Caldwell and Davidson families papers

The Caldwell family of Mecklenburg County has been closely linked with the Davidson family and with Rosedale -- a nineteenth century Federal-style plantation house located at 3427 North Tryon Street in Charlotte -- since the early 1800s. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, Rosedale was built in 1815 by Archibald Frew. From the beginning, the house became known as "Frew's Folly," apparently because of the lavishness of the structure as compared to other homes in the county. In 1819, however, Rosedale and 911 acres of land were sold at public auction because of Frew's tax problems. The purchaser was U.S. Congressman William Davidson (1778-1857), who had married Frew's sister, Sarah (1772-1812), in 1802. Their daughter, Harriet Elizabeth Davidson (1806-45), married Dr. David Thomas Caldwell (1799-1861) in 1826. He was the son of the Rev. Samuel Craighead Caldwell and Abigail Bain Alexander. He attended the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill with James Knox Polk, the future president, and worked as one of Mecklenburg County's few doctors. William Davidson sold Rosedale to his son-in-law in 1833. Harriet and David Thomas Caldwell's son, Dr. William Davidson Caldwell (1829-68), was a surgeon in the Confederate Army. He married Abigail Amelia Dunlap. Their daughter, Miriam Abigail Caldwell (1860-1927), married James Hall in 1884. Harriet and David Thomas Caldwell's daughter, Margaret Abigail "Minnie" Caldwell (1840-98), married John Springs Davidson (1838-99), whose great-grandfather, Maj. John Davidson, established Rural Hill plantation in northern Mecklenburg County. Minnie and John's son, Baxter Craighead Davidson (1875-1947), as a young boy, went to live at Rosedale with his Aunt Alice and Uncle Robert Baxter Caldwell, the unmarried siblings of Minnie Caldwell Davidson. In 1914, he married Louise Heagy (1891-1958) of Jacksonville, Fla. Louise and Baxter Craighead Davidson lived at Rosedale and eventually inherited it from R. B. Caldwell. Their daughters, Mary Louise Davidson (1916-96) and Alice Caldwell Davidson Abel (b. 1926), sold Rosedale in 1985 to the Historic Preservation Foundation of North Carolina Inc. Historic Rosedale Inc. purchased Rosedale from the Preservation Foundation in 1986. [For further biographical information about the residents of Rosedale, see appendix A, "Rosedale Family Tree."]