The Last Days of Jefferson Davis
On December 6, 1889 (122 years ago today) Jefferson Davis died in New Orleans, at the age of 81.
Following the end of the Civil War, Jefferson Davis was arrested and imprisoned at Fortress Monroe, on the coast of Virginia. He was placed in irons for three days. Davis was indicted for treason a year later. While in prison, Davis arranged to sell his Mississippi estate to one of his former slaves, Ben Montgomery.
During his imprisonment, Pope Pius IX sent Davis a portrait of himself on which were written the Latin words "Venite ad me omnes qui laboratis, et ego reficiam vos, dicit Dominus", which comes from Matthew 11:28 and translates as, "Come to me all ye who labor and are heavy burdened and I will give you rest, sayeth the Lord."
After two years of imprisonment, he was released on bail of $100,000 which was posted by prominent citizens of both Northern and Southern states, including Horace Greeley, Cornelius Vanderbilt and Gerrit Smith. Davis used his new found freedom to travel. He visited Canada, Cuba and Europe. In February 1869, following the election of Ulysses Grant, the government decided not to proceed with the prosecution of Davis. Grant had a more benevolent attitude towards confederates than Andrew Johnson did.
Davis became president of the Carolina Life Insurance Company in Memphis, Tennessee. He turned down the opportunity to become the first president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (now Texas A&M University). During Reconstruction, Davis remained silent; however, he privately expressed opinions that federal military rule and Republican authority over former Confederate states was unjustified. Davis continued to advocate his belief that African-Americans were inferior to the White race. According to historian William J. Cooper, Davis believed in southern social order that included "a democratic white polity based firmly on dominance of a controlled and excluded black caste."
In 1876, Davis promoted a society designed to promote U.S. trade with South America. He visited England the next year and over the next three years there, Davis wrote The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government. Davis' reputation in the South was restored by the book and by his warm reception on his tour of the region in 1886 and 1887. In numerous stops he attended "Lost Cause" ceremonies, where large crowds showered him with affection. The Meriden Daily Journal wrote that Davis, while at a reception held in New Orleans in May, 1887, urged southerners to be loyal to the nation. He said, "United you are now, and if the Union is ever to be broken, let the other side break it." Davis stated that men in the Confederacy had successfully fought for their own rights with inferior numbers during the Civil War and that the northern historians ignored this view.
In October of 1889 Davis completed another book entitled A Short History of the Confederate States of America. On November 6, while on a steamboat trip, he became ill. On November 13th he left to return to New Orleans. His wife Varina, who had taken another boat, met him on the river, and saw that he received some medical care. When the Davises arrived in New Orleans on the 16th, and he was taken to the home of Charles Erasmus Fenner, an Associate Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court. He appeared stable for the next two weeks, but took a turn for the worse in early December. Just when he appeared to be improving, he lost consciousness on the evening of the 5th. He died at age 81 at 12:45 AM on Friday, December 6, 1889, in the presence of several friends and with his hand in Varina's.
His funeral was one of the largest in the South. Davis was first entombed at the Army of Northern Virginia tomb at Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans. In 1893, Mrs. Davis decided to transport his remains for burial at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond. After the remains were exhumed in New Orleans, they lay for a day at Memorial Hall of the newly organized Louisiana Historical Association, with many mourners passing by the casket, including Governor Murphy J. Foster, Sr. The body was then placed on a Louisville and Nashville Railroad car and transported to Richmond.
Davis was not pardoned for his actions in the war until 1978. Oregon Senator Mark Hartfield introduced a Senate Joint Resolution returning citizenship posthumously to Jefferson Davis. It was passed unanimously by a voice vote. The resolution was successfully sponsored in the House of Representatives by Representative Lott of Mississippi. On October 17, 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed the resolution into law, who stated that Jefferson Davis was no longer a non-citizen in the land of his birth - a nation he had served as an army officer, a Congressman, a wounded Mexican War hero, a United States senator, and a Secretary of War.
Following the end of the Civil War, Jefferson Davis was arrested and imprisoned at Fortress Monroe, on the coast of Virginia. He was placed in irons for three days. Davis was indicted for treason a year later. While in prison, Davis arranged to sell his Mississippi estate to one of his former slaves, Ben Montgomery.
During his imprisonment, Pope Pius IX sent Davis a portrait of himself on which were written the Latin words "Venite ad me omnes qui laboratis, et ego reficiam vos, dicit Dominus", which comes from Matthew 11:28 and translates as, "Come to me all ye who labor and are heavy burdened and I will give you rest, sayeth the Lord."
After two years of imprisonment, he was released on bail of $100,000 which was posted by prominent citizens of both Northern and Southern states, including Horace Greeley, Cornelius Vanderbilt and Gerrit Smith. Davis used his new found freedom to travel. He visited Canada, Cuba and Europe. In February 1869, following the election of Ulysses Grant, the government decided not to proceed with the prosecution of Davis. Grant had a more benevolent attitude towards confederates than Andrew Johnson did.
Davis became president of the Carolina Life Insurance Company in Memphis, Tennessee. He turned down the opportunity to become the first president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (now Texas A&M University). During Reconstruction, Davis remained silent; however, he privately expressed opinions that federal military rule and Republican authority over former Confederate states was unjustified. Davis continued to advocate his belief that African-Americans were inferior to the White race. According to historian William J. Cooper, Davis believed in southern social order that included "a democratic white polity based firmly on dominance of a controlled and excluded black caste."
In 1876, Davis promoted a society designed to promote U.S. trade with South America. He visited England the next year and over the next three years there, Davis wrote The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government. Davis' reputation in the South was restored by the book and by his warm reception on his tour of the region in 1886 and 1887. In numerous stops he attended "Lost Cause" ceremonies, where large crowds showered him with affection. The Meriden Daily Journal wrote that Davis, while at a reception held in New Orleans in May, 1887, urged southerners to be loyal to the nation. He said, "United you are now, and if the Union is ever to be broken, let the other side break it." Davis stated that men in the Confederacy had successfully fought for their own rights with inferior numbers during the Civil War and that the northern historians ignored this view.
In October of 1889 Davis completed another book entitled A Short History of the Confederate States of America. On November 6, while on a steamboat trip, he became ill. On November 13th he left to return to New Orleans. His wife Varina, who had taken another boat, met him on the river, and saw that he received some medical care. When the Davises arrived in New Orleans on the 16th, and he was taken to the home of Charles Erasmus Fenner, an Associate Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court. He appeared stable for the next two weeks, but took a turn for the worse in early December. Just when he appeared to be improving, he lost consciousness on the evening of the 5th. He died at age 81 at 12:45 AM on Friday, December 6, 1889, in the presence of several friends and with his hand in Varina's.
His funeral was one of the largest in the South. Davis was first entombed at the Army of Northern Virginia tomb at Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans. In 1893, Mrs. Davis decided to transport his remains for burial at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond. After the remains were exhumed in New Orleans, they lay for a day at Memorial Hall of the newly organized Louisiana Historical Association, with many mourners passing by the casket, including Governor Murphy J. Foster, Sr. The body was then placed on a Louisville and Nashville Railroad car and transported to Richmond.
Davis was not pardoned for his actions in the war until 1978. Oregon Senator Mark Hartfield introduced a Senate Joint Resolution returning citizenship posthumously to Jefferson Davis. It was passed unanimously by a voice vote. The resolution was successfully sponsored in the House of Representatives by Representative Lott of Mississippi. On October 17, 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed the resolution into law, who stated that Jefferson Davis was no longer a non-citizen in the land of his birth - a nation he had served as an army officer, a Congressman, a wounded Mexican War hero, a United States senator, and a Secretary of War.