The National tribune., 1906-10-25
THE DAVIS ARrsrocRAcY.


Thed death Of Mrs. Jefferson Davis
has LET loYse whole food of stories
abouttheb brpatrician" character of her
self did husband; the vast ancestral
estatess the long line of blue blood. etc.
All of this is bosh. withou the slightest
basis NJ fact. The truth is. Jefferson
Davis was the son of welshman, who
became a pioneer in Kentucky and had
the usnaf Experiences of an adventurer
in a newyeountry. He kept wayside
tavern in what was then Christiana,
but is now Todd County, KY. and was
a hard d,pashins. and tradition says. none
too scrupulous man. He was deter
mined to make money, and did not
have much regard for nice ways in ac-
cumulating it. In fact. there are many
ugly traditions still current in Ken
lucky about his transactions in negroes.
He was an ambitious man. and tried to
give his children good education.
1t is quite noticeable that in all of
the biographies of Jefferson Davis
there is nothing said about his father,
or the matter is passed over quite hur-
riedly.
The elder Davis, for reasons which
are not generally given, found it de-
sirable to change his residence to the
new country of the Mississippi. By
means of his political pull he secured
from President Monroe an appointment
for his son Jefferson to West Point.
from which young Davis graduated in
1928, the twenty-third In a class of 33,
so that his intellectual abilities were at
least not remarkably superior to those
of his classmates.
He was assigned to the infantry, and
for five years served as a Lieutenant
on the Western frontier in operations
tracted no attention. During at least
one year of this service he was en-
ployed experimenting a sawmill on
Yellow River, Wisconsin. He was en-
gagged in but one expedition against the
Indians, and for the last year of his
service was on leave of absence. He
became involved in some difficulty in
Indian Territory. which compelled his
resignation, with number Of other
officers. The nature of this has never
been made public.
Upon leaving the army he spent sew
eral years upon the plantation which
his father had left him in Mississippi,
4 taI hi cnIf
rigidly to study to bring himself to the
| level of culture of the men with whom
he wished to associate. He was deter
mined that he would make his way In
politics, and his force Of character and
hunger for self-advancement brought
him the prominence that he desired
The Mexican War came II years after
his retirement from the army. and he
returned as Colonel of the 1st Miss.
and Was engaged at Monterey ant
Buena Vista. In the latter engagement
he was wounded, and he made as much
advertisement as was possible out OF
his service. He continued to push him
self forward with ruthless disregard oil
all rivals, all of whom he antagonized
and YiIlffied. He had a rancorou:
hatred which he manifested to the last
day of his life against anyone wh'
stood lin his way or seemed in any
sensesla rival. s.i-
At the conclusion of the war his own
plantation was ruined. and he was re-
duced to poverty. For years he was
supported On a salary as President OF
a Southern insurance company. Then
his brother died. and left him hi:
plantation. His brother had for year:
lived, as was the custom in the South
with a woman who had negro blood IL
her veins, but under the law neither
she nor her children could inherit, ant
the estate passed to Davis. This seems
also to have disappeared in little
while, because there was soon plec
| that Mr.. Davis was in need, and {
| Southern woman, who was devote'
of the Lost Cause, left him a little piece
of property at Beauvoir. a Summer re-
sort on the Gulf of Mexico. About thi:
has been written whole lot of gush
especially as to Mrs. Davis's self-sacri
flee in only accepting $4,000 from th'
Daughters of the Southern Confederaci
in consideration of it's being used fol
disabled Confederates. All of tiosI
who are familiar with the property sd,
that $4,000 was a high price for it.
With all her assumed devotion to tn;
Lost Cause and the South, Mrs
Davis spent nearly all the tim
for the last 25 wears in the North
evidently enjoying the attention whicl
she attracted at watering place
as the widow of the President of tn
Southern Confederacy." She seemc'
to much prefer this t. the interes
manifested in her in the South
HOT OLD KEYSTONE.
Mona If tho nnncn- -bnnn r,rnnhntc n