Z 0780.000 Davis (Varina Howell and Margaret Howell Jefferson Davis Hayes) Letters

Letters from Varina Howell Davis (Mrs. Jefferson) and from her daughter, Margaret Howell Jefferson Davis Hayes, to Colonel J. J. Hood, of Meridian, covering the period 19041908. These letters are of special interest as they concern the disapproval the Davis women felt from Mississippians when they gave permission for the body of Jefferson Davis to be buried in Richmond; the sensitivity of Margaret Howell Davis at her neglect by the southern people and Mississippians, in favor of her younger sister Varina Anne (Winnie); and the dissatisfaction of the Davis women felt that Mississippi was not recognized on his Richmond monument as the home state of Jefferson Davis.

The letters give a rare insight into the relationships of the Davis family, and the veneration in which Jefferson Davis was held by all of them. They also point to some understandable jealousy which Margaret felt for Winnie, and describe the experiences of the older child, Margaret, when Jefferson Davis was captured by Yankees in Georgia.