Davidson was born in Nottingham, England. He came to the United States at the age of four with his parents, and settled in Philadelphia. Early on, he developed a talent for mechanical invention and construction, following which he was apprenticed to the trade of ship building with Matthew Van Dusen, while also studying mathematics with his brother George Davidson. His capabilities soon attracted the attention of John Lenthall, then chief constructor of the U. S. Navy. In 1850, at the age of 22, he built his first vessel "from the stumps" on the banks of the James River, and soon after entered into business in Philadelphia. In 1861, he was appointed quartermaster over the ship carpenters in the Philadelphia Navy Yard, and in 1863 was promoted to assistant naval constructor. He attained the full grade in 1866 with the relativerank of commander, the office which he held until his death. At one time during the Civil War he conducted repairs of 42 vessels, both large and small, at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, and also built several new ships. The "Tuscarora", sister ship of the "Kearsarge", was built under his direction in 58 working days, and the "Miami" in 27 days. His greatest feat was the building, in 70 days, of the "Juniata" from the frame of a Florida live-oak frigate that had been seasoned for 23 years. Davidson displayed his engineering abilities in the floating of the "Monongahela", which had been driven inland on Santa Cruz Island during the earthquake of 18 November 1867, and left stranded high. With a body of skilled men selected from different navy yards, in a little over three months he succeeded in moving the ship sideways to the water's edge, and thence for over a bed of coral to deep water. Subsequently, he was ordered on duty at the bureau of construction in Washington, and was busy with plans for developing a navy of armored vessels, torpedo boats, and fast cruisers. The models and drawings for the first large torpedo boats built in New York were executed by him. Davidson was about to be sent to Europe for an exhaustive study of foreign navies and navy yards when his health failed, leading to his death at the age of 45, in Philadelphia.
