Varina Davis
Varina Anne Banks Howell was born May 7, 1826. Her father, William Burr Howell, was a War of 1812 naval veteran and had built a successful merchant business. Both of her grandfathers were Continental Army officers during the American Revolution. Varina’s mother, Margaret Louisa Kempe, had eleven children of which Varina was the oldest daughter and the third oldest child. For her education, she received tutoring at the family’s home in Natchez, Mississippi, and eventually attended Madame Grelaud’s French Boarding School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Following the completion of her studies, Varina returned to her family home, “The Briars.” Joseph Davis, a neighbor and friend of her father’s, introduced her to his younger brother, Jefferson Davis. Davis, nearly double Varina’s age, captured her attention because of his good looks, success and steadfast political convictions; they often debated politics and other subjects. They courted for two years, including one broken engagement, before they were married on February 26, 1845. (This was Davis’ second marriage; his first wife Sarah Knox Taylor had died shortly before he met Varina.)
Married life had challenges as Davis pursued political positions and Varina adapted to new roles. Following his military service in the Mexican American War, Davis returned to Washington D.C., representing Mississippi in the U.S. Senate and later serving as Secretary of War. Varina moved to the capital and hosted receptions and dinner parties, making friends regardless of political allegiance. She enjoyed Washington’s urban setting, later in life saying she was happiest there. Four of Varina’s six children were born while she lived in Washington.
Varina followed politics, and the secession crisis disturbed her. While she believed slavery was a constitutional right, she also believed in the Union. She had relatives in the North and did not want to see families torn apart. Varina felt the Union was sacred, and that Lincoln’s election was not enough to warrant secession, differing from her husband’s political views. Davis resigned from the Senate in January 1861, and the family returned to Mississippi.
As the Secession Winter continued, the Confederate Congress chose Davis as the provisional President of the new nation, much to Varina’s dismay. The family briefly moved to Montgomery, the Confederate capital. After the Civil War began in April 1861, the Confederate capital moved to Richmond, Virginia. Varina, now the First Lady of the Confederacy, resumed her duties as political wife. Internally, she had doubts, concerned about her husband’s capability of running a country and believing that the South lacked resources to win the war. Still, she took an active role, hosting gatherings, visiting Richmond’s war hospitals, organizing charity for orphans and trying to rise above the criticism she faced.
Many in Richmond doubted Varina Davis’s loyalty and endlessly criticized her, and she did not feel at home there. Tragically, in 1864, her four-year-old son, Joseph, died after a fall from the second-floor balcony of the Confederate White House. This immense personal tragedy intersected with dwindling Confederate hopes for winning the war. The following year, the family fled from Richmond as the Union Army took the city. They journeyed south but were captured in Georgia.
The post-war years were challenging for Varina. Davis was imprisoned for two years at Fort Monroe, while Varina was kept under house arrest in Savannah, Georgia for several months. She eventually joined Davis at Fort Monroe until his release. The property owned by the Davises was confiscated during wartime, so there was no longer a homebase for the family to congregate. Southern newspapers placed advertisements requesting donations for Varina and events were held to raise funds on her behalf, though she declined the money. The family briefly moved to England, then to Memphis, Tennessee, but Davis had little luck with business ventures there. They settled at Beauvoir, near Biloxi, Mississippi. Sarah Dorsey was a widow who had invited them to live with her there and left her property to Davis. Varina and Davis remained there until his death in 1889; they had been married 54 years.
No longer bound by her husband’s career and decisions, Varina moved from Mississippi’s countryside to New York City with her youngest daughter, Winnie. To support herself financially, Varina penned articles and columns for New York World. However, her greatest writing feat may have been the two-volume Jefferson Davis, Ex-President of the Confederate States of America published in 1891. The memoir sold about 5,000 copies before Belford Publishing Company “failed.” Varina sued the publisher for $4,000 owed to her (about 12.5% in royalties). She was awarded sole ownership of the plates, cuts and 2,000 remaining copies printed when the lawsuit was resolved in 1894. Undeterred from this experience, she wrote at least one more book, a novel.
In addition to writing, Varina filled her life with travel and friends. She and Winnie travelled domestically and internationally. They attended many Confederate and Union veteran reunions around the country, welcomed with cheers and handshaking. She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Varina bonded with other Civil War spouses and widows; she became especially friendly with President Ulysses S. Grant’s widow, Julia Dent Grant.
Varina continued to live in New York City where she died on October 16, 1906, at 80 years old, after contracting pneumonia. She was buried at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia with her husband.
Further Reading:
First Lady of the Confederacy: Varina Davis’ Civil War by Joan E. Cashin (Belknap Press, 2006)
