Jefferson Davis Letters and Autobiographical Sketch
Scope and Contents
Letters written by Jefferson Davis: 1. February 25, 1845, to Varina Howell concerning their forthcoming marriage. 2. March 20, 1878, to "My Dear friend," concerning the friendship of the Pope of the Catholic Church. Also includes an autobiographical sketch prepared by Davis for inclusion in the Biographical Dictionary of the American Congress.
Dates
- 1845 - 1878
Biographical Note
Jefferson Davis, planter, slave owner, and first and only President of the Confederacy, was born in Kentucky in 1808. He attended Transylvania University from 1821-1824, and graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1828. He married Sarah Knox Taylor in 1835, and following Taylor's death, Varina Anne Howell in 1845.
His military career included service on the frontier (1828-32) as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Army. He also served in the Mexican War (1846-47) and as the Major General of the Mississippi Militia (1861).
Davis also served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1845-46, representing Mississippi's "at large" district; as a senator for Mississippi from 1847-1851; and as Secretary of War from 1853-1857, during the Franklin Pierce administration.
He died in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1889.
Extent
.33 Cubic Feet (1 MSS box)
Language of Materials
English
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Marshall B. Coyne, owner of the Madison Hotel in Washington, D.C., in 1986 and 1990.
- Title
- Jefferson Davis Letters and Autobiographical Sketch
- Author
- JM
- Date
- 2021
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Manuscripts Repository