The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16
of The Canebrake
JOHN DAVIDSON
y l1rF8H IF
CHAPTER IA
by JOHN w1rHERspooN DuBosE

JOHN DAVIDSON.
THIS was a gentleman from North
Carolina. who brought many slaves
n to the vicinity of Unontown, in
Marengo and Dallas counties. His resi-
dence was a large white house IN Ma
rengo. on the Uniontown and Mckinley
road. Mr.. Davidson came in 1928 He
was a good manager and his estate in
creased. In the same neighborhood with
him we're John G. p Coleman, Henry
and William Key, brothers and nephews
of the author of THE Star-Spangled Ban
ner." Mr.. Coleman was from Virginia,
while the Messrs. Key were Marylanders.
Another planter of the group was w. K.
Paullng. The postoffice of all of these
was Uniontown.
ALEXANDER CALDWELL DAVIDSON
This was a son of John and his wife,
Miss Caldwell. Both names belong to the
colonial history of North Carolina in dis
tinguished services. A. C. Davidson was
a favorite child of nature and of for
tune from his birth. He was brought by
his parents to the Canebrake at the age
of years, from his native North Car
DINA. There he grew to a vigorous man
hood, physical and intellectual. His
stature was large, his energy of mind
active and his manners cultured.
Mr.. Davidson was graduated in the
year 1910 from the University of Ala
bama. He chose the profession of law,
and no law school being known in the
state at that early period he secured the
coveted privilege of admission to the law
office of John A. Campbell at Mobile for
the pursuit of his studies under the
tutelage of that renowned lawyer. Be
fore completing a course marked out UNI
der those happy auspices he was sud
denly summoned home His father, yet In
the prime of life, was on his death bed.
The young man at once took control
of the plantations and never forsook the
planters career. He increased the area
of the estate Tand became known as one
of the most prosperous of his fellows.
The law books were dropped.
Something of the tone of the man is
to be observed In the demonstrations of
his public sympathies. He was one of
the early directors of the Alabama and
Mississippi railroad, the first road to PEN
citrate the Canebrake. He is supposed to
have been the youngest man on the di-
rectory At that time there was no
wage labor In the Canebrake. Probably
not a single man or woman worked there
for the wages of labor. This permanent
fact devolved the duty upon cotton
planters so as to arrange their planta-
ton work as to release many of their
stoutest men to construct the railroad.
Mr.. Davidson took a large contract for
construction, bought some negro men
to enable him to meet the obligation and
pr ospered Among the proceedings of the
legislature of Alabama, April ], 1861, While
Montgomery was still the capital of the
Confederacy, appears on the records the
governor be and is hereby authorized to
accent to such extent as he may deem
necessary the proffered services of negro
men rendered by George n. Gilmer of
Tallapoosa county, Joel e. Mathews and
Alexander Co Davidson and his neigh
bors of Perry" The tender of the negro
men was to build Notifications or dis
charge such other duties as the military
authority might assign to them This
action of the far-sighted planters named
is of the utmost historical Importance
The negro men, who must have been Sc
lected for loan to the government for IN
definite time and for hazardous service
were worth then $500 each In gold Ev-
cry man selected would have taken his
place on duty eagerly. The early incident
here cited becomes interesting evidence
of the soldierly sagacity of that great
Irish Confederate general, Patrick K.
Cleburne, who, in camp at Dalton IN
January, 1864 called a meeting or the
general officers of the Army of Tennessee
to propose that they should petition the
government to enlist tens of thousands
of negro slaves in the ranks, giving them
ultimate freedom on performance of good
service with arms In their hands. The
planters in the present case threw out the
virile proposition, to make the slaves a
mart of the army. Senator Charles Sum-
ner from Massachusetts declared from
his seat that the northern army had 4O0,-
600 slaves with muskets in their hands
and that without them the northern con-
ouest would have failed. Congressional
Globe)
A month after the resolution of the
legislature accepting his slaves, condi-
tionally, Mr. Davidson set out from nome
to ioln the Fourth Alabama infantry.
then at Harpers Ferry, under Gen. ). u.
Johnston. He was with that famous
band of Alabama patriots at the pa'tie
of Manassas July 81, 1861.
Mr.. Davidson married. In the last PLAN
tation decade, Miss Lyle o. Price Of I'm
iontown and to them were born several
sons and a daughter.
While It Is not in the purview of this
narrative to follow careers, after the ex-
tinction of the old plantation life, this
variation from the rule will be permitted:
Mr.. Davidson after the war, became a
member of each branch of the legislature
of Alabama, and without his consent was
held to be an available candidate for gov
ernor In trying political situation. He
was also after the war a representative
in Congress. THE Church of the Holy
Cross Episcopal, was one of the early
church buildings at Uniontown. About
the year 1900 Mrs. Davidson widow of