Varina Davis

Varina Banks Howell Davis (1826-1906) is best remembered as the wife of Confederate President Jefferson Davis during the American Civil War.

Varina Banks Howell was born and raised on a plantation in Natchez, Mississippi. Though her family was aristocratic, financial success eluded them and money was often tight.

She married Jefferson Finnis Davis, widower of the daughter of Zachary Taylor, in 1845. The early years of their marriage were strained, but when Davis began to rise to prominence in the US Congress, and Varina moved with him to Washington, DC, they became much happier.

During the Civil War, she lived in Richmond, Virginia with her husband, as First Lady of the Confederate States. She kept a very low profile, especially when compared to her sensational and overbearing Union counterpart, Mary Lincoln.

After the war Jefferson Davis was arrested and imprisoned in Georgia for two years. Varina was not incarcerated but she was prohibited from leaving the state of Georgia. After Davis was paroled, she traveled with him through Europe and Canada as he sought to rebuild his lost fortune.

Davis died in 1889 and Varina published a biography of her husband in 1892. The biography was not successful, but in writing it she became acquainted with Joseph Pulitzer, who recognized her literary taalents and helped her to launch a career as an author. She moved to New York City, much to the annoyance of Lost Cause apologists, who were further offended by her close friendship with Julia Grant, her cordial meetings with Booker T. Washington, and her general lack of nostalgia for the Old South.

Varina Davis died of pneumonia in 1906. Only one of her six children was alive at the time.

Varina Davis in The Guns of the South
Varina Davis was the hostess of Jefferson Davis's fortnightly levees at the presidential mansion in Richmond. Her responsibilities included greeting each of the President's invited guests as they arrived, including, when he was in town, Robert E. Lee.

After Lee succeeded Mrs Davis's husband as President, it was he who would host the Davises at the mansion. Varina was a regular at these events.