Background
DAVIDSON, Allen Turner was born on May 9, 1819 in Haywood County, North Carolina, United States, United States. Son of William Mitchell and Elizabeth (Vance) Davidson.
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Allen Turner DAVIDSON
Edit ProfileEducation
Private school.
Career
He attended Waynesville Academy, clerked in his father’s Waynes- ville store, and served as clerk and master in equity of Haywood County in 1843. He was admitted to the North Carolina bar in 1845. By his marriage in 1842 to Elizabeth A. Howell, Davidson had three daughters and three sons.
A Whig and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, he was also one of the leading lawyers in his part of the state. From 1846 to 1862, he was solicitor (district attorney) for Cherokee County, North Carolina. In 1860, he became president of the Merchants and Miners Bank.
Davidson opposed secession until Lincoln sent troops into the South. During the war, he represented Macon County in the provisional Congress and the first Confederate House, where he lost his bid for reelection in 1864. He voted against a majority of the Davis administration’s legislation, following his constituents’ antagonism to the war effort.
A conservative, Davidson resented arbitrary conscription laws. He served on the Post Office and Post Roads, the Commissary, and the Military Transportation Committees. In 1864-1865, he served as a member of Governor Zebulon Vance’s Council of the State of North Carolina.
As agent of the Commissary Department of North Carolina, he also provided supplies for the families of North Carolina soldiers. After the war, Davidson mostly avoided politics, although he did serve on the Conservative party nominating committee and was an opponent of the Republican William W. Holden. In 1865, he settled in Franklin, Macon County, and practiced law.
He moved to Asheville, North Carolina, in 1869, where he became a leader of the Asheville bar until his retirement in 1885.
Religion
"Peculiar institution" of slavery was not only expedient but also ordained by God and upheld in Holy Scripture.
Politics
Stands for preserving slavery, states' rights, and political liberty for whites. Every individual state is sovereign, even to the point of secession.
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Born
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Died
January 24, 1905 (aged 85) -
Nationality
United States