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GENERAL DAVIDSON fell on
the eastern bank of the Catawba, on the western borders of Centre
Congregation, resisting the passage of the British forces under Lord
Cornwallis. After the celebrated victory of the Cowpens, Morgan hastened
with his numerous prisoners towards Virginia, taking his route through
Lincoln county, North Carolina, in the direction of Beattie's Ford, that
he might place the army of Greene between him and the British army.
Cornwallis moved up the western side of the river to intercept him and
recover the prisoners; Greene moved up the eastern side to meet and
succor his friend.
Here commenced the trial
of generalship and skill between the two commanders, which was decided
at the battle of Guilford, in the following March. The three bodies
having about the same distance to march, to reach the ford, everything
depended on the speed of Morgan's forces, encumbered as they were with
their numerous restless captives. Greene left his army, and with a small
guard rode across the country, and by his presence cheered the soldiers
of Morgan to still greater speed; they gained the ford first. The
morning after the crossing, Cornwallis was on the southern bank, hot in
pursuit, but disappointed of his prey. The river, during the succeeding
night, became swollen from the abundant rains; and the two days of delay
to the British army, gave Morgan that advance towards Virginia, that his
Lordship turned his whole attention to Greene, from whom he could not,
with honor, retreat,--or cease to pursue.
Leaving General Davidson
with the North Carolina force, to delay the crossing of the enemy as
long as possible, Greene hastened on, in the rear of Morgan, to throw
the Yadkin between him and his advancing foe. Graham's rifle company was
stationed at Cowan's Ferry, a few miles below Beattie's Ford, where,
after some manoeuvres, the passage was at length attempted, and kept up
a galling fire on the British line, as it waded the Catawba. Many
officers and privates went down the stream or disappeared beneath the
waters, pierced by their deadly balls. General Davidson, attracted by
the firing, rode to the bank for observation, accompanied by Colonel
Polk, of Charlotte, and the Rev. Thomas H. McCaule, the pastor of the
congregation that now lay in the track of the hostile armies. In a few
moments he fell from his horse, (lead, by a rifle shot. As the British
infantry used muskets only, it was supposed that a tory, who had acted
as guide to the enemy, and knew Davidson, gave the fatal shot from the
opposite bank. No one ever claimed the honor of the death of the most
popular man in the region; and his rank did not protect his body from
being plundered to nakedness. The militia and volunteers now gave way,
and hastened after Greene, who was in Salisbury refreshing himself, with
Mrs. Steele, in preparation for crossing the Yadkin.
General William Davidson
was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, 1746, the youngest son of
George Davidson. The family removed to Carolina in 1750. Young Davidson
was educated at Queen's Museum. lie was major of one of the first
regiments raised in Carolina during the war. The monument voted by
Congress has never been erected. His body, buried without a coffin, lies
like that of his friends, Dr. Brevand and Hezekiah Alexander, without a
stone to mark the place.
The boundaries of Centre
congregation were originally large, and, With the limits of Thyatira,
filled a broad space from the Catawba to the Yadkin: they began at John
Cathey's, south of Beattie's Ford, on the Catawba; from thence to
Matthew M'Corkle's and Thomas Harris's; from thence to David Kerr's, on
the Old Salisbury Road; from thence to Galbraith Nails, northeast
corner; from thence to John Oliphant's; from thence down the river to
the first-named place.
The first Presbytery that
met between the two rivers held its sessions in Centre; the first
meeting of Concord Presbytery was in Centre; and there too the "Synod of
the Carolinas" was organized. The tradition is, that the first white
child born between the two rivers was in Centre, in a tent pitched upon
a broad flat rock; the name of the child is not certain, supposed
however to be Mary Barnet, granddaughter of Thomas Spratt, that settled
finally near Charlotte, and held the first court of Mecklenburg county
at his house.
The location of Centre
Meeting-house was a matter of compromise in 1765. The various
missionaries that had been sent to preach in the southern vacancies, had
previously field meetings for public worship at Osborne's meeting-house,
and various private houses in the different neighborhoods. By the
persuasions of the delegates sent by the Synod of Philadelphia, the
various preaching-places were given up, and a centre spot chosen for the
permanent worship of the large congregation which lies partly in each of
the two counties, Iredell and Mecklenburg. The names of many famiIies
embraced in this congregation were notorious in the Revolution,
particularly those of Brevard, Osborne, and Davidson.
The inhabitants were of
the same race as those of Sugar Creek and Hopewell; of equal spirit in
public matters, and as decided in religion; and were building their
cabins at the same time with the congregation of Thyatira.
During the Revolutionary
war, the Rev. Thomas Harris McCaule was pastor of this large
congregation, having been ordained in 1776, when the congregation
covered about ten miles square. Little is known of his early life.
Scarce of the medium height, of a stout frame, and full body, of dark,
piercing eyes, a pleasant countenance, and winning manners, with a fine
voice, he was popular both as a preacher and as a man. Public-spirited,
he encouraged the Revolution ; and in the time of the invasion, went
with his flock to the camp, and was beside General William Davidson when
he fell. Of so much repute was lie, as a public-spirited man, that he
was once run for the Governor's chair, and failed in the election by a
very small vote. His classical attainments were such, that after the
peace, when Mount Zion College was established at Winnsborough in South
Carolina, he was made its principal Professor. Many eminent ministers
were trained under his instruction.
Who was Mr. McCaule's
predecessor is not now known, and his successor is equally undetermined.
Dr. McRee, in his manuscripts, tells us that there was a flourishing
classical school in the bounds of Centre at a very early period, and
after continuing about twenty years was broken up by the invasion. In
this school he was himself educated; also, Professor Houston of
Princeton College, Rev. Josiah Lewis, Colonel Adlai Osborne, Dr. Ephraim
Brevard and others. But he does not tell us whether Mr. McCaule was
connected with the school. A part of the time it was carried on by a Mr.
McEwin.
Dr. James McRee, who
ministered for about thirty years to this congregation, was born May
10th, 1152, about a mile from the present place of worship, on the place
now owned by Rufus Reed, Esq. Isis parents were from the County Down,
Ireland, and emigrated soon after their marriage. "They belonged," he
says, "to the Presbyterian denomination, talked often about the
reformation from Popery, the bloody Queen Mary, the battle of the Boyne,
the death of Duke Schomberg, the gunpowder plot, and the accession of
William, Prince of Orange, to the British throne."
From his description of
his father's library, we can have some idea of the man, and probably of
the times and neighborhood, as it is not spoken of as extraordinary,
except in its size. It consisted of the Holy Bible, the Confession of
Faith, Vincent's Catechism, Boston's Fourfold State of Man, Allen's
Alarm to Sinners, Baxter's Call to the Unconverted, and his Saint's
Rest. As a specimen of the religious reading of Centre congregation, it
is commendable, considering the difficulty of procuring books, and the
fact that few possessed more. The religious sentiments formed from these
volumes were not likely to be erroneous or inefficient. He further adds
that it was the custom every Sabbath (lay, to ask the questions of the
Shorter Catechism to each member of the family in rotation; and the
young people that could not repeat them, were not considered as holding
a respectable rank in society.
At the age of twenty-one,
he entered the junior class in Princeton College, in the year 1773,
having received his common and his academic education while residing in
Carolina. After receiving his degree of A.B., he spent a year as private
tutor in the family of Colonel Burwell Bassett, in New Kent county,
Virginia. The winter of 1776 and 1777 he passed reading theology, under
the direction of "his highly esteemed former teacher and friend, the
Rev. Joseph Alexander, of Bullock's Creek, in South Carolina." In April,
1778, he was licensed by Concord Presbytery to preach the gospel; and in
the November following he was settled in his own house in Steele Creek
congregation, as pastor of the church, having been united in marriage to
Rachel Cruser of Mapleston, New Jersey. He continued with this
congregation about twenty years.
During the time of his
being pastor of this congregation the subject of psalmody was
extensively discussed, particularly in relation to the introduction of
Watt 's Psalms and Hymns. Mr. M'Ree delivered a course of sermons on the
whole subject of Psalmody as part of Christian worship, and condensed
the substance of his discourses into an essay of great clearness and
force, which has not been surpassed for strength of argument or
clearness of expression. Should an essay on that subject be demanded by
the times, Mr. M'Ree might, though dead, still speak to posterity.
The scenes of his early
ministry were too deeply impressed upon his mind to be erased by aim
absence of forty years. In a letter to W. L. Davidson, dated Swannanoe,
January 26th, 1835. he says, "If my desires were fully gratified, I
should yet see, with my treble vision, the meeting-houses of Steele
Creek and Centre, the grave-yards in which my relations, friends,
acquaintance, contemporaries, lie. And not only these, but all the
surrounding congregations, which were generally -vacant when I settled
in Steele Creek, and which I often visited as supply. Often have I
ridden in the morning to Bethel, Providence, Sugar Creek and Hopewell,
and returned home in the evening of that clay. These scenes, these
doings, now while I am writing, are as fresh on my mind as the events of
yesterday."
After giving up Steele
Creek, various vacancies were presented to him for consideration;
Pine-street Church, Philadelphia, Princeton, New Jersey, and Augusta,
Georgia, and his native congregation Centre. "The shortness of life, the
uncertainty of all things here, extensive acquaintance, relations,
numerous friends, a pleasant, healthful country, native soil, all
combined and said, stay where you are." He was settled in Centre in
1798, and continued pastor of the church about thirty years.
On account of infirmities
of age he crave up his pastoral charge, and removed into the mountains
and resided with his children. In the year 1839, he said his children,
grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, amounted to eighty. He said he
preached more than one thousand times in Steele Creek church ; and at
that time not one was living that used to meet him there as members of
his church; that he laid in Steele Creek grave-yard his father and
mother, five brothers and two sisters; that he preached in Centre about
two thousand times; and that on leaving his congregations he was unable
to preach a farewell on account of his own feelings.
In writing to W. L.
Davidson, of Centre, from Swannanoe, he says, "We often think of you.
The faithful friend, who has lived with me almost sixth--one years,
often says 'Betsey Lee Davidson.' Mr. Addison put it into the mouth of
Cardinal Wolsey to say, 'the king shall have my service, but my prayers
for ever and for ever shall be yours.' Here, among the mountains, I may
terminate the few last days that may remain of a long life; but my
warmest affections and best wishes will never be withdrawn from the
place of my nativity. The present inhabitants, as to me, are nearly all
new comers; I wish them well ; and sincerely wish that they may do
better in their day than their fathers have done, who have gone before
them, and purchased for them, at the high price of their blood, a rich
inheritance.
"May the decline of your
lives, which has already made its appearance, be attended with many and
rich mercies! May your last days be your best days; and may your final
departure, like the setting sun, be serene and full of glory!"
Of middling stature,
handsomely proportioned, agreeable in manners, winning in conversation,
neat in his dress, dignified in the pulpit, fluent in his delivery, he
was a popular preacher, and retained his influence long after he ceased
to be active in the vineyard. Always a friend of education; in the
latter part of his life he became increasingly anxious for the
prosperity of academies, colleges, and theological seminaries, to meet
the wants of the rising generation; deeply convinced that the welfare of
his beloved country depends upon intelligence, morality and religion. He
closed his career March 28th, 1840.
Bethel and Prospect are
both within the old bounds of Centre. Davidson College, that took its
name from General William Davidson, has its location also in Centre,
which still continues a large congregation, and for many years has been
but a short time unsupplied by a regular minister. Davidson College will
be noticed in another place. Mr. Espy, that ministered here for a time,
lies buried in Salisbury, and is noticed under the head of Thyatira. The
graveyard of Centre has monuments for the following names of families
settled in its bounds before the Revolution:—Davidson, Rees, Hughes,
Ramsey, Brevard, Osborne, Winslow, Kerr, Rankin, Templeton, Dickey,
Braley, Moore and Emerson. |
