Varina Howell Davis

Varina Howell Davis (May 7, 1826 – October 16, 1906) was an American author who was best-known as the First Lady of the Confederate States of America, second wife of CSA President Jefferson Davis (1808–1889), during the Confederate War. Events 558 - In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapses For the game see 1826 (board game. Year 1826 ( MDCCCXXVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display Events 456 - Magister militum Ricimer defeats the Emperor Avitus at Piacenza and becomes master of the western Year 1906 ( MCMVI) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting The United States of America —commonly referred to as the An author is defined both as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created First Lady is a term used in the United States to describe the wife of an elected male Head of state. The Confederate States of America (also called the Confederacy, the Confederate States, and CSA) formed as the government set up from 1861 The President of the Confederate States of America was the Head of State and Head of Government of the Confederate States of America, which was formed from Jefferson Finis Davis ( June 3, 1808 &ndash December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as President of the Year 1808 ( MDCCCVIII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Year 1889 ( MDCCCLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South

She was born at Natchez, Mississippi, the daughter of William B. Natchez is the county seat of and the largest and only incorporated city within Adams County, Mississippi, United States. Howell and Margaret L. Kempe. Her father was a clerk in the Bank of the United States; and her paternal grandfather, Richard Howell, was the Governor of New Jersey for numerous terms. The Second Bank of the United States was a bank chartered in 1816 five years after the expiration of the First Bank of the United States. Richard Howell ( October 25, 1754 - April 28, 1802) was Governor of New Jersey from 1794 to 1802 The Governor of New Jersey is the Chief executive of the US state of New Jersey.

Varina was educated first by a private tutor, Judge George Winchester, a Harvard graduate and family friend for 12 years. Afterwards Varina attended Madame Greenland's School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia (ˌfɪləˈdɛlfiə In 1843, at age 17, while home for the Christmas holidays, she met Jefferson Davis. Year 1843 ( MDCCCXLIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Jefferson Finis Davis ( June 3, 1808 &ndash December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as President of the He was then a widower, 36 years of age, and just at the beginning of his political career. At first, her mother strongly disapproved of the courtship because Jefferson was 18 years her senior and was a Democrat while the Howells were strong supporters of the Whig Party. Varina grew sick of fever and during one of Jefferson's visits to her in February, 1845, it was decided that they should be married. They were married on February 26, 1845, at The Briars, the home of her parents, at Natchez approximately 14 months after they first met. Events 747 BC - Epoch (origin of Ptolemy 's Nabonassar Era 364 - Valentinian I is proclaimed Year 1845 ( MDCCCXLV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common

Jeff served in both houses of the U.S. Congress, as a Representative and a Senator, and he was the United States Secretary of War in the cabinet of President Franklin Pierce. The United States Congress is the bicameral Legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses The United States House of Representatives is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress; the other is the Senate. The United States Senate is the Upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the Lower house being the House of Representatives The Secretary of War was a member of the United States President's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington 's administration The United States Cabinet (usually simplified as "the Cabinet" is composed of the most senior appointed officers of the Executive branch of the Federal government Franklin Pierce (November 23 1804 &ndash October 8 1869 was an American politician and the fourteenth President of the United States, serving from 1853 to

Wedding photograph of Jefferson Davis and Varina Howell

Varina became the First Lady of the Confederate States of America, when her husband became the 1st, and only, President of the states that chose to form the Confederate States. The Confederate States of America (also called the Confederacy, the Confederate States, and CSA) formed as the government set up from 1861

In May 1861, she and her husband moved to Richmond, Virginia, the new capital of the CSA, and lived in the Presidential Mansion there, during the Confederate War (1861-1865). Year 1861 ( MDCCCLXI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common This article is about the city of Richmond the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Museum of the Confederacy is located in Richmond Virginia.

When the war ended with the defeat of the CSA, her husband was imprisoned at Fort Monroe in Phoebus, Virginia, for two years. Fort Monroe (also known as Fortress Monroe) is a Hampton Virginia, military installation located at Old Point Comfort, which is on the tip of the Phoebus was an Incorporated town located in Elizabeth City County on the Virginia Peninsula in eastern Virginia Although he was eventually released on bail, and never tried, Jefferson Davis temporarily lost his home in Missisippi (Brierfield), most of his wealth, and his U. S. citizenship (his U. S. citizenship was posthumously restored in the 20th century). In 1879, Jefferson Davis purchased Beauvoir on the Mississippi Gulf Coast from Sarah Dorsey. Beauvoir is the location of the historic post-war home and Presidential library of Confederate President Jefferson Davis begun in 1848 at

Varina remained there until her husband's death in 1889. Year 1889 ( MDCCCLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common She began writing a biography of her husband, Jefferson Davis, A Memoir (ISBN 1-877853-06-2) in 1890. The year 1890 in literature involved some significant new books However, the book sold few copies due to problems with the publisher. With little income, poor health, and the inability to properly care for Beauvoir, she moved to New York City to pursue a literary career, writing for Joseph Pulitzer and the New York World in 1891. The City of New York Year 1891 ( MDCCCXCI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common In October 1902, she sold Beauvoir to the Mississippi Sons of the Confederacy for $10,000 to be used as a Confederate veterans' home.

Varina Howell Davis died at age 80 of double pneumonia in her room at the Hotel Majestic in New York, on October 16, 1906, survived by only one of her six children. Events 456 - Magister militum Ricimer defeats the Emperor Avitus at Piacenza and becomes master of the western Year 1906 ( MCMVI) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting The former "First Lady of the Confederacy" is interred at Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia, adjacent to the tomb of her famous husband. This article is about the cemetery in Richmond Virginia for the cemetery in Hollywood California see Hollywood Forever Cemetery. This article is about the city of Richmond the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

There is a portrait of Mrs. Davis (known as the "Widow of the Confederacy") by the Swiss-born American artist Adolfo Müller-Ury (1862-1947) painted in 1895 at the museum at Beauvoir, and a profile portrait by Müller-Ury of her daughter, Winnie Davis, painted in 1897-'98, which the artist donated in 1918 to the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, Virginia. Adolfo Müller-Ury (1862-1947 was a Swiss-born American portrait painter and impressionistic still-life painter The Museum of the Confederacy is located in Richmond Virginia.

On August 29, 2005, Beauvoir, which housed the Jefferson Davis Presidential Library, was nearly destroyed when it took the full brunt of wind and water damage from Hurricane Katrina. Events 708 - Copper coins are minted in Japan for the first time (Traditional Japanese date: August 10, 708) Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Beauvoir is the location of the historic post-war home and Presidential library of Confederate President Jefferson Davis begun in 1848 at The Jefferson Davis Presidential Library is an artifical Presidential library and Museum with the purpose of preserving housing and making available the papers Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest hurricane, as well as one of the five deadliest in the history of the United States As recently as the fall of 2006, the house remained largely in disrepair. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.

Trivia

• In modern times, it is commonly thought in the Richmond area, where Mrs. Davis was the only First Lady of the CSA, that the community of Varina, Virginia, was named for her. However, the name originated hundreds of years earlier, as John Rolfe and Pocahontas lived at his Varina Farms tobacco plantation on the James River in 1614. John Rolfe (c 1585 &ndash 1622 was one of the early English settlers of North America. Pocahontas (c 1595 – March 21 1617 was a Native American woman who married an Englishman John Rolfe, and became a celebrity in London in the last year of her The James River in the US state of Virginia is a long River, including its Jackson River source

References

• 1850 Warren Co. , MS, U. S. Federal Census, Sep. 6, sht. 425, p. 213 A, line 12, Mrs. [sic] Davis b. MS.
• 1860 Warren Co. , MS, U. S. Federal Census, Post Office: Vicksburg, Sep. Vicksburg is a city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. 4, sht. 175, line 20, Varena [sic] Davis b. MS.
• 1880 Harrison Co. , MS, U. S. Federal Census, Biloxi, June 24, E. D. 24, sht. 29, p. 349 A, line 26, Varina Davis b. LA [sic], fa. b. NJ, mo. b. VA.
• New York Times, Oct. 17, 1906, "MRS. JEFFERSON DAVIS DEAD AT THE MAJESTIC; Pneumonia Fatal to Widow of Confederate President. HAD BEEN ILL FOR A WEEK Had Seven Attacks of Pneumonia In the Last Few Months and Was Eighty Years Old," p. 1.
• New York Times, Oct. 18, 1906, "ALL THE SOUTH CALLED TO HONOR MRS. DAVIS; Every Living General of the Confederacy Summoned. FUNERAL TO BE MILITARY. Elaborate Preparations for the Exercises at Richmond—Services to be Held Here Today," p. 9.