DAVIS 



1711 



DAVIS 



Judge Davis was nominated for the Presidency 

 in 1872 by the National Labor Reform Party. 

 In 1877 he resigned from the 

 Supreme Court to succeed John 

 A. Logan in the United States 



THE STORY OF 



Home 



at Montgomery, Ala 



AVIS, JEFFERSON (1808- 

 1889), an American soldier and 

 statesman, President of the Con- 

 federate States of America, a 

 man who "in'his person and his- 

 tory symbolized the solemn convictions and 

 tragic fortunes of millions of men." The peo- 

 ple of the South remember with admiration 

 his gallant service on the battlefields of Mex- 

 ico; they are glad to recall his career in the 

 United States Congress in the House and Sen- 

 ate, where he proved himself worthy to be 

 grouped with Clay, Webster, Calhoun and the 

 other "giants" of an illustrious period ; they are 

 proud of his record as head of the War De- 

 partment during the Presidency of Franklin 

 Pierce, and they cherish the memories that 

 cluster about his stainless life and character. 

 But more than this, Jefferson Davis won a 

 place in their hearts that possibly no other 

 man can fill. For his people he went to 

 prison; for them he endured hatred, slander 

 and ill-treatment. For this he has won their 

 undying love. 



He was born June 3, 1808, in that part of 

 Christian County, Kentucky, which was later 

 organized as Todd County. The Baptist 

 church of the little town of Fairview now oc- 

 cupies the site of the house in which he was 

 born. His father, a veteran of the American 

 Revolution, was of Welsh descent; his mother 

 came of Scotch-Irish ancestry. During the 

 infancy of the boy the family removed to 

 Wilkinson County, Mississippi, the state with 

 which his fame will forever be associated. He 

 completed the course of study in the county 

 academy, then entered Transylvania College, 

 Kentucky, and at the age of sixteen was ap- 



Senate, and held the office until 1883. When, 

 on the death of Garfield, Vice-President Arthur 

 succeeded to the Presidency, 

 Judge Davis became presiding 

 officer of the Senate. 



JEFFERSON DAVIS- 



Confederate Capitol, Richmond 



pointed to the United States 

 Military Academy at West 

 Point. Four years later, in 1828, 

 he was graduated, and imme- 

 diately entered active army 

 service with the rank of lieutenant. 



Assigned to duty out on the northwestern 

 frontier, Davis took part in 'the campaigns 

 against the Indians, and was present at the 

 capture of Black Hawk. Resigning from the 

 army in 1835, he married the daughter of 

 Zachary Taylor, and settled down to the quiet 

 life of a Mississippi cotton planter. Four 

 months after his marriage he lost his wife by 

 fever, and he himself barely escaped the same 

 fate. As soon as he had recovered he trav- 

 eled for about a year in order to restore his 

 health. In 1836 he returned to his plantation, 

 where he spent several years in farming, read- 

 ing and studying political economy and polit- 

 ical philosophy, and by careful management 

 he acquired considerable wealth. 



In 1843 Davis entered the field of politics 

 and in 1845 he was elected to the national 

 House of Representatives. From the begin- 

 ning of his political career he stood firmly for 

 strict construction of the Constitution, and he 

 gave his loyal support to John C. Calhoun. 



During his term of office hostilities with 

 Mexico commenced, and in June, 1846, Davis 

 resigned his seat in Congress and took com- 

 mand of a regiment of Mississippi volunteers, 

 as its colonel. He served in Mexico under 

 General Taylor, distinguishing himself for gal- 

 lantry in the battles of Monterey and Buena 

 Vista. In the latter engagement he fought all 

 day long with a bullet in his foot, and returned 

 home after the war on crutches. 



