The folkloric memory of William J. Davidson, is that he came to Old Providence, in 1847, directly from Scotland, to be pastor of the Baptist Church. Earlier in that same decade another Scottish gentleman with the same common Scottish surname left the island. He was described as a lay preacher and planter. His name was James Davidson, and he was Esther Davidson’s father.
Based on this oral memory of William J. Davidson, these two men would not have met, or even known each other.
There are a few things wrong with the oral memory of William J. Davidson. There was no church in Old Providence in 1847. The first church built on the island was in 1861. At that time, William J. Davidson, a widower, who had been married to one of Captain Francis Archbold’s daughters was living in a common law relationship. The Reverend Philip Beekman Phillip, refused to ordain him until he married in church. According to Turnage, in his own defense William, disengenously stated that there was nothing immoral about his lifestyle. Four years later, he married and was ordained as the first Baptist pastor of the island. When you look at his wife name there is a suspicion to why he hesitated to marry her. Her name was Cornelia Henry.
Current evidence indicates that James Davidson, was William J. Davidson’s father, which makes William, Esther Davidson’s brother, or rather half brother. William is invariably described as Scottish and sometimes English. The children of the mostly Creole English planters born on the island are never described as English, Scottish , etc. , but William appears to be an exception. That leads one to believe that he may have been brought to the island as a boy. There is no information indicating his date, or place of birth, but he was a contemporary of Philip Beekman Livingston, so he might have been the same age.
Esther Davidson’s children did not know that William J. Davidson, was her brother. After many years of digesting this information, I am now convinced that neither did Esther. How could this be?
William J. Davidson, would have been well into his twenties when Esther, was born. He would have known her as a child and later when she married . He would have known her six children. In fact, he very likely would have taught them their ABC’s. The Colombian government did not set up any schools until sometimes in the 1870’s. In the tradition started by Philip Beekman Livingston, Jr., the Baptist church doubled as a school. Not much known about Esther’s mother, Eulid Bartley , but obviously she was there. This one appears to be a puzzle not meant to be solved.
On July 20, 1890, William J. Davidson, ordained as deacons, Francis Caldwell Archbold, and Lemuel Newball. Of course, Lemuel was not aware of the biological connection.
Pastor Davidson, died on August 3, 1891. On, or about August 20, 1891, a disastrous hurricane hit the East and Western Caribbean. The church which was located in Bailey was demolished. A second Baptist church, this one in Santa Isabel, belonging to a dissident group and built earlier that year, also met the same fate. Both churches completed rebuilding in 1894, but the Bailey church relocated to Smooth Water Bay.
Around 1902, Lemuel Newball, became a Catholic. While doing research I came across minutes of the Baptist Church, dated 1950 and made a serendipitous discovery. Jumping off the page was the name Lemuel E. Newball. Not only was he alive, but he was still active in church affairs. I don’t know when, but sometimes between 1902 and 1950, he had returned home.