William Davidson was born in Charleston, South Carolina on September 1778. A politician, he represented Mecklenburg County in the North Carolina State Senate in 1813, 1815-1818, 1825, and 1827-1829. He was also a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1818-1821. He later worked as a farmer and invested in a number of business pursuits, as well as served as a justice of the peace for Mecklenburg County. He also wrote personal appeals to influential men regarding the widow's pension claim for Susanna Alexander, also a resident of Mecklenburg County. He died in Mecklenburg County on September 16, 1857.