Jefferson Davis died in 1889. According to Wikepedia, Varina completed an autobiographical writing he had begun and published as Jefferson Davis, A Memoir, but it did not sell well. She then accepted an invitation from the Pulitzers to become a full time columnist and she and Winnie moved to New York City in 1891 where they pursued literary careers.
They took rooms at a series of residential hotels. In 1902 she sold Beauvoir to the Mississippi Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans for $10,000 to be used as a Confederate Veterans' home. (She had turned down larger offers from real estate developers).
She offended many Southerners by her move to NYC and also by the friends she made, particularly the widow of former general and president Ulysses S. Grant. He was anathema to the South (remember the bumper sticker that says "forget, hell"?)
The greatest tragedy of her later years was the death of her beloved daughter Winnie in 1898. Nevertheless, she continue to write for the newspaper and to appear socially until poor health forced her to retire and she was no longer able to go out. She died at age 80 in her room at the Hotel Majestic on October 16, 1906. The Hotel, via daughter Margaret's direction, sent us her furniture and we have it upstairs in our "New York Bedroom". It is quite lovely, and we are blessed to have it and to know that those pieces were her's.
They took rooms at a series of residential hotels. In 1902 she sold Beauvoir to the Mississippi Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans for $10,000 to be used as a Confederate Veterans' home. (She had turned down larger offers from real estate developers).
She offended many Southerners by her move to NYC and also by the friends she made, particularly the widow of former general and president Ulysses S. Grant. He was anathema to the South (remember the bumper sticker that says "forget, hell"?)
The greatest tragedy of her later years was the death of her beloved daughter Winnie in 1898. Nevertheless, she continue to write for the newspaper and to appear socially until poor health forced her to retire and she was no longer able to go out. She died at age 80 in her room at the Hotel Majestic on October 16, 1906. The Hotel, via daughter Margaret's direction, sent us her furniture and we have it upstairs in our "New York Bedroom". It is quite lovely, and we are blessed to have it and to know that those pieces were her's.
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