Varina Howell

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 President Jefferson Davis.

She was born at Natchez, Mississippi, the daughter of William B. 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.

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. In 1843, at age 17, while home for the Christmas holidays, she met Jefferson Davis. 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.

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.

In May 1861, she and her husband moved to Richmond, Virginia, the new capital of the Confederate States of America, and lived in the Presidential Mansion there, during the War (1861-1865). While first lady, she rescued a young mulatto boy named Jim Limber from a beating, and informally adopted him.

When the war ended with the defeat of the CSA, her husband was imprisoned at Fort Monroe in Phoebus, Virginia, for two years. 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.

Varina remained there until her husband's death in 1889. She began writing a biography of her husband, "Jefferson Davis, A Memoir" (ISBN 1-877853-06-2) in 1890. 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. In October 1902, she sold Beauvoir to the Mississippi Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans 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. The former "First Lady of the Confederacy" is interred at Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia, adjacent to the tomb of her famous husband.

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.

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. However, the Home has been restored and reopened on Jun 3, 2008. The Presidential Library and Museum and other outbuildings are in the process of being rebuilt.

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 in Henrico County, 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.

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. 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.