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Varina Davis, Jefferson Davis: Ex-President of the Confederate States of America, A Memoir by his Wife, Volume 1, Chapter 15: resignation from the army.-marriage to Miss Taylor.-Cuban visit.-winter in Washington.-President van Buren.-return to Brierfield, 1837. (search)
Chapter 15: resignation from the army.-marriage to Miss Taylor.-Cuban visit.-winter in Washington.-President van Buren.-return to Brierfield, 1837. Lieutenant Davis's service had been arduous, and from his first day on the frontier until his last, he had always been a candidate for every duty in which he could be of use, and his conduct had been recognized by the promotion accorded to him by his government. The snows of the Northwest had affected his eyes seriously; his health was somewhaseph E. Davis. This was accepted, and he, with his friend and servant James Pemberton — of whom he spoke in the fragment of his Autobiography given in this memoir-and ten negroes whom he bought with a loan from his brother, went to work on The Brierfield tract, so called because of a dense growth of briers which were interlocked over the land. The cane was too thick to be uprooted or cut, and they burned it, and then dug little holes in the ground and put in the cotton-seed, which made an unus
Varina Davis, Jefferson Davis: Ex-President of the Confederate States of America, A Memoir by his Wife, Volume 1, Chapter 16: Hurricane and Brierfield, 1837-45. (search)
Chapter 16: Hurricane and Brierfield, 1837-45. Joseph E. Davis.-treatment of slaves.-life at Hurricane and Brierfield. During the eight years after this period Mr. Davis rarely left home, and never willingly. Sometimes a year would elapseBrierfield. During the eight years after this period Mr. Davis rarely left home, and never willingly. Sometimes a year would elapse without his leaving his plantation. Intercourse with his brother Joseph was well calculated to improve and enlarge the mind of the younger brother. Joseph Davis was a man of great versatility of mind, a student of governmental law, and took an let we alone. The James Pemberton of whom Mr. Davis spoke in the first chapter of his Autobiography, took charge of Brierfield, and managed the negroes according to his master's and his own views. They were devoted friends, and always observed ts, a shepherd of his people. He and his old wife had comfortable quarters; he had a quiet horse, and used to ride over Brierfield every day, and at the end of a nine months session of Congress he could, with the utmost accuracy, tell the course of e
Varina Davis, Jefferson Davis: Ex-President of the Confederate States of America, A Memoir by his Wife, Volume 1, Chapter 18: marriage, 1845. (search)
name, looked at her and said, A --what, my dear? She responded, I said you were the best and dearest old General in the world. He praised my husband as An — a-incomparable adjutant, and the most — a — fearless and — a — dashing young — a — soldier of — a — his day, and I believed him; and confided to him, in a foolish little way, what I thought of Mr. Davis, and how much my husband thought of and loved him; and we found each other mutually agreeable. In about six weeks we returned to Brierfield, our home, and took up our abode in a cat and clayed house, situated in the centre of, and behind, a magnificent grove of oaks, and flanked by thrifty fig-trees; the Quarter houses being to the right and left of us. The building was one of my husband's experiments as an architect, and he and his friend and servant, James Pemberton, built it with the help of the negroes on the plantation. The rooms were of fair size, and opened on a paved brick gallery, surrounded by lattice-wo
Varina Davis, Jefferson Davis: Ex-President of the Confederate States of America, A Memoir by his Wife, Volume 1, Chapter 20: visit of Calhoun, 1845. (search)
aw her out, did not answer them. At last she flushed fiery red, and said, My name is McGruggy, an‘ I ain't ashamed of it, an‘ I am goin‘ to Cincinnatta, and I don't see but what I am good enough for that man to tell me whar he is a goin‘ --then, with a sniff, she turned to her little tow-headed daughter and said, Si-i-s, Davis ain't a aristocratic name, no-how. However, later, our mutual suffering brought us nearer together, and she gave me some fine apricot seed, which grew and bore at Brierfield for nine years under the name of The pilot's wife. Eventually a very small boat came alongside of ours with great puffing and ringing of bells; we were transferred to her as of lighter draft. She puffed and steamed all night, and in the morning had only reached the south bank, in sight of the boat we had left. Then her wheels ceased to revolve and we had to debark and continue our journey, at the imminent risk of our lives, on a rough wood-sled with oaken runners, sitting on our trunks
Varina Davis, Jefferson Davis: Ex-President of the Confederate States of America, A Memoir by his Wife, Volume 1, Chapter 26: after the battle of Monterey. (search)
sailors. This same horse, when the rein was thrown over his neck at the battle of Monterey, instead of straying off, as was expected, to the regimental quarters, galloped into a reentering angle of Fort Teneria, and stood trembling, but perfectly still, until the battle was over. During our prolonged absence from home, of course many things had gone ill; but our faithful James had done his best, and, at all events, there was little opportunity, during Colonel Davis's short stay at Brierfield, in which to rectify mistakes. During this time, however, he made his will, and consulted James as to what he wished done in the matter of his liberty. James said he would prefer, in case of the death of his master, to take care of his mistress, but wanted his freedom if anything should happen to her. The will was framed to suit his wishes, and a bequest of land or money, as he might choose, added thereto. In the days that are no more, so confiding and affectionate was the relation o
Varina Davis, Jefferson Davis: Ex-President of the Confederate States of America, A Memoir by his Wife, Volume 1, Chapter 33: from plantation to Cabinet life. (search)
d then my husband went to hunt the alligator that had probably taken it. Once he had a very remarkable success in punishing one that had killed two calves. The negroes found its hole, and Mr. Davis put a long cane down it until the creature seized it in its mouth. He then put the gun on a line with the cane and shot the alligator in the mouth. He was an immense animal, and a post-mortem examination justified the killing, for the last calf was found in part. The land is so fertile at Brierfield and in the adjacent country that golden-rod grows large enough for a strong walking-stick, and the heads of the bloom are like banks of gold on the sides of the road. In every slough the lotos covers the surface with its lemon-colored chalices, and the green leaves are nearly a foot across. We planted a little switch, or scion of live-oak, with an attenuated little root, in 1852, and now it shades ninety feet in all directions, and is over six feet in circumference. Possession crowns e