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Size | 17 items |
Abstract | The Houston family included a Mrs. Houston who corresponded with Varina Davis, Jefferson Davis's widow, during the 1880s and 1900s from Meridian, Miss. Mrs. Houston may have made Varina Davis's acquaintance when Jefferson and Varina Davis lived at Beauvoir Station, Miss. Varina Davis was born on 7 May 1826 and became Jefferson Davis's second wife on 26 February 1845. After Jefferson Davis's death in 1889, Varina Davis wrote Jefferson Davis: A Memoir by His Wife and moved to New York City where she supported herself by writing for newspapers and magazines. She died on 16 October 1906. The collection is chiefly correspondence and other items related to the Houston family and to Varina Davis. Included are letters, 1899-1904, from Varina Davis to Mrs. Houston describing Davis's health, family travels, Jefferson Davis, books, and the South following the Civil War. Also included is a letter, 27 September 1887, that Jefferson Davis wrote to Mrs. Houston about southern women. There are also genealogical papers relating to the Houston family, a newspaper image of Mary Sue Houston, and pictures of portraits of Jefferson and Varina Davis. |
Creator | Houston (Family : Meridian, Miss.) |
Curatorial Unit | Southern Historical Collection |
Language | English. |
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The Houston family included a Mrs. Houston who corresponded with Varina Davis during the 1880s and 1900s from Meridian, Miss. Mrs. Houston may have made Varina Davis's acquaintance when Jefferson and Varina Davis lived at Beauvoir Station, Miss. Mrs. Houston appears to have been related to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Finley Houston.
Varina Davis was born on 7 May 1826, the daughter of William Burr and Margaret Kempe Howell. She became Jefferson Davis's second wife on 26 February 1845. Well educated, Varina Davis served as the official hostess for the Confederacy during the Civil War, suffered hardships after the war, and helped Jefferson Davis write The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government (1881). After Jefferson Davis's death in 1889, Varina Davis wrote Jefferson Davis: A Memoir by His Wife and moved to New York City. She supported herself by writing for newspapers and magazines, including the Sunday World. She died on 16 October 1906.
Back to TopChiefly correspondence and other items related to the Houston family and to Varina Davis. Included are letters, 1899-1904, from Varina Davis to Mrs. Houston in Meridian, Miss., describing Davis's health, family travels, Jefferson Davis, books, and the South following the Civil War. Also included is a letter, 27 September 1887, that Jefferson Davis wrote to Mrs. Houston about southern women. There are also genealogical papers relating to the Houston family, a newspaper image of Mary Sue Houston, and pictures of portraits of Jefferson and Varina Davis.
Back to TopChiefly correspondence and other items related to the Houston family and to Varina Davis. Included are letters, 1899-1904, from Varina Davis to Mrs. Houston in Meridian, Miss., describing Davis's health, family travels, Jefferson Davis, books, and the South following the Civil War. Also included is a letter, 27 September 1887, that Jefferson Davis wrote to Mrs. Houston about southern women. There are also genealogical papers relating to the Houston family, a newspaper image of Mary Sue Houston, and pictures of portraits of Jefferson and Varina Davis.
Folder 1 |
Correspondence, 1887-1909Includes a letter from Jefferson Davis to Mrs. Houston, 27 September 1887; a letter from Varina Davis to Mrs. Houston, 20 May 1899; two letters from Varina Davis to Mrs. Houston, 23 August 1904 and 23 September 1904; a letter from Varina Davis to Mrs. Houston, 27 April 1904; a letter from Margaret H. Jefferson Davis Hayes to Mrs. Houston, 31 January 1909; a clipping with a picture of Mary Sue Houston; and a list of births in the Howell family, 1835-1844. |
Folder 2 |
Houston Family GeneologyAddition of August 2000: two handwritten genealogical accounts of the Houston family; and two clippings of a historical sketch of the Houston families, 22 August 1956 and 29 August 1956. |
Image Folder PF-5046/1 |
Jefferson and Varina DavisReproductions of portraits and photographs removed from a Houston family album. |
Image Folder (PF-5046/1).
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