19th Century Primary Sources

The biographical materials include marriage records and family information. The addresses include several speeches given as president of Colgate-Palmolive, his Commencement address at Davidson College in 1953, an introduction of Mr. Williams Sims II at the American Newcomen Society in 1956, and comments from the dedication of Davidson College's E.H. Little Library. Some files are restricted.

The bulk of the collection consists of minutes and financial reports from 1880 to 1980, and 2005 to the present.
The collection is organized as follows: 1) General; 2) Constitution; 3) Minutes; 4) Reports; 5) Financial; 6) Membership Book; 7) Annual "History of Presbyterian Women" Reports 8) Scrapbook.

William Joseph Martin Jr. was born in Tennessee in 1868, but he and his family moved to Davidson early in his youth when his father accepted a faculty appointment at the college. He graduated from Davidson College in 1888. In 1896, he returned to Davidson as Chambers Professor of Chemistry, a position which he held until 1912, when he became president of the college. The collection is organized into the following series: 1) Biographical Materials; 2) Correspondence; 3) Literary Materials; 4) Genealogical Materials; 5) Printed Materials; 6) Photographs; 7) Financial Materials; 8) Cookbook; 9) Scrapbook Materials.

Sallie managed a boarding house on North Main Street, Davidson. In the 1920s her boarding house was closely associated with the Kappa Alpha fraternity. She was choir director and organist for the Presbyterian Church. She also had several real estate investments. The collection consists primarily of correspondence relating to her real estate and business investments from 1898 to 1934. While the correspondence is fairly routine, it does reflect economic changes during World War I and the Depression. There are also letters from Davidson College students written during World War I.

Davidson published several books including The Plantation World Around Davidson. This book focuses on several families and their respective plantations in Mecklenburg, Catawba, Iredell and Gaston Counties. These files contain the research materials collected by Dr. Davidson for his research in writing The Plantation World Around Davidson. Davidson was assisted by Mary Boyer in collecting information on the properties and her name appears throughout the files. Some of the materials have been digitized.

Helper and Sloan operated a dry goods shop in Davidson, N.C. The collection contains the following: 1) invoices from 1867-1873, 2) Letters, 3) Helper Store Ledger, 1852-1854, 4) Helper Store Ledger, 1854-1855, and 5) Helper Store Ledger, 1896-1897.

The Davidson Town Commission was established in 1879 at the time of the town's incorporation. The collection consists of photocopies of minutes beginning February 17, 1879. There is also a copy of the Ordinances of the Town of Davidson, 1912, and minutes for the Bicentennial Committee, 1975-76 and the Parks and Recreation Committee, 1972-1973. The general minutes for 2007 are primarily Planning Board minutes.

Abel Peterson Rhyne (1844-1932) was a Civil War veteran and pioneer cotton manufacturer who played a major role in shaping Gaston County. The collection focuses on Rhyne family history, the history of the Mount Holly community, and the cotton mills owned and operated by the Rhyne family.

This collection includes 174 folders of correspondence between members of the Davidson family and their respective communities ranging from March 6, 1836 to June 20, 1913.

Incorporated in 1893, the North Carolina Medical College was the first chartered medical college in North Carolina and had its roots in Davidson's pre-medical program. The collection consists of enrollment cards for students, published catalogs, and the 1914 commencement program.