The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-10-17

MN WITH MS speeches. and doing every
thing IN her power to advance him I
When the war broke out she went to 4
Richmond and stayed there until peace I
was declared. When her husband was /
repelased from prison. she lived with him /
for the remainder of his life at their old /
home in Biloxi. Miss This was turned /
into Confederate veterans home in /
When misfortune came and Presi-
dent Davis was forced to fly, she ac-
companied him IN his fight and was
with him when he was captured in /
Georgia. It was through Mrs Davis /
eforts that Horace Greeley vas inter |
ested in the fallen chief of the lost
cause.
When she came north to New York 4
TO consult Charles O'Connor, her hus- /
bands counsel. about securing his re-
lease from prison, that eminent law
yer told her that. in his opinion, there4
was just one thing to be done, and /
that was to get the leading man of the (
Republican party to go on his bond.
Horace Greeley replied. O'ConnOr.
But I do not know him, and L do
not think I would have any influence !
with him. . said Mrs Davis.
1T is the only chance see to sue
cess. was the lawyers reply.
Mrs. Davis called on Horace Greeley
and was courteously received. She |
told her story, how she had come to
New York to work for her husbands
I
only way to secure it was to get the
signature of Horace Greeley to the
bond.
mr.. o'connor tells me that you
have a kind heart. Mr.. Greeley, and
that you will do this if you believe it
to be right. My husband is dying. and
the only way to save his life is to Sc
cure his release
his hand, 81 will sign the bond" And
he did. But it was a costly perform
ance for Horace Greeley. He was a
candidate for United States senator;
but his action so angered, the legis-
lators that he lost the election.
After refusing 100000 from north
ern capitalists. she sold her estate to
Mississippi for $4,000 The northern
for hotel purposes After the offer of
1880 900 had been promptly refused by
Mrs Davis, the Daughters of the Con-
federacy inaugurated a movement look
ing to the purchase of the old Davis
home, not only as a home for Confed-
crate veterans. but as a memorial of
the dark days of 1876. Mrs. Davis
was consulted, and, Notwithstanding
the fact that $4,000 worth of build
ings We're on the property. she con-
scented to sell it for $4,000, with the
provisO that the estate should be con-
s1dered as a memorial of her husband
and retained forever in his memory.
From timesto- time offers of financial
assistance were made to Mrs. Davis
after her husbands death from sOcie-
ties through the south. She declined
all these and has preferred to remain
| Independent. Except for occasional
articles written for newspapers and
magazines, she had remained quiet for
the last few years. In 1903, when she
was in Canada. she was seized with an
attack of acute indigestion. The attack
was violent and as she was beginning
to be in feeble health 1t was regarded
as the approach of the end.
Mrs. Davis had a dispute with Cen.
erat Nelson A. Miles last year when
the soldier was reported to have made
references to letter supposed TO have
i been written BY her thanking him for
4 his treatment of her husband While in
kprfsU7T. SHE declared she never had
L writer, such a Letter and that the treat
II ment given her husband had been any
bthing but kind.
she had four children, of whom only
] one is living. That is Mrs. J. Addison
Hayes. now living in Colorado Springs.
i One son fell off a gallery in Richmond.
/ during the war and was killed. An
-other son. Jefferson, died in Memphis.
! of yellow fever in 1878. Her daughter,
| Winnie Davis, called THE Daughter Of
the COnfederacy,' died only few years
ago.
In New York Mrs Davis had an.
/ apartment in the old Hotel Gerard, in
! West Forty-fourth street, and lived on
the fourteenth floor. Mrs. Davis used
a tall cane, as people did 10 0years ago,
the head of tortoise shell and gold.
| She had as a woman companion
! always with her. On Wednesday after
moons the famous woman, unless too i'll,
! sat in a high backed chair that came
from Beauvoir, the Davis homestead,
and then she received the long file OF
1 admiring women who called. These
! were notable gatherings, and there
/ were as many northerners as women
from south Of the Mason and Dixon
line.
on these occasions Mrs. Davis wore
stiff black silk, with old lace at her
throat. and despite her years her
| white hair was abundant and glistened
! brilliantly in the afternoon light. The
/ COMPANION served tea. and Mrs Davis,
who was a noted conversationalist,
held the attention of every one without
/ an effort. In her interesting rooms
4 nothing was SO engrossing as the por-
trait of Miss Winnie Davis, her daugh-
ter It is an excellent likeness, and the
former child of the COnfederacy is de-
| picted= wearing the royal robes of the
queen of Mardi Gras. The picture was
surrounded by incandescent bulbs and
before this picture the mother spent
much of her time gazing and thinking.
General Order Issued
Mobile, Ala, Oct. 1T.-William E.
Mickle adjutant general and chief of
staff Of the United Confederate Veter-
ans has. issued a general order, an
nouncing the death of Mrs. Jefferson
Davis. The order, In part says:
with a. heart full Of grief. the gen
eral commanding announces to his
beloved comrades the death of Mrs.
Varina Jefferson Davis which occur
red ia the city Of New York Tuesday
night. she being at the time of her
death over so years of age. Thus
passes away another of our distin-
guished confederates: and the bonds
:. which connected the people of the
7.e Of
and only president have been wholly
severed with the exception of one link
yet remaining
RooseveIts Send Coincidence.
Washington. oct. 17@President
y Roosavalt TODAY sent the fnllon-ins.