Alexander Caldwell Davidson

Alexander Caldwell Davidson (December 26, 1826 – November 6, 1897) was a U.S. Representative from Alabama and a Democratic politician active in state and national politics during the late nineteenth century. He was born near Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, on December 26, 1826. In his youth he moved with his family to Alabama, where he was raised in Marengo County. There he attended the local public schools, receiving the basic education that prepared him for university study and later public life in the state.

Davidson pursued higher education at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, then the principal institution of higher learning in the state. He completed his studies and graduated on July 11, 1848. Following his graduation, he moved to Mobile, Alabama, where he undertook the study of law. Although he read law in preparation for a legal career, he ultimately chose not to seek admission to the bar and never practiced law professionally, instead turning his attention to agriculture and plantation management.

After leaving Mobile, Davidson settled near Uniontown in Perry County, Alabama, where he engaged in cotton planting. As a planter in Alabama’s Black Belt region, he became part of the agricultural and economic life of an area dominated by large-scale cotton production. His work as a planter established his local prominence and provided the foundation for his later entry into public service and politics, reflecting the close connection between landholding, economic influence, and political leadership in the postbellum South.

Davidson’s formal political career began at the state level. He was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives, serving as a member in 1880 and 1881. His legislative service continued in the upper chamber of the state legislature when he was elected to the Alabama Senate, in which he served from 1882 through 1885. During these years he participated in the governance of Alabama during the period following Reconstruction, when Democratic leaders were consolidating control over state institutions and shaping policies affecting agriculture, infrastructure, and the reorganization of state government.

Building on his state legislative experience, Davidson was elected as a Democrat to the Forty-ninth and Fiftieth United States Congresses, representing Alabama in the U.S. House of Representatives from March 4, 1885, to March 3, 1889. In Congress he served during the administrations of Presidents Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison, a time marked by debates over tariffs, federal expenditures, and the economic interests of agricultural regions such as his own. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1888, bringing his congressional service to a close at the end of his second term.

After leaving Congress, Davidson returned to private life in Alabama and resumed his agricultural pursuits near Uniontown. He continued to reside at his estate, known as “Westwood,” where he remained engaged in the management of his cotton-planting operations and local affairs. He lived there until his death at “Westwood,” near Uniontown, Alabama, on November 6, 1897. Davidson was interred in Holy Cross Cemetery of Davidson Memorial Church in Uniontown, Alabama, reflecting his long-standing ties to the community and the region in which he had spent most of his adult life.