The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1898-09-25

and mindful Of her husbands parting words
to save the children even by flight, Mrs.
Davis set out amid many difficulties to-
wards Abbevllle.
She was accompanied nv her four chill
dren, Maggie. new Mrs. HAYS; Willie. who
died OF diphtheria In Memphis, ana JEFF
ferson Davis. who died at the age of 81 OF
yellow fever at Memphis during the cpl
demic of 1878.
Winnie was. as stated above, baby
in arms, and all through that long and
dreadful flight through the woods by night
and by day, she showed herself a soldiers
daughter, not once raising her infant
voice In protest as she was joltsd along
the rough roads n ~ army ambulance for
hundreds Of miles. From Charlotte 20 hb-
beville 1t was impossible to even procure
al ambulance. and for five miles, as Mrs
Davis often related, she walked through
the woods and the mud and slush with
her cheerful baby" In her arms.
Mrs. Davis and her children we're WITH
Mr. Davis AZ the time of his capture. and
would have followed him TO Fortress Mon
roe then. had they been permitted. But
Mrs. Davis was detained prisoner at Sa-
vannah, Ga. for many months. dependent
upon what the people Of the South could
give her; the Federal authorities would
not allow her TO leave Savannah. but she
was permitted to pay her board" The
children had no clothing other than what
was on them when captured, but the
brave women OF Savannah made beauti-
full baby clothes and brought them for the
little one. as else garments sufficient for
the other children. On the way to Savan-
nah the trip was most fatiguing, and Mrs.
Davis. worn with long vigis, could scarce
" hold the baby In her arms. 1t was here
that the beautiful sensitive heart OF her
eldest daughter. Maggie, now Mrs. Hays.
manifested itself This dear little girl
would insist on holding her baby sister, so
that her mother could sleep, and little JET
ferson Davis attended to tho Housekeeping
along the route. The children were a
great comfort to the broken hearted wife
and mother.
In Savannah little Winnie came near dy>
ing from the whooping cough; Mrs. Davis
was permitted to go to Augusta after many
applications. she thus got nearer to her
imprisoned husband. Here the health Of
the baby improved, and in a letter to her
husband Mrs. Davis says: Our baby, VIM
ME, has grown as fat and rosy as the rose
of France. which you remember used to
grow above tho garden gate. But the
sad news from the fortress where the great
Southern chleftain was suffering such bod
ny Iueutul tOIluieS, ulduoSiGS VI llbh
having been placed upon his frail body,
was a source Of greatest grief to Mrs.
Davis and her children. Every day whsn
they would sit down 10 meals little Maggie
would say this grace, which shs composed
'herself. "Oh, Lord give our dear fdtaer
something that he can eat, and keep him
strong and bring him back to us with his
good senses, to his little children, who love
him so, for Christ's sake" and then she
would burst into tears and steal away to
cry little and little Jefferson would sob
and he tears would spring TO Willie's eyes
but baby Winnie, all unconscious. would
chirp and crow in her mothers arms and
coo and try to say, Papa, papa" and some
how her bonnie cheerfulness would be con-
tagious the children would all rush to her
and kiss her, and hope would come back
into their hearts, and even the desolate
mother would rise up with renewed hope.
AT length, fearing from the growing tur-
bulence Of the times, for the lives Of her
children, Mrs. Davis sent the three oldest,
Maggie, Willie and jefferson, to Canada
with her mother Mrs. Howell.
After many difficulties In 1865. Mrs.
Davis was permitted to join Mr.. Davis at
Fortress Monroe. She took the baby with
her. The meeting between the husband and
wife is too sacred for the eyes OF the world
that sad meeting in the dim old fortress.
where he who had held the highest posi-
ton within the gift OF the great Southern
commonwealth, was held on charge the
most unjust and terrible that could be laid
to any man. All day long Winnie, who
was fast growing, played in the prison
walls with joyous contentment, and was
never so happy as when in her fathers
cell. The world will never know what the
bright and beautiful baby was to the strlck-
en- father in those dark and memorable
days All unconscious of the awful sword
that hung over his devoted head, she would
burst into the dim and narrow cell, like
a ray of sunshine. shedding gladness in
darkest places. "She was the only gleam
OF light in that long night" said Mr.. Davis
once to the writer; my baby girl She
was my angel, and !. was positively re-
fire hing when she was permitted to come
to me and put her arms around my neck,
and at last, when her mother obtained
permission for us to have rooms nsarer 10
each other, her baby prattle all day long
was my benediction and my solace and my
joy"
When Mr. Davis YVES at last released
from Fortress Monroe on parole, his bond
being signed by prominent men OF both
sections, Including the great editor OF the
New York Tribune, Horace Greeley. after
short period ne and Mrs. Davis wel, 10
subsequent HISTORY and the procarious
state OF Mr.. Davis health the South is Ia
niliar; bow he fingered for months and
months, so weak. so emaciatei that those
who loved him feared he would never be
restored, naver recuperate from the long
seres OF crueties and indgnities inflicted
upon him while a Federal prisoner OF STATE.
Al length the family came To New orleans.
aul many are living today Who participated
In TINT whsls-souled reception rendered
him at the St. Charles hotel lie had re-
turned, the Nations martyr. He had bsea
made the scapegoat OF the Confeieracy;
upon him had been inflicted all the cruel
ties all the iniigritiss that were meant for
the South and the cause he represented.
And because Il had borne himself So truly,
because he never rscanted his faith, hut
stood boldly UP in the face o, defeat dnd
death and proclaimed the undying truth
Of the cause he represented. thu brave and
loyal people OF the South. who knsw how
to honor surA loyalty and fidelity 10 prin-
ciple cashrne,t him In their hearts snd
consecrated him the Nations own.
IT was under the infiuencs OF such a