The President Is Dead

Born in Kentucky in 1808, Jefferson Davis was the one and only president of the Confederate States of America.  

Much has been written about his early life, his service to the United States, his time as CSA President, and his struggles following a two-year incarceration as a prisoner at Fortress Monroe, Virginia, after the Civil War. But what about his death? Where, and how, did this famous personality of the 19th century pass away?

At the age of 81, Jefferson Davis died in New Orleans at 12:45 a.m. on Friday, December 6, 1889. Just the previous month—over his wife Varina's objection—Davis had traveled to Briarfield, his former home, located south of Vicksburg, Mississippi, and still part of his family's land holdings. During the journey, he was caught in cold, rainy weather and became ill—most likely with bronchitis.

By November 12, still unwell, he returned to New Orleans, where Varina met him. He was taken to the home of Charles Fenner, a chief justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court. There, at what is now called the Payne-Strachen House at 1134 First Street, Davis would spend his final weeks. He most likely died of pneumonia. His last words, uttered on December 5, were: "Pray excuse me, I cannot take it,” referring to medicine offered by his wife.

The mortal body of Jefferson Davis lay in state at the New Orleans City Hall until December 11. During this time, both U.S. and Confederate flags were draped from the walls. Varina placed the sword Davis had carried during the Black Hawk War on the stand that held his casket.

The New York Times, dated December 8, 1889, wrote:

"A careful tally of the visitors shows that about 40,000 persons, mostly women and children, viewed the remains today. This crowd included, in solemn and respectful attendance, all conditions of Whites, Blacks, ex-Confederates, ex-Federals, and even Indians and Chinamen."

Most accounts estimate that 70,000 people viewed his body while it was at City Hall.\

On December 11, he was buried at Metairie Cemetery. The New York Times, dated December 13, 1889, reported:

"The Davis funeral [was] the grandest ever seen in the South."

The Evening News of Sydney, Australia, stated that his funeral "was conducted with great ceremony and was witnessed by clearly 100,000 spectators. … The pallbearers were eight governors of Southern States."

In 1893, Davis was reinterred in Richmond's Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia, at Varina's request.

Sketch of Davis's Brierfield Plantation

Alfred Waud (1866)