The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1926-05-06
CENTENARY OF
MRS. JEFFERSON
DAVIS TOMORROW
ONE HUNDREDTH ANNIvER-
sARY TO BE OBSERVED
THROUGHOUT SOUTH IN
=. COMMEMORATIVE EVENT

RICHMOND, Va, May g.
Veterans organizations and
patriotic and other societies
throughout the South tomorrow
win commemorate the one hum
dEedth anniversary of the birth of
Mrs Varina Howell Davis, the
wife of Jefferson Davis, President
Of the Confederate States of
!. America. Handsome wreaths con-
tributed by chapters of the Unit
I, cd, Daughters of the Confederacy
Of Richmond and other cities will
be deposited on the grave of Mrs.
Davis, VINO is buried in Hollywood
Cemetery, where lie the remains
Of her husband and those of her
daughter, Winnie, fthe Daughter
Of the Confederacy."
Mrs. Davis was born Varina
Howell, granddaughter of Gov.
Richard Howell of New Jersey,
Nay z, 1926. at Natchez, Miss,
and was educated in a private
school and by tutors at home. She
-wag married to Jefferson Davis
on Feb. Is, 1916, being his second
wife. The first Mrs. Davis was
Sallie Knox Taylor, daughter of
the then Colonel and later Presi-
dent Zachary Taylor. Mrs. Davis
was with her husband during his
second years Imprisonment at
Fortress Monroe. taking with her
their youngest child, the late Miss
Winnie Davis.
About 1879, when the Davises
had gone to live at Beauvoir, a
magnificent estate on the Missis-
sippi coast, given to Mr.. Davis by
a Southern woman after the war,
Mrs. Davis acted as her husbands
amanuensis while he wrote the
Decline and Fall Of the Confed-
crate Government"
After his death in 1889, Mrs.
Davis lived in the North, spending
her winters at hotel in New
York City, and supporting herself
with literary work, in which Miss
Winnie Davis vas also engaged.
Mrs. Davis residence in the North
was due to considerations of BUSH
ness and heath and she never
lost her close touch with the
Southern people, to whom her
apartments in New York were a
Mecca.
In 1903 Mrs. Davis sold Beau
voir for $4,000 to the Mississippi
Division of the United Sons of
Confederate Veterans. The place
has since been used as a home for
old soldiers Of the Confederacy.
One of the impressive episodes
Of Mrs. Davis life was connected
with the release Of her husband |
from his confinement at Fortress
Monroe. When she went to New
York to consult Charles O'Conor,
her husbands counsel. about Sc
curing her husband's release from
imprisonments that eminent law
yer told her that IN his opinion
there was just one thing to be
done, and that was to get the lead
ing man Of the Republican party
to sign his bond.
And who is he?" Inquired Mrs.
Davis. Horace Greeley" replied
Mr.. O'Conor.
Mrs. Davis was finally persuaded
to call on Mr.. Greeley and was
eourteously received. She told
her story, how she had come to
New York TO work for his release,
and had been told that the only
way to secure it was to get the
signature Of Horace Greeley to the
bond.
Madame" said Greeley, ex-
tending his hand. Il win sign the
bond" And he did.
But il was a costly performance
for Horace Greeley. He was a
candidate for the United States
senate, but his action So angered
the legislators that he lost the
election. He had just written a
history Of the war. for which large
orders had been taken, but the
falling off in subscriptions was so
great that the estimated lass to
Greeley was over $4,000.
Mrs. Davis lived until her
eightieth year and to the last pre-
served much Of her youth beth in
appearance and mind. Her death /
occurred in New York, Oct. III, i
1906.
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