Jefferson Davis

This is a stub article. You are encouraged to add content and remove the stub notation {{Stub}} when you feel it has enough content to qualify as a full article.

Jefferson Davis (1808-YYYY) - born 3 Jun 1808 in Christian County, Kentucky the last of the ten children of Samuel Emory Davis and his wife Jane. He died in New Orleans on 6 Dec 1889, at the age of 81. His funeral was one of the largest ever staged in the south. He was buried at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.

In 1813, Davis began his education together with his sister Mary, attending a log cabin school a mile from their home. Two years later, Davis entered the Catholic school of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Washington County, Kentucky. He went on to Jefferson College at Washington, Mississippi in 1818, and to Transylvania University at Lexington, Kentucky in 1821.

In 1824, Davis entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York as a cadet.He graduated as a Second Lieutenant in June 1828. He was assigned to the 1st Infantry and stationed at Fort Crawford. In 1829 he was reassigned to Fort Winnebago, Wisconsin. In 1831 he contracted pneumonia and returned to Fort Crawford.

His first combat assignment was during the Black Hawk War of 1832, after which he was assigned by Colonel Zachary Taylor, to escort Black Hawk himself to prison at Jefferson Barracks. In 1833, Davis was promoted to First Lieutenant of the 1st Dragoons and made a regimental adjutant. In 1834 he was transferred to Fort Gibson.

Jefferson Davis had fallen in love with Colonel Taylor's 16-year-old daughter, Sarah Knox Taylor. Her father did not approve of the match and Davis resigned his commission to marry Miss Taylor at the house of her aunt near Louisville, Kentucky. The marriage proved short. The newlyweds both contracted malaria, and Davis's wife died three months after the wedding at the Louisiana home of his sister. Davis recovered, sailing for Havana, Cuba, and then to New York City. In 1836, he returned to Brierfield Plantation in Warren County, Mississippi.

He unsuccessfully sought public office until 1844 when he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. He married again in 1845 to socially prominent Varina Howell.

In 1846 he resigned his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives to raise a volunteer regiment for the Mexican War.

Father: Samuel Emory Davis ()

Mother: Jane ? ()

Marriage:

• Sarah Knox Taylor ()
• Varina Howell () married 26 Feb 1845

Children:

• First Child (YYYY-YYYY) - marriage

Assignments:

• (1824-1828) Cadet, West Point
• (1828-1829) 2nd Lt., First Infantry, Fort Crawford, Wisconsin
• (1829-1831) 2nd Lt., First Infantry, Fort Winnebago, Wisconsin
• (1831-1833) 2nd Lt., Black Hawk War, Fort Crawford, Wisconsin
• (1833-1834) 1st Lt., First Dragoons, regimental adjutant, Fort Crawford, Wisconsin
• (1834-????) 1st Lt., Fort Gibson

Personal Description:

• Height:
• Build:
• Hair Color:
• Eye Color: