Thursday, July 3, 2014

Questions and Answers About Jefferson Davis

In the Rice University Papers of Jefferson Davis are some Frequently Asked Questions about Jefferson Davis. One of the first questions asked  was a simple one: When was he born? It is actually unclear as to whether it was 1807 or 1808. Davis said he was not competent to witness as to which. He first supposed it was 1807 but was corrected and told it was 1808, so he decided to "go with that".

The next question was about his middle name. Sometimes an F was included and other times not. Hudson Strode claimed he was given the middle name "Finis" because it seemed unlikely his mother would be having any more children.

The third question was about the case of the United States v. Jefferson Davis, which seemed to be a very complex matter with enough changes of the political wind to fill a book. Major players were Chief Justice Samuel Chase, President Andrew Johnson, Horace Greeley and the Justice Department . Suffice it to say, the charges dragged on for years but the bottom line is the case never went to trial and the indictments were dismissed.

Davis's citizenship was not restored until President Jimmy Carter did so.


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