Early Years of Varina Howell Davis
Varina Howell was born and raised in Natchez, MS, but the Howell family had strong Northern roots. Her grandfather, a Revolutionary War officer, had also served as Governor of New Jersey.
Her education was mostly via private tutoring, but her teacher a retired Massachusetts judge, taught her well. He recognized in the young girl a bring, searching and independent mind, and he encouraged her to think for herself.
At seventeen, she met Jefferson Davis, a widower eighteen years her senior. They married the following year, just as Davis was elected to Congress. From the beginning, Varina mixed in exalted political circles, and became a true helpmeet to her husband. At first she merely franked his “postage free” envelopes by signing his name. Not long afterwards, she began serving as his amanuensis – taking dictation from him. It would be a task she continued until Davis died.
First Lady Varina Davis
If Mary Lincoln was unknown when she became First Lady, Varina Davis was very well know, both North and South. She had been highly placed on the national scene for fifteen years, and had numerous friends above as well as below the Mason-Dixon line. In the South, Davis was the preeminent Senator and spokesman. He had served for four years as Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce. Then he became a Senator. With so many years of high-level entertaining as both Cabinet and Senate wife, Varina was perfectly equipped to assume social leadership in Richmond.
What You Don’t Know About Varina Davis
If Mary Lincoln was disliked and criticized in Washington, her Richmond counterpart was just as unpopular.
First and foremost, Varina Davis was a large woman. Her admirers say 5’8”; her detractors say 5’10”. Either way, she was tall, and the slim beauty who married at eighteen, was now matronly at thirty-five after four children. There would be another two children born during the war years. If the South was looking for delicate and dainty womanhood, the formidable Mrs. Davis was not it.
Her height and physique was further compounded by the fact that she was outspoken, with a caustic, biting wit. They said she put on airs. As her husband’s long-time confidante, she was also accustomed to political issues, and was just as savvy and knowledgeable as the men who surrounded the Confederate President. If she had an opinion, she had access to the top. This, of course, did not endear her to many. Her critics claimed that she was domineering, crying “petticoat government.”
If Mary Lincoln was suspected of disloyalty in the North because of her Southern upbringing and kin, Varina Davis was also accused of divided political affections. She knew and kept in touch with many of her Northern relatives – and even worse, her closest friend was Minna Blair – the wife of Lincoln’s Postmaster General and member of his cabinet.
More You Don’t Know About Varina Davis
Varina Davis wore many hats in the White House of the Confederacy. She entertained continually – even when shortages curtailed refreshments and the accoutrements of Southern hospitality. She nursed her husband on a routine basis – his health was always poor. He was an insomniac, so she sat up with him half the night reading to him. Her hand were never idle. She knitted and sewed for the soldiers, just like every other wife and mother in the South. But first and foremost, she was mother to a growing family. Jefferson Davis entrusted his capable and more than competent wife to care for their children, relieving him of worry about their welfare – especially since the Civil War was never far from Richmond.
Varina and Mary Lincoln shared another experience – a tragic one. Most people know that the Lincolns lost a young son during those War years. So did the Davises. In 1864, five-year-old Joe Davis fell from a balcony on the third floor of the Confederate White House and died immediately. There was barely time for a proper funeral. Varina was eight months pregnant with her last child at the time. She did not have the luxury of mourning. Her grief – and the grief of Jefferson Davis – was private.
When the War ended, Jefferson Davis was chained and incarcerated in Fortress Monroe, near Norfolk, Virginia. He was nearly sixty, blind in one eye, and in frail condition. It would be Varina who lobbied hard for his better treatment (he was no threat to anyone) – and eventual release. Having seen to her children’s safety in Canada, she and her infant daughter spent nearly two years sharing his fortress prison.
Once released, with concerns for supporting a family, the Davises floated back and forth for years between Canada, Europe and various points south. They ended up back in Mississippi in a shore house on the Gulf of Mexico that had been owned by a family friend.
Despite his abysmal health, Jefferson Davis lived past eighty, and Varina, eighteen years his junior, would have nearly eighteen years of widowhood. She busied herself writing Jefferson Davis’s biography, which in truth was just as much her own biography. Its sales were disappointing. The Davis fortune long gone, her income very modest, and at a loss for what to do, she accepted an offer from Joseph Pulitzer to write columns for his newspaper. She had always been a lively writer with an elegant style, so she accepted the offer and moved to New York City. There she would meet and become friends with Julia Grant, widow of Union General Ulysses S. Grant.
The South never forgave her.
Sources:
- CASHIN, JOAN – First Lady of the Confederacy, 2006, Belknap Press
- ROSS, ISHBEL – First Lady of the South, 1958, Harper & Bros.
- WILEY, BELL IRVIN – Confederate Women, 1975, Greenwood Press
Feather Schwartz Foster - Feather Schwartz Foster, author-historian. Making the First Ladies come to life.
