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William W. Davidson – Founder of State G.A.R.
Posted By Norman Gasbarro on October 10, 2018
William Washington Davidson (1842-1923) was previously profiled here in a post entitled William W. Davidson Dies on Visit to Detroit.
An additional obituary has been located – from the Harrisburg Telegraph, 12 December 1923:
William W. Davidson, aged 81 years, retired Pennsylvania [Railroad] System yardmaster, and well-known Civil War veteran, died suddenly yesterday at the home of his wife’s relatives in Detroit. Mr. and Mrs. Davidson. Mr. and Mrs. Davidson, with a stepson and the latter’s wife, had gone there to spent the holidays.
On Thursday last Mr. Davidson celebrated his eight-first birthday anniversary and announced his plans for a visit to Detroit. The Davidson party left here Friday. According to reports received from the west, Mr. Davidson was taken ill Saturday night. The survivors are a widow by second marriage, a sister, Mrs. Emma M. Donelly, Lemoyne; one son, Frank E. Davidson, formerly of 1512 North Sixth Street, now of Detroit; one daughter, Mrs. Charles Shaffer, Dauphin, and a stepson. The funeral arrangements will be announced later. Burial will be made in Harrisburg.
W. W. Davidson was born in Schuylkill Haven. He came to Harrisburg when a boy and was a clerk in local stores until he secured employment with the Pennsylvania Railroad as a messenger. Later, he became clerk, and promotions followed until he was made yardmaster in the local yards, with headquarters at Maclay Street, and later at DE. He retired eleven years ago.
Member of G.A.R.
He was a member of Post 53, G.A.R. [Harrisburg] having served during the Civil War in the Pennsylvania Volunteers, was prominent in the organization and has always been active in Memorial Day ceremonies and preparations. He was a member of the Knights of Malta and was prominently identified with the P.R.Y.M.C.A. He was in charge of weekly religious meetings for old and young, Mr. Davidson was also a member of the Retired Veterans’ Association, and the meeting last Friday at Philadelphia was the first he missed this year.
His death was also reported in the Harrisburg Evening News on 24 December 1923, where the following additional information was reported regarding his role in founding the G.A.R. in Pennsylvania:
Following the war he was active in organizing the Grand Army of the Republic in this State, and for a number of years he was a staff officer of the State Department of the G.A.R.…
At this time, not much more is known about his active role in the state G.A.R. Can blog readers fill in the missing details?
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News clipping from Newspapers.com. Portrait from a publicly posted Ancestry.com tree. Another portrait, not shown here, was featured in the Harrisburg Telegraph of 12 December 1923, which was included with his obituary.
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