William Richardson Davie

William Richardson Davie (June 20, 1756 – November 29, 1820) was an American statesman, politician, military general, Founding Father of the United States who served as the 10th Governor of North Carolina from 1798 to 1799. A member of the Federalist Party, Davie also served as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention as a representative of North Carolina. He is also one of the key founders of the University of North Carolina. Early life Davie was born in Egremont, County Cumberland in North West England, where his father Archibald Davie, who is listed in the 1790 census as living in Chester, South Carolina, had settled with his mother, Mary Richardson, whose family came from Dumfriesshire, Scotland. He immigrated to the American colonies in 1764 when his father brought him to the Waxhaws region near Lancaster, South Carolina. He was named for his maternal uncle, William Richardson, a prominent Presbyterian minister in South Carolina, and when Richardson died, Davie inherited 1 acre of his land, five enslaved people, and an extensive library. After that, he always used his full name to honor his uncle. Davie was educated by the young Presbyterian teacher Joseph Alexander at Queen's Museum, later Liberty Hall, in Charlotte. He then matriculated at Alexander's alma mater, the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), graduating in 1776. One of his teachers at Princeton was fellow Carolinian William Churchill Houston. Davie and classmate Jonathan Dayton would serve with Houston as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, while two other fellow students would also be among the framers: James Madison and Gunning Bedford, Jr. Revolutionary War After leaving New Jersey, Davie began to study law in Salisbury, North Carolina, under Spruce Macay (pronounced "Muh-coy"), who would later provide Andrew Jackson with legal training. In December 1778, Davie left Salisbury to join 1,200 militiamen led by Brigadier General Allen Jones of Northampton County, NC. Jones's force advanced toward Charleston, South Carolina, intending to aid the port city as it prepared its defenses against possible British assault. 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. After briefly resuming his studies in Salisbury, Davie closed his law books again in the spring of 1779 to re-enter military service.