From Murphy to Manteo:
Family Connections
There is no question but that North Carolina’s population is dynamic, moving in and out continuously, as all America does.

Yet there are countless families who stay right where they’ve been for centuries. Social scientists might call them “provincial.” Historians might call them “priceless.”

Here is a footnote to North Carolina Masonic history from no less than Charles Leland “Bud” Davidson of Charlotte whose rich fraternal career is matched by his rich family records.

William Davidson lived 1680 to 1723 with wife Margaret in Legacorry, Parish Shankhill, Armagh County, Northern Ireland (Ulster).

John Davidson lived 1711 to around 1790, with wife Mary (1715-1790). They came to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1735.

Major William Davidson who lived 1737 to 1814, was born in Pennsylvania and married Margaret McConnell. They moved to North Carolina in 1748. Bud reports, “Our grandfather five times removed was Thomas, a brother of Major William Davidson, 1743-1799.”

William Mitchell Davidson was born in 1780; his wife Elizabeth Vance was born in 1787. After William’s death she married his brother Samuel Winslow Davidson, 1781-1858. Elizabeth had ten children, seven boys and three girls. They named their youngest son Robert Brank Vance Davidson, after, of course, the brother of Governor Zeb Vance who became Grand Master of NC Masons.

If one were to seek out other distinguished NC Masonic families, an early choice would be the Belk family (See Brother John Belk). What distinguishes them? Wealth? Power? Deeds? Being good Masons?

There is wisdom in the walls of past master portraits in most Masonic lodges. Those brothers paid their dues, in more ways than one, in establishing their good names at the highest level of fraternal respect all Masons cherish.

Produced by the public relations committee of the Grand Lodge AF&AM of Masons in North Carolina,
2921 Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh, NC 27628 MMVIII
Author/editor: Walter J. Klein wklein(at)carolina.rr.com