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Davidson College historical marker
As the son of a professor who graduated from and taught at Davidson College, in Davidson, North Carolina, and whose mother lives in Davidson, this writer may hopefully be excused for looking for connections to Davidson at Log College Press. There are many to be found.
Chambers Building, Davidson College
Davidson College, named for Brigadier General William Lee Davidson (1746-1781), who served and died in the American War of Independence, was founded in 1837 under the auspices of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
It’s college seal was designed by Peter Stuart Ney, who is believed by some to have been Napoleon's Marshall Peter Ney. That is a story shrouded in mystery to this day.
Davidson College Seal
Presidents and Faculty
Robert Hall Morrison (1798-1889) - Morrison served as the first President of Davidson College. He was also a father-in-law of Stonewall Jackson.
Drury Lacy, Jr. (1802-1804) - Lacy was the third President of Davidson College.
John Lycan Kirkpatrick (1813-1885) - Kirkpatrick was the fourth President of Davidson College.
George Wilson McPhail (1815-1871) - McPhail was the fifth President of Davidson College. He is buried at the Davidson College Cemetery.
John Rennie Blake (1825-1900) - Prof. Blake served as faculty chairman of Davidson College who oversaw the college in the absence of a President from 1871 to 1877.
Andrew Dousa Hepburn (1830-1921) - Hepburn served as President of Miami University (Ohio) before becoming President of Davidson College.
William Joseph Martin, Sr. (1830-1896) - Col. Martin served as acting President of Davidson College from 1887 to 1888.
John Bunyan Shearer (1832-1919) - Shearer served as the eighth President of Davidson College.
Henry Louis Smith (1859-1951) - Smith served as the ninth President of Davidson College, although he was not an ordained minister, and later served as President of Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. A scientist, he is credited with pioneering the development of X-rays while at Davidson, as well as important efforts which hastened the end of World War I.
William Joseph Martin, Jr. (1868-1943) - The younger Martin served as the tenth President of Davidson College for 17 years.
Walter Lee Lingle (1868-1956) - A graduate of Davidson College, Lingle served as the college’s eleventh President.
John Rood Cunningham (1891-1980) - Cunningham served as the twelfth President of Davidson College.
Patrick Jones Sparrow (1802-1867) - Sparrow was a Presbyterian minister who served as Davidson’s first professor of ancient languages.
Daniel Harvey Hill (1821-1889) - Hill, a Confederate officer, served as Chair of the Mathematics Department at Davidson College. He is buried at the Davidson College Cemetery.
Cornelia Rebekah Shaw (1869-1937) - Shaw served as the first full-time librarian at Davidson College. This writer once worked at the E.H. Little Library at Davidson College under Mary D. Beaty, who was a respected historian, and author of Davidson: A History of the Town from 1835 until 1937 (1979); A History of the Davidson College Presbyterian Church (1987); A History of Davidson College (1988); and helped to translate Calvin’s Ecclesiastical Advice (1991).
Davidson College Presbyterian Church
Alumni and Other Connections
Calvin Knox Cumming (1854-1935) - Cumming was a Presbyterian missionary to Japan, who died in Davidson, North Carolina. His son, W.P. Cumming (1900-1989), was a famed professor of English, and expert on cartography, at Davidson College, who this writer interviewed in 1980.
Robert Lewis Dabney (1820-1898) - Dabney delivered the Davidson College Divinity Lectures for 1897, published as Christ Our Penal Substitute (1898).
George Howe (1802-1883) - Howe delivered an oration on The Value and Influence of Literary Pursuits at Davidson College in 1846.
Stonewall Jackson (1824-1863) - Stonewall Jackson, the famed Confederate general, served as a deacon in the Presbyterian Church in Lexington, Virginia. He was the son-in-law of Robert Hall Morrison, first President of Davidson College (see above).
Benjamin Rice Lacy, Jr. (1886-1981) - Lacy is the grandson of Drury Lacy, Jr., who served as President of Davidson College (see above). He studied at Davidson and was a star quarterback for the football team. He went on to become President of Union Seminary in Richmond, Virginia.
Alexander Jeffrey McKelway (1866-1918) - McKelway received an honorary D.D. degree from Davidson College in 1900. Three generations later, this writer studied piano in the McKelway household.
Julius W. Melton (1933-2017) - Melton, a family friend of the writer, worked at Davidson College, and wrote the valuable study on Presbyterian Worship in America: Changing Patterns Since 1787 (1967, 2001), which we have highlighted previously here.
Wilson Plumer Mills (1883-1959) - Mills graduated from Davidson College with a B.A. in 1903, and after long missionary service in the Far East, received an honorary D.D. degree from Davidson in 1951.
Walter William Moore (1857-1926) - Moore graduated from Davidson College with an A.B. in 1878. He went on to become the first President of Union Seminary in Richmond, Virginia.
LeRoy Tate Newland (1885-1969) - Newland graduated from Davidson College with a B.A. in 1908.
J.W. Rosebro (1847-1912) - Rosebro studied at both Davidson College and Princeton. He also served as President of Fredericksburg College (Virginia); director of Union Seminary, Richmond; and as a professor at Southwestern Presbyterian University in Clarksville, Tennessee. He was the son-in-law of B.M. Smith.
Jethro Rumple (1827-1906) - Rumple graduated from Davidson College in 1850 and “in 1887 he edited the First Semi-Centenary Celebration of Davidson College, Addresses, Historical and Commemorative, Delivered at the Annual Commencement, Wednesday, June 13, 1887, which includes a forty-six page address by Rumple on the history of the college” (Barry Waugh, Presbyterians of the Past).
Omar ibn Said (1770-1864) - Ibn Said’s Arabic translation of the Bible is currently held at the Davidson College Library Rare Book Room.
Charles Alphonso Smith (1864-1924) - Smith studied at Davidson College, earning his A.M. degree in 1887. He was a brother of Henry Louis Smith (see above) and Egbert Watson Smith (see below).
Egbert Watson Smith (1862-1944) - Smith graduated as valedictorian of Davidson’s class of 1882. He was a brother of Henry Louis Smith and Charles Alphonso Smith (see above).
Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) - Wilson attended Davidson for the 1873-1874 school year before transferring to Princeton (he later served as President of Princeton). He was a a Presbyterian ruling elder, and later served as President of the United States.
B.B. Warfield (1851-1921) - Warfield received an LL.D. degree from Davidson College in 1892.
Davidson College Cemetery
There are likely many more ties to Davidson College at Log College Press. Davidson’s place in American Presbyterian church history should not go unnoticed. Many individuals have traveled through Davidson, and Davidson has left its mark on many. Its library alone is a treasure, and its cemetery honors many who have ended their mortal journey there. Small though the town and college is, Davidson is a waystation to take note of for students of history. May this brief introduction inspire further study and appreciation.
