Building Rural Hill

The story of Rural Hill is a story of people and place. The story is made personal through the continuity of six generations of the extended family of John and Violet Wilson Davidson as well as the families of enslaved Africans such as Tom, Ruth, Sarah, Bill and Evalina.

But the story of Rural Hill would not be complete without a look at the buildings and agricultural features, historical or currently existing that defined the lifestyle of the people who lived and worked in them.

Rural Hill’s garden landscapes and historic structures, including the sites of five homes, two schoolhouses and out buildings, provide a setting for a fascinating narrative. The variety of construction techniques, agricultural practices and landscaping offer the framework and a orderly timeline for presentation of a way of life in the American South that developed, evolved and changed over more than 230 years.

The timeline provides insight into the legacy of the Scots and the Scots-Irish, a rich colorful culture that through their emphasis on character, education and meaningful work greatly influenced the development of the Carolinas. The story of Rural Hill and its people will illustrate the part our community played and provide context for their contributions in regional and national historical events.

The construction techniques employed and type of materials in the buildings at have significance in terms of history, architecture and cultural importance. These buildings are examples of virtually every construction material and technique used in the Piedmont Carolinas in the last 200+ years. They are constructed using skinned log poles, hand-hewn logs, sawn logs, sawn lumber, rock and hand made brick. They are sided with rough and finished lumber in slab, board and batten as well as rough or finished lapped siding. There are joined log, post and beam, wood frame, pole and brick buildings with roofs of wood, metal and asphalt shingle. Existing outbuildings include a granary, a smokehouse, a well house and a unique ash house.

Rural Retreat

John Davidson, and his sister Mary, arrived in Mecklenburg County about 1760. We do not know where or how they lived soon after they arrived. Frequently clearing land for gardens, crops and livestock took priority over permanent housing. Log cabins were small, often hastily constructed and considered temporary shelter.

There are no known photographs of the log cabin that John Davidson eventually built for his bride, Violet. But a sketch by a family member indicates that it was probably a story and a half two room home. The home was called “Rural Retreat”, probably within the lifetime of its builder.

Over time, the home grew to have eight rooms with improvements that included “paneling with wide boards within and clapboard siding without.” Unfortunately, after serving the family for more than 130 years, it burned in 1896.

With generous donations of logs and construction materials from Alcoa Yadkin and Culp Lumber, Bill Bigham, Roy Pickett and Danny Patterson have led a crew of volunteers to hand hew the logs and construct a cabin to represent the Rural Retreat back country homestead. This cabin, with a blacksmith shop, corn crib, root cellar, garden and proposed livestock shed, is used for living history programs and interpretation of the early American settlers.

Before arriving in Mecklenburg, John had apprenticed as a blacksmith. The family has passed down the story that John and his sister Mary were on their way to the iron mining region in Lincoln County when high water in the Catawba River forced then to stay in Mecklenburg for a awhile. Perhaps from experiences in Pennsylvania, he was aware of the opportunity to be found in iron mining. It was said that he putting the iron on a set of wagon wheels on his wedding day, an indication of his ambition.

Rural Hill

John Davidson prospered through hard work and his business investments. The 1790 census lists 26 African slaves in the estate of Major John Davidson, second in number only to Thomas Polk. This number could be explained in part by the construction of Rural Hill in 1788. Rural Hill was a brown brick Georgian style mansion constructed on the top of a hill just south of Rural Retreat. It was considered one of the finest of the Catawba River plantation homes.

In his book “Major John Davidson of Rural Hill,’ Chalmers Davidson describes the home. The dining room filled the entire east end of the basement with a warming kitchen, pantry, storeroom and hall on the west. The first floor was divided by a central hall about 10 feet wide. To the west the great parlor with a smaller room at the north which was separated by a folding partition. Two bed chambers were on the east of the central hall. The second floor was divided in two by a hall similar to the one on the first floor, with two bed rooms on either side. Ceilings on both main floors were about ten feet high. The garret was one great room with windows only in the gable ends.

Iron Mining and Manufacturing

The North Carolina General Assembly passed an act in 1788 “to encourage the building of Iron Works in the State.” In 1795, the partnership of Peter Forney and John Davidson and John’s sons-in-law, Joseph Graham, and Alexander Brevard were responsible for the construction of Vesuvius Furnace. Major John Davidson sold his interests in Mt Tirzah Forge and Vesuvius Furnace to his sons-in-law, Joseph Graham, and Alexander Brevard.

The last cabin used by enslaved Africans

In the years that followed the invention of the cotton gin in 1792; there was major expansion of the number of enslaved Africans in the Carolinas. On January 1, 1808, 20 years after the ratification of the US Constitution, the US Congress outlawed the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade; although there is little evidence that the law was enthusiastically enforced.

The location of foundations and the rubble of the chimney has been identified as the last cabin used by enslaved Africans Americans at Rural Hill. The cabin is gone but the site will be researched in an archaeological dig for evidence of family structure, life-style and material goods. The cabin was used by tenant farmers into the 20^th century. Additional building foundation stones and a Burying Ground may have been located on property near by.

Plans for reconstruction of a cotton gin, saw mill and brick kiln will show more about the kind of work done by the people Major John Davidson’s grandson, Adam Brevard Davidson, called his “hands”. Research in family papers will offer the story about the African slaves; farmers, laborers and craftsmen; people who supported the economy and made a life at Rural Hill.

Major John Davidson provided for the future of his children before he passed away.

In the book, “Major John Davidson of Rural Hill” Chalmers Davidson writes that “John Davidson had 30 slaves and gave a like number to his oldest son, Robert and youngest son, Benjamin.” Robert received property they called Hollywood or Holly Bend, Benjamin received Oak Lawn and major John Davidson passed Rural Hill on to his son, John, Jr.

On June 8^th 1837, John, Jr., called “Silver Headed Jacky”, retired to Rural Retreat and turned the Rural Hill mansion home over to his son Adam Brevard, called Brevard or more often in his own writings, A. B., and his wife, Mary Laura (Springs).

Although he frequently referred to himself as a "clodhopper", A. B. Davidson, like his grandfather, was a believer in internal improvements and became wealthy through investments in banking, the railroad and in real estate. A. B. Davidson’s marriage to Mary Laura Springs was the coming together of two great families. Mary Laura’s dowry included 23 “Negroes” and the 9,500 acre Dickson Plantation across the Catawba River probably in Lincoln and Gaston counties. A. B. Davidson would own close to 12,000 acres.

A. B. Davidson kept detailed journals with anecdotes, information about farming practices and the activities of his field and house hands from 1834 - 1854. He made a list of “his Negroes” with name, age, skills and monetary value in 1856 and again in 1864. The list provides valuable genealogical information. (Originals of his journals are at UNCC J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections)

In 1835, A. B. Davidson contracted for and supplied the lumber to build Davidson College, all of which he sawed at his own saw mill. 

A. B Davidson bought the Barry property along with a brick making operation.

A. B. served as president of the Mecklenburg Agricultural Society for some 15 years before the American Civil War and was interested not only in crops but also in livestock such as Devon, Ayrshire and Durham cattle and horse breeding with Rural Hill thoroughbreds and advertised as far away as Charleston. His address to the Agricultural Society on the "Culture of Clover" was published in the Western Democrat.

He was innovative in his farming practices. He planted a wide variety of crops and practiced crop rotation; something that would not be widely practiced until the 20^th century. In addition to planting corn, oats, wheat, cotton, water melons and pumpkins, they also raised hogs and beef cattle for the market. There was an attempt to grow tobacco but apparently the crop did not thrive in the clay soil.

We are fortunate that the Davidson family kept letters, receipts and A. B. Davidson’s plantation journals. Original documents are on file in the Southern Historical Collection at UNC Chapel Hill, in Special Collections at J. Murrey Atkins Library UNCC Charlotte, Manuscript Collection at Davidson College and in family collections. These records provide a wealth of information about the farming practices and the relationship between the Davidsons and their “hands.”

A. B. and Mary remodeled Rural Hill extensively in the 1850s. The Georgian style hip roof was replaced with one with gable ends and the back porch and columns were added.

Following the Civil War, Adam Brevard turned Rural Hill over to his son, John Springs. They focused on the saw mill operations and A. B. remade the family fortune in real estate and construction.

Necessary Buildings

The well house covers a hand dug 60 foot deep well that was used by the family until it was closed in 1992. The brick structure behind the well may have stored ice at some times of the year and used for cooling fresh meat and dairy products.

The ash house

This unique building was used for storage of wood ashes to make soap. The building needs preservation services.  

The smoke house

A. B. Davidson says he finished the smokehouse along with the kitchen & hen house on March 8^th, 1834 at the cost of about $98. Recent family called it a smoke house and there was evidence of smoke on the undersides of the roof tin when it was replaced. Volunteers of the Catawba Valley Scottish Society led by Will Foster and Gary Lewis organized the preservation and repairs.

The grinding stones are from the grist mill built by A. B. Davidson that stood long side a man-made dam on McDowell Creek. The site is now under Mountain Island Lake.

Mary Laura (Springs) Davidson’s Gardens

Mary Davidson and four African American women planted the boxwood border and flower gardens. Historic Landscape architect, Christy Snipes Bowers has researched existing plant materials and family records to develop a plan for restoration of the gardens as they may have been at their most decorative; between 1850 and 1860.

The mansion burned in 1886, just short of being 100 years old, while the family was away in Charlotte at a fall fair. It was considered a community disaster. John Springs Davidson and his family moved into Rural Retreat.

The ruins of Rural Hill stood for 15 years. All that could be salvaged was removed before the walls were pushed into the basement level and covered over. A lot of handmade brick, two faux painted front doors, two back doors, bead board, a few exterior shutters, brick porch columns and pieces of the decorative iron porch balustrade are all that remain of the Rural Hill mansion.

E.L. Baxter Davidson, A.B. Davidson son, and the great - grandson of Major John Davidson, made plans to rebuild Rural Hill. He worked with local architect, Louis H. Asbury, and had complete blueprints drawn. Unfortunately, he passed away before reconstruction could begin. (The plans are in J. Murrey Atkins Library at UNC - Charlotte)

The 1890s School houses

The Davidson family had a long history of support for education. Family records mention the Rural Hill Academy in session in 1842. In the 1890s there were two public school houses at Rural Hill, one for white children and one for black children.

The Davidson Schoolhouse served white children from 1890-1912 when the children moved into a larger two room structure built on the same site. They went to the larger school until the Long Creek Consolidated School opened in 1923. The original Davidson school house survived as a tenant house but has been preserved as it was originally used through funds provided by the Davidson family and by the Historic Landmarks Commission.

The Davidson School (col.) was used to educate black children from about 1890 to 1922 when the children moved to the larger two room structure still on the site. They went to the larger school until their consolidated school was finished in Long Creek. Both buildings have been lost.

With funding from the Knight Foundation and the Historic Landmarks Commission, an Educational Facility in the size and scale of the larger two room structure has been built to provide educational space and restrooms. 

Bethesda School, ca. 1897, the oldest identified rural school house for black children, has been relocated to Rural Hill by the Historic Landmarks Commission to stand in the place of the original school that served black children. It needs work before it can open to the public.

The Tenant house - ca.1900

The existing tenant house, one of four, is a unique artifact of Southern heritage, black and white. It is in need of preservation services.

The Davidson Place

In 1894, A. B. conveyed Rural Hill to his grandson, Jo Graham Davidson. Jo Graham agreed to divide the property five ways, reserving one parcel for himself with the others for his brothers and sisters.

The settlement of his estate resulted in the present configuration of the last 265.3 acres of the family property holdings that had at one time, although not contiguous, reached 12,000 acres.

Built in 1834 as a kitchen house, the structure was remodeled in 1896 as a residence after the log home burned. A comfortable and spacious home, the family used the doors, molding and other pieces from the mansion house and other family properties to remodel the two story structure. It was remodeled again in 1946-1947 and will be maintained as it was finished by the Davidson Family.

Davidson family photos 1940- 1950 show:

            White-faced Hereford bull 
            Jersey cows
            Durham shorthorn cows
            Black-faced sheep
            Berkshire pigs
            Horses
            Mules
            Bronze turkeys
            Dominique chickens
            Rhode Island Red chickens

Out Buildings

The Granary - ca. 1900
In 2001, the building was seriously damaged in a storm. Volunteers, with Eddie and Eric Ferguson taking the lead, rebuilt the granary and it is used to store livestock feed today.

Chicken Shed – ca. 1950 -1960
Originally built as a machinery shed, the building was used to house chickens from time to time. Volunteers of the Catawba Valley Scottish Society, Eddie Ferguson, Freddie Brown, Gary Lewis, Bill Bigham and Roy Pickett, restored the shed in 2005. Today this building houses antique farm equipment along with tools used to maintain the farm.

Sheep Shed -
Waste not, want not… this log cabin structure was an example of adaptive use. Made of parts and pieces of other hand hewn and sawn log buildings, it served its last days as a Sheep Shed. However, due to time and wear this structure no longer stands.

The New Barn – 2005  

John Springs Davidson told about a terrible fire in 1905 that destroyed the “big barn” along with the horses. His father, Jo Graham Davidson, replaced it with a “small barn” 30 x 60 pole barn but by 2003 it had fallen into complete disrepair. For livestock management, the small barn has been replaced by a structure in the same size and scale and on the same site of the 1905 barn.

The new barn was built by an Amish construction company with funding in part through a Grant from the Richard J. and Marie Mallouk Reynolds III Foundation and matched with fundraising projects by members of the Catawba Valley Scottish Society and the Amazing Maize Maze ®
A thermal imaging study has identified the likely site of the original Rural Retreat and sites of what are most likely the footprint indicators of barns, storage sheds, and out buildings that are no longer standing.

Research into this fascinating story is ongoing.

Today the Davidson Place houses historical exhibits about the Davidson Family, the gift shop and the Rural Hill administrative offices.

Visit Rural Hill - Monday – Saturday 10 - 4 pm .