Of Aberlemno, Angus, Scotland
A Narrative Compiled by Patricia Davidson-Peters © 2001

This clan was said to have been almost completely wiped out at the Battle of Invernahaven which took place in 1370 when the Camerons invaded Arkaig which was Clan Chattan land. The MacKintoshes, McPhersons and Davidsons gathered to appose the forces of the Camerons who had marched into Badenoch with the intent to slaughter and plunder, but prior to the battle a dispute erupted between the McPhersons and the Davidsons over a military precedence (not uncommon in the Highlands), but the McPhersons were insulted and left the field and in the ensuing battle, the Davidsons were nearly destroyed. In the outcome of this battle, the Clan Dhai lost their chief and his seven sons and the feud between the Clan Chattan and the Camerons lasted until 1666.

In the aftermath of the Battle of Inverhaven, the chief of the Clan Davidson left their strong hold in Badenoch where the mouth of th Truim Water empties into the Spey above Craig Dhu in the picturesque valley of Glen Truim, and settled in Carmarty where the property was known as Davidston. The Davidson chief later sold this land and bought the lands and castle of Tulloch, near Dingwall, in Ross shire and this branch became the leading line of the family, known as the Davidsons of Tulloch.

By the 16th century the Davidson name was found from Aberdeen in the north to Ayr in the south. Henry, the first Laird of Tulloch, became a merchant in London and was succeed by his brother Duncan Davidson who became a member of Parliment. He was Lord Lieutenant of Ross-Shire, and a favorite of Queen Victoria whom he used to visit during her stays at Balmoral. He was rightful heir to the heir of Tulloch who died in 1917 without an heir. Tulloch castle thereafter was restored in 1922 by the renowned Sir Robert Lorimer, but the castle has been sold and is privately owned and operated, visited and frequented by travelers and visitors from around the world.

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Documented Descendency Of
James Davidson of the Parish of Aberlemno

The following is the first direct line of ancestry of certainty (date of birth and name of parents verified), and so it is that this James shall be referred to as James Davidson, who on the 7th of February in 1835, married Mary Smith. Their marriage is recorded in the Parish Records of Aberlemno, as is the births and baptisms of their six sons and three daughters.

Probable ancestory of James Davidson

Minto Township, Ontario Canada
Of the County of Wellington

It seems that at least Joseph and William Davidson, sons of James¹Davidson and Mary Smith, left Scotland and migrated to Ontario, Canada where they continued to make their living as farmers. In 1871 they were listed as living together in the same household in Wellington County. The Historical Atlas depicts their land as lying adjacent to Robert Arbuckle, the father of Janet Arbuckle whom William later married.

The agricultural return states William and Joseph owned 70 acres in lot 31 of the 11th concession and that forty acres of the land was improved, eight held to pasture and four cultivated in gardens and orchards.

On the 16th of August the following year, in 1872, William Davidson, listed as a twenty-six year-old bachelor and farmer, son of James Davidson and Mary Smith, married Janet Arbuckle. Janet is listed as a single twenty-one year-old Scot, and daughter of Robert Arbuckle and Jean McNiven. The witnesses to the marriage were Robert Bennett of Harriston and Mary Arbuckle of Minto.

Janet’s family was of the shire of Lanark in Scotland and lived in the parish of Carmunnock where Janet Arbuckle had been born on the 6th of June in 1851. The family seems to have left Scotland for Canada between 1853 and 1855 and were living in Minto at the time of the 1861 Ontario census in which the Robert Arbuckle Family is listed. This family was said to have left Canada & migrated to Otter Tail county, Minnesota and settled in the small town of Bluffton just a few miles across the county line of Wadena and were living there in 1880 at the time the census was taken.

In the 1881 Ontario Census, William and Janet (Arbuckle) Davidson were listed as residing in Minto. William is listed in this census as a thirty-five year-old farmer from Scotland. His wife, Janet, is listed as age twenty-nine, and four children had been born to them: Alexander, age eight; William six; Jane three; and one year-old daughter Mary.

The Vital Statistic Index for Ontario, Canada verifies the births of the following children of William Davidson and Janet Arbuckle born in that providence as: Alexander Davidson born in Minto Township on December 9, 1872; William John Davidson (listed in the index as Collin John) born in Minto Township on November 27, 1875; Jane(t) Davidson born in Minto Township on September 29, 1876; Margaret Jane Davidson born in Minto Township on January 26, 1878; M. Christina Davidson born in Minto Township on March 12, 1880; Robert Davidson born in Minto Township on February 22, 1882.

The same year as their son Robert’s birth, William along with his wife and family, left Canada and followed the Arbuckle family into Minnesota, settling a few miles from Bluffton in Wadena, which is located in Wadena county. Here, the remainder of Janet and William’s children were born.

The Peter McNiven listed in this household, is Janet Arbuckle’s uncle, the brother of her mother, Jean McNiven. Peter was born on 18 August 1825 in Carmunnock, in the shire of Lanark, Scotland and was the son of Daniel McNiven and Jean Rennie. Besides Peter and Janet’s mother Jean (born 17 Sep 1827 in Carmunnock), there were five other siblings listed in the parochial records: John, Catherine, Janet, Mary, and Alexander.

Janet Arbuckle’s parents, Robert Arbuckle and Jean McNiven, were married in Carmunnock on the 5th of February 1847 where five of their twelve children were born. They had left Carmunnock (as noted above) between 1853 and 1855, and gone to Ontario, Canada where the remaining seven children were born.

Also listed in the 1900 Wadena Census next door to the William Davidson household, was Peter Arbuckle, the brother of Janet Arbuckle (wife of William Davidson). Peter was born in Carmunnock on the 17th of November, 1868; and as mentioned before, they were two of twelve children born to Robert Arbuckle and Jean McNiven. - More information on the Arbuckle and McNiven families can be found in the Branches of the Davidson Family.

The household following Peter Arbuckle was that of Frank F. Johnson, the father of Pearl who later married Robert Davidson. At the time of census was taken, Pearl was living in her parents’ household. According to the census, her father, Frank F. Johnson was born in December 1855 in Illinois to parents of New York. Pearl’s mother, Ida May Rand, was born in December 1852 in Illinois and is listed as having had ten children, nine of which were living. Of those listed in the census were: Fred, Grace, Raymond, "Purley", George, Maude, Howard, Deforest, and Arigne. - More information on this family can be found in the Branches of the Davidson Family.

Robert Davidson, the son of William Davidson and Janet Arbuckle, married Pearl Edna Johnson in Wadena, Minnesota on the 3rd of January in 1902 only a few months before his father’s death.

At the time he wed, Robert was not quite twenty years old and his bride was still shy of her 18th birthday. While living in Wadena, their first three children - Lucille, Vivian, and Kenneth were born. In the winter of 1904/1905 the family moved to Roseau, Minnesota where Robert operated a mill and later worked in the lumber camps. While living in Roseau, three more children were born to Robert & Pearl: Harold, Donald (Dick), and Raymond.

Sometime between the fall and winter of 1910, Robert moved his family to Barnes County, North Dakota where they family is enumerated in the 1910, 1920, and 1930 census records; and where their 7th child, Vernon William Davidson was born on the 18th of December in the Township of Baldwin.  Seven more children were born to Robert and Pearl while residing in Barnes county: William, Wayne (died as an infant), Roland "Butch" and Russell (twin sons), Margaret, Ida Larraine, and Bernice.  

Robert Davidson died in Bottineau, North Dakota at the age of sixty-eight. His wife, Pearl, died in Ada, Norman County, MN at the age of eighty-one. Both were buried in the Wadena City Cemetery in Block 4, Row 2, Lot 10, next to Robert’s parents, William and Janet Arbuckle.

As his father and grandfather before him, Vernon was a farmer and married one of the neighboring farm girls, choosing as his bride, Clara Constance Neagle. Connie was the daughter of William Francis Neagle and Clara Anora Danforth. She had received her teaching certificate and had taught one or two school years before deciding to work in a mercantile store.

Vernon and Connie were married on 31 May 1934 in Valley City, North Dakota and settled on a farm Vernon had rented the year before. Dave and Connie came out to Arizona in 1936 after attempting to farm two years in North Dakota during the Dust Bowl.  They came out to Phoenix where Connie's sister Ruth had been living.  She'd come out selling cosmetics with another couple from Minnesota and had decided to stay.

Dave and Connie's children were all born in Phoenix, Arizona. During the early early years, Dave worked on the reclamation projects of the Arizona dams, and then later became a cement contractor as did both of his sons. 

Dave and Connie's first home in Phoenix was located off of VanBuren and 35th Avenue where they had three cabins and a filling station. After they sold this land, they bought a small ranch in Peoria, a small agricultural town on the northwest edge of the valley, and lived there until about 1956 when they moved back into the city.

Dave passed away on January 20, 1969 and is laid to rest in Resthaven Park Cemetery in Glendale, Arizona. Connie presently resides in Glendale, Arizona and attends the Presbyterian church in Peoria where she and Dave had attended when their children were small.  She had married (2) Walter Lightfoot who was born 16 August 1900 in Richmond, New Mexico and passed away in Glendale, AZ in 1990.

Connie and Dave's daughter LaVerna, currently resides in California.  Her late husband Carlton Lee May, was born 02 January 1936 in Jay, Florida.  He was the father of James Carlton and Catherine Ann born in San Jose, CA to his first wife Donna Fiero.  LaVerna's son James Walter Long is married to Leah and is the father of four daughters: Palma Lynn, Bonnie Jean, Aurora Lee, and Alice Marie Long; daughter Natalie Katherine White is the wife of Mark Geenham and mother of two sons: Jason Farinsky and Kenneth Greenham; daughter Charlene René White is the wife of David Kanak; and daughter Connie Marie White is the mother of Joshua and Christina Wickeraad; and John Thomas Beck.

Connie and Dave's son Victor, resides with his wife Mary in northern Arizona where he is a cement contractor.  Vic's first wife (and mother of his children) Mary Jeanette Lane, descends from the Moore & Pilcher families.  She was born in St. Louis on 31 October 1942 and passed away on the 4th day of November 1999. She is laid to rest in the Davidson family plot at Resthaven Park Cemetery in Glendale, Arizona. Their children are Victor Gene who resides in Glendale, and Patricia Ann who is the wife of William Peters, and mother of Lara LeeAnn Peters.

Connie and Dave's youngest child, Daryl Gene, formerly resided in northern Arizona where he founded Davidson Concrete, Inc. in about 1970.  A tragic boating accident at Lake Powell in 1996 took his life at the age of fifty-two. Besides his mother, brother and sister, he was survived by his two children: Daryl Gene, Jr. "Bo" who is the husband of Alicia Martinez and father of two children, Tanner Gene & Amanda Jean Davidson. Daryl's daughter Melissa Ann Davidson is a graduate of Arizona State University.

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Updated 16 Apr 2008
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