Davis, Henry

WINTER, statesman, author and orator, was born at Anna polis, Md., Aug. 16, 1817, graduated at Kenyon College, Ohio, in 1837. Subsequently studied at the University of Virginia, giving particular at ten to the reading of law, in which he acquired distinction. He was several times elected to Congre , and by his efforts did much to prevent the sece ion of his State, and also secured an amendment to the State constitution which emancipated the slaves of Maryland. At the expiration of the Civil War he advocated suffrage for the colored race. He is the author of The War of Ormuzd and Ahriman in the Nineteenth Century. He was a philanthropist, ever ready to serve in the cause of justice, and a man of strong principles, with courage equal to his convictions. D. at Baltimore, Dec. 30, 1865. Davis, JEFFERSON, soldier and statesman, born in Christian (now Todd) co., Ky., in 1808. Educated at Transylvania College, Ky., and at West Point, graduating in 1828, and brevetted 2d lieutenant. Served with distinction seven years in the regular army, mostly on the Indian frontier; resigned his commi ion in 1835, and became a cotton-planter near Vicksburg, Mi . Entering politics, he gained a reputation as a popular speaker, and in 1845 was elected to Congre , where he took a conspicuous part in debate, particularly in matters relating to war. The next year the Mexican War broke out and D. went to the front in command of the 1st Mi i ippi volunteers, fought bravely at Monterey, and at Buena Vista, where he was wounded. Offered by President Polk a commi ion of brigadier-general of volunteers, he declined it on the ground that a military appointment by a federal executive was unconstitutional. From 1847 to 1851 he was U. S. Senator, and was chairman of the committee on military affairs. In 1853 he became Secretary of War in President Pierce's cabinet, and exercised a powerful influence in the administration. Returning to the Senate in 1857 he became Democratic leader of the 36th Congre . When his State seceded from the Union, Jan. 9, 1861, he resigned his seat in the Senate, was appointed Commander-in-chief of the Southern army, and on Feb. 18 was elected President of the Confederate States. In 1862 he was re-elected for six years, his military and executive ability, and his devotion to the people of the South and its sectional interests, fully justifying the repeated choice. Upon the downfall of the Confederacy, D. was captured at Irwinville, Ga., May 10, 1865, taken to Fortre Monroe and imprisoned two years. On May 13, 1867, he was brought into court at Richmond and released on bail. He was never brought to trial, but finally suffered to go free by the general amnesty declared at Christmas, 1868. In 1881 D. published The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government. He died Dec. 6, 1889, at his home in Biloxi, Mi . In 1893 his body was removed to Richmond, Va.