old "Polk Graveyard," nine miles from Charlotte, is the
tombstone of Mrs. Maria Polk, a grand-aunt of President Polk,
containing a lengthy eulogy, in poetry and prose, of this good woman.
The first sentence, "_Virtus non exemptio a morte_"[H] is neatly
executed on a semicircle, extending over the prostrate figure of a
departed female saint, sculptured with considerable skill on the
soapstone slab, but now scarcely visible on account of the
over-spreading moss and lichen. Immediately beneath the _sainted
figure_ is the expression, _Formosa etsi mortua_.[I] From the lengthy
eulogy, the following extracts are taken:

"Here, unalarmed at death's last stroke,
Lies in this tomb, Maria Polk;
A tender mother, virtuous wife.
Resigned in every scene of life.

* * * * *

"To heavenly courts she did repair;
May those she loved all meet her there.

"Supported by the hope of a happy death, and a glorious
resurrection to eternal life, she bore a tedious and painful
illness with a truly Christian fortitude. The last exercise
of her feeble mind was employed in singing the 63rd of the
second book of Dr. Watt's Hymns, in which, anticipating the
blessed society above, she exchanged the earthly for the
heavenly melody."

She died on the 29th of November, 1791, in the forty-fifth year of her
age.

GENERAL WILLIAM DAVIDSON.

General William Davidson was the youngest son of George Davidson, and
born in 1746. His father moved from Lancaster county, in Pennsylvania,
in 1750, to North Carolina, and settled in the western part of Rowan
county (now Iredell.) Here General Davidson received his earliest
mental training, and subsequently his principal and final education at
Queen's Museum College in Charlotte, where many of the patriots of
Mecklenburg and surrounding counties were educated.

At the Provincial Congress which met at Halifax, on on the 4th of
April, 1776, four additional regiments to the two already in service,
were ordered to be raised, over one of which (the 4th) Thomas Polk was
appointed Colonel, James Thackston Lieutenant Colonel, and William
Davidson Major. With this regiment, under General Francis Nash, he
marched to join the army of the North, under General Washington, where
he served until November 1779, when the North Carolina line was
ordered south to reinforce General Lincoln, at Charleston. Previous to
this ti