William Richardson Davie, delegate from North Carolina James Sharples Sr., 1798-1799. Various legends linger around the signers of the Declaration of Independence and the circumstances of the signing. This time, though, Davie did not volunteer for an existing force; he helped to raise and train a local cavalry troop. On July 19, Congress ordered … He served in the Hillsborough (1788) and Fayetteville (1789) conventions called to consider ratification of the Constitution. Even though Davie and Iredell led the outnumbered Federalist forces at the Hillsborough convention, delegates voted 184 to 84 against ratification. Number of Children. While convalescing from his injuries, Davie resumed his legal studies back in Salisbury. The 15 delegates to the Constitutional Convention who did not sign . Running for public office once again in 1803, Davie soon grew disenchanted with politics and popular opinion. As a young man, Davie began studying law but dropped out in 1779 to fight for independence. He did not take an active part in the proceedings, and he left Philadelphia in late August 1787, before the Constitution was signed. William Houston. If you missed the first half of Davieâs life, you can find it here. In 1750 he settled in Princeton, NJ. The Declaration of Independence was approved by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, but it was not signed until almost a month later. (In 1782, Davie married Jones’s daughter Sarah—an unusual match to be sure, for Willie Jones, Sarah’s uncle, was the dean of North Carolina’s Radicals, and later, its Anti-Federalists.) Did you know this? Founding Father (North Carolina) Delegates. He was a member of the Federalist Party and is a "Founding Father of the United States." ?>, Sign up for updates from the North Carolina History Project. [2], After the war, Davie rose to prominence in North Carolina as a traveling circuit court lawyer and orator. Amid astounding growth, Amazon throws workers a bone The assembly consisted of the 120 members of the North Carolina House of Commons and 50 senators of North Carolina Senate elected by the voters in April 1784. Known Masons (8): Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, Joseph Hewes, ... William Richardson Davie, Jr., Jonathan Dayton, Dr. James McHenry, John Francis Mercer, William [9], "William Davie" redirects here. The most important ones. Consumer confidence cratering at worst possible time. Cornwallis subsequently occupied Charlotte, but he remained there less than two weeks, withdrawing his forces from the "hornets nest" after receiving news of the defeat of Loyalist forces by backcountry militia at the Battle of Kings Mountain on October 7, 1780. Davie’s diplomatic skill played a vital role in early North Carolina and American history. At the Battle of Camden on August 16, 1780 Gates was soundly defeated. William Henry Drayton (1742-1779) William Henry Drayton, born in 1742, was the oldest son of John Drayton and his second wife, Charlotta Bull, daughter of John Bull, the colony's Governor. Following graduation, he pursued a course of study in law, and entered practice in Stratford.In 1749, he married Anne Beach. He is interred at Circular Congregational Church Burying Ground, Charleston, South Carolina. Served as President of the Continental Congress from 1779 to 1781. By September 1780, Davie had risen to the rank of colonel, and his subordinates included the future president Andrew Jackson. In October 2013 the sword and pocket watch of Davie, a Mason who is considered the founder of the University, were displayed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as part of the commemoration celebrating the role of Freemasons in the establishment of the first public university in the United States.[6]. 2011-10-26 22:48:25. William Jackson (Secretary) 13 Delegates who had left the Convention earlier and did not sign: William Richardson Davie . This informative booklet contains biographical sketches of the three North Carolinians who signed the Declaration of Independence (Joseph Hewes, John Penn, and William Hooper) and the five who signed the Constitution of the United States (Alexander Martin, William Richardson Davie, Hugh Williamson, William Blount, and Richard Dobbs Spaight Sr.). Elbridge Gerry. John Lansing, Jr. Alexander Martin . William Paterson (Patterson) was born in County Antrim, Ireland, in 1745. The 15 delegates to the Constitutional Convention who did not sign . William Richardson Davie. Were William Aisquith standing today on the spot from which he read the Declaration of Independence to the citizens of Baltimore Town in 1776, this is more or less what he would see: the view looking south on Calvert-street from the location of the War of 1812 Battle Monument. In 1764 he immigrated to America with his parents, and graduated from the College of New Jersey (later Princeton) in 1776. Age at Death. When Richardson died, Davie inherited 150 acres and a large library. Served as President of the Continental Congress from 1779 to 1781. Masonry spread with amazing speed. Barryâs last day of active duty is March 6, 1801, when he brings USS United States into port, but he remains head of the Navy until his death. He was a Lieutenant, Captain, and Major in South Carolina and North Carolina militias. William Richardson Davie (June 20, 1756 – November 29, 1820) was a military officer and the 10th Governor of North Carolina from 1798 to 1799, as well as one of the most important men involved in the founding of the University of North Carolina. He was presented an honorary sword by the citizenry for his exemplary conduct and courage. He was a member of the P… Davie's military service in the Revolution changed dramatically after December 1780, when General Nathanael Greene arrived in North Carolina to take command of the American army in the "Southern Department". One of the eight delegates born outside of the thirteen colonies, Davie was born in Egremont, Cumberlandshire, England, on June 20, 1756. William Pierce . Davie returned to North Carolina before the Constitution was signed, but he argued for its passage at the North Carolina State Conventions in 1788 and 1789. The topic is âWilliam Richardson Davie and the University of the People: Ironies and Paradoxesâ. Davie was born in England. Yet Davie arguably cast the single most important vote of the convention. In May, 1772, Mr. Gerry was chosen a representative to the General Court of Massachusetts, to which office he was re-elected the following year.