What year was Davidson College founded?
1837. The Concord Presbytery proposed the founding on the college on March 11, 1835 and approved the motion on March 12,1835. The Concord Presbytery bought 469 acres of land from William Lee Davidson II. The college was named for his father, Brigadier General William Lee Davidson, who fought in the Revolutionary War and died at the Battle of Cowan’s Ford in 1781.
Classes began in March 1837, according to Mary Beaty (who wrote a history of the college), the college's charter was granted by the NC state legislature on December 28, 1838.
For more information about the college’s founding, please explore these resources:
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Transcribed Presbytery of Concord Minutes, 1835-1843
- College History Timeline
- Special Collections: 19th Century Primary Sources Research Guide: Includes digitized resources, such as 19th century trustee and faculty meeting minutes.
- General William Lee Davidson Encyclopedia Entry