1. Varina Anne Banks Davis was the only First Lady of the Confederate States of America, and the longtime second wife of President Jefferson Davis.
69 Facts About Varina Davis
1. 2.
Varina Davis moved to the presidential mansion in Richmond, Virginia, in mid-1861, and lived there for the remainder of the Civil War.
3.
Varina Davis did not support the Confederacy's position on slavery, and was ambivalent about the war.
4.
Varina Davis was recruited by Kate Pulitzer, a purportedly distant cousin of Varina's husband and wife of publisher Joseph Pulitzer, to write articles and eventually a regular column for the New York World.
5.
Widowed in 1889, Varina Davis moved to New York with her youngest daughter Winnie in 1891 to work at writing.
6.
Varina Davis Anne Banks Howell was born in 1826 at Natchez, Mississippi, the daughter of William Burr Howell and Margaret Louisa Kempe.
7.
Varina Davis's father was from a distinguished family in New Jersey: His father, Richard Howell, served several terms as governor of New Jersey and died when William was a boy.
8.
Varina Davis was the daughter of Colonel James Kempe, a Scots-Irish immigrant from Ulster who became a successful planter and major landowner in Virginia and Mississippi, and Margaret Graham, born in Prince William County.
9.
Varina Davis lost the majority of Margaret's sizable dowry and inheritance through bad investments and their expensive lifestyle.
10.
Varina Davis was born in Natchez, Mississippi, as the second Howell child of eleven, seven of whom survived to adulthood.
11.
Varina Davis was later described as tall and thin, with an olive complexion attributed to Welsh ancestors.
12.
Varina Davis grew to adulthood in a house called The Briars, when Natchez was a thriving city, but she learned her family was dependent on the wealthy Kempe relatives of her mother's family to avoid poverty.
13.
Varina Davis Howell was sent to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for her education, where she studied at Madame Deborah Grelaud's French School, a prestigious academy for young ladies.
14.
One of Varina Davis's classmates was Sarah Anne Ellis, later known as Sarah Anne Dorsey, the daughter of extremely wealthy Mississippi planters.
15.
Varina Davis was intelligent and better educated than many of her peers, which led to tensions with Southern expectations for women.
16.
Varina Davis's parents had named their oldest child after Joseph Davis.
17.
Varina Davis was planning a gala housewarming with many guests and entertainers to inaugurate his lavish new mansion on the cotton plantation.
18.
Varina Davis worked as a planter, having developed Brierfield Plantation on land his brother allowed him to use, although Joseph Davis still retained possession of the land.
19.
Varina Davis mourned her and had been reclusive in the ensuing eight years.
20.
Varina Davis looks both at times; but I believe he is old, for from what I hear he is only two years younger than you are [the rumor was correct].
21.
Varina Davis impresses me as a remarkable kind of man, but of uncertain temper, and has a way of taking for granted that everybody agrees with him when he expresses an opinion, which offends me; yet he is most agreeable and has a peculiarly sweet voice and a winning manner of asserting himself.
22.
In keeping with custom, Varina Davis sought the permission of Howell's parents before beginning a formal courtship.
23.
In January 1845, while Howell was ill with a fever, Varina Davis visited her frequently.
24.
The newlyweds took up residence at Brierfield, the plantation Varina Davis had developed on 1,000 acres loaned to him for his use by his brother Joseph Varina Davis.
25.
Varina Davis's brothers decided that she should share the large house which the Davises were building, but they had not consulted Varina Davis.
26.
The couple had long periods of separation from early in their marriage, first as Jefferson Varina Davis gave campaign speeches and "politicked" for himself and for other Democratic candidates in the elections of 1846.
27.
Varina Davis was gone for extended periods during the Mexican War.
28.
Varina Davis was put under the guardianship of Joseph Davis, whom she had come to dislike intensely.
29.
Jefferson Davis was elected in 1846 to the US House of Representatives and Varina accompanied him to Washington, DC, which she loved.
30.
Varina Davis was stimulated by the social life with intelligent people and was known for making "unorthodox observations".
31.
The Davises lived in Washington, DC, for most of the next fifteen years before the American Civil War, which gave Varina Howell Davis a broader outlook than many Southerners.
32.
Varina Davis returned for a time to Briarfield, where she chafed under the supervision of her brother-in-law, Joseph.
33.
Varina Davis had unusual visibility for a freshman senator because of his connections as the son-in-law and former junior officer of President Zachary Taylor.
34.
Varina Davis enjoyed the social life of the capital and quickly established herself as one of the city's most popular hostesses and party guests.
35.
Varina Davis largely withdrew from social life for a time.
36.
Jefferson Varina Davis resigned from the US Senate in 1861 when Mississippi seceded.
37.
Varina Davis returned with their children to Brierfield, expecting him to be commissioned as a general in the Confederate army.
38.
Varina Davis was elected as President of the Confederate States of America by the new Confederate Congress.
39.
Varina Davis did not accompany him when he traveled to Montgomery, Alabama to be inaugurated.
40.
Varina Davis greeted the war with dread, supporting the Confederacy but not slavery.
41.
James Dennison and his wife, Betsey, who had served as Varina Davis's maid, used saved back pay of 80 gold dollars to finance their escape.
42.
In spring 1864, five-year-old Joseph Varina Davis died in a fall from the porch at the Presidential mansion in Richmond.
43.
Varina Davis retained the nickname for the rest of her life.
44.
Varina Davis tried to raise awareness of and sympathy for what she perceived as his unjust incarceration.
45.
The small Varina Davis family traveled constantly in Europe and Canada as he sought work to rebuild his fortunes.
46.
Varina Davis accepted the presidency of an insurance agency headquartered in Memphis.
47.
In 1872 their son William Varina Davis died of typhoid fever, adding to their emotional burdens.
48.
Varina Davis remained in England to visit her sister who had recently moved there, and stayed for several months.
49.
Varina Davis resented his attentions to other women, particularly Virginia Clay.
50.
In 1871 Varina Davis was reported as having been seen on a train "with a woman not his wife", and it made national newspapers.
51.
Varina Davis was unemployed for most of the years after the war.
52.
Varina Davis arranged for Davis to use a cottage on the grounds of her plantation.
53.
Varina Davis was with him at Beauvoir in 1878 when they learned that their last surviving son, Jefferson Davis, Jr.
54.
Varina Davis's bequest provided Davis with enough financial security to provide for Varina and Winnie, and to enjoy some comfort with them in his final years.
55.
When Winnie Varina Davis completed her education, she joined her parents at Beauvoir.
56.
Varina Davis had fallen in love when at college, but her parents disapproved.
57.
Varina Davis's father objected to his being from "a prominent Yankee and abolitionist family" and her mother to his lack of money and being burdened by many debts.
58.
Varina Davis solicited short articles from her for her husband's newspaper, the New York World.
59.
In 1891 Varina Davis accepted the Pulitzers' offer to become a full-time columnist and moved to New York City with her daughter Winnie.
60.
Varina Davis stipulated the facility was to be used as a Confederate veterans' home and later as a memorial to her husband.
61.
Varina Howell Davis was one of numerous influential Southerners who moved to the North for work after the war; they were nicknamed "Confederate carpetbaggers".
62.
Varina Davis attended a reception where she met Booker T Washington, head of the Tuskegee Institute, then a black college.
63.
Varina Davis enjoyed a daily ride in a carriage through Central Park.
64.
Varina Davis was active socially until poor health in her final years forced her retirement from work and any sort of public life.
65.
Varina Davis died at age 80 of double pneumonia in her room at the Hotel Majestic on October 16,1906.
66.
Varina Davis was survived by her daughter Margaret Davis Hayes and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
67.
Varina Howell Davis received a funeral procession through the streets of New York City.
68.
Varina Davis's coffin was taken by train to Richmond, accompanied by the Reverend Nathan A Seagle, Rector of Saint Stephen's Protestant Episcopal Church, New York City which Davis attended.
69.
Varina Davis was interred with full honors by Confederate veterans at Hollywood Cemetery and was buried adjacent to the tombs of her husband and their daughter Winnie.