Early Life
Davie was born in England, but immigrated to the American colonies in 1763, when his father, Archibald Davie, brought him to the Waxhaw region near Lancaster, South Carolina (later thought to be where Andrew Jackson was born). He was named for his maternal uncle, William Richardson, a prominent Presbyterian minister in South Carolina, although unlike many historians have concluded, Davie was not adopted outright by his maternal uncle. However, when William Richardson died, Davie, as his nephew, inherited 150 acres of land and a large library. As an adolescent, Davie studied at Queen's Museum, later Liberty Hall, in Charlotte, then matriculated to the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), from which he graduated with honors in 1776.
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