Postwar Life and Career
Brackets indicate dates and entries that follow logically from information in primary sources but are not explicitly stated.
- 1867
- May 13
- Appears in court before Judge John C. Underwood; bail set at $100,000; bond posted by Horace Greeley, abolitionist Gerrit Smith, a representative of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and ten Richmond businessmen; to "deafening applause," freed after two years of confinement; meets Greeley for the first time (for more information about the case, see Frequently Asked Questions)
- mid-late May
- With Varina, son William, and daughter Winnie, travels to New York City, then Montreal, where he is reunited with his daughter Margaret and son Jefferson, Jr.
- May 30
- Arrives in Niagara by way of Toronto for visit with many ex-Confederates living in the area, including Jubal A. Early and James M. Mason
- early June
- Returns to Montreal
- September 23
- Moves to Lennoxville, Quebec, about eighty-five miles east-southeast of Montreal
- November 19 or 20
- Sails from Canada aboard the steamer Albemarle
- November 22
- Reaches Richmond in the morning; stays with Robert Ould
- November 25
- Visits with Robert E. Lee for the first time since March 1865 (Lee wrote his wife on the 26th that Davis "looks astonishingly well and is quite cheerful")
- November 26
- The United States v. Jefferson Davis convenes in Richmond; with Chase unable to be present, government granted postponement to March; Davis released on his own recognizance (his last appearance in court on this matter); long talk with Lee at the courthouse (last time he would see Lee); new grand jury drawn (Lee would testify before it the next day); (for more information, see Frequently Asked Questions); in the evening, receives news of the death of Margaret K. Howell, Varina's mother (Nov. 24)
- November-December
- Stays with Isaac Trimble near Baltimore; Varina Davis joins him there
- December 19
- Sails from Baltimore for New Orleans, with stops in Key West and Havana, Cuba
- 1868
- January 22
- Arrives in Vicksburg after visiting New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Woodville; reunited with brother Joseph E. Davis for the first time since 1862
- February 25
- Leaves Vicksburg for New Orleans, planning to be in Richmond by mid-March for trial
- March 11
- Sails for Baltimore by way of Havana and Key West; receives word before departure that trial will be delayed until May or June
- March 23
- Reaches Baltimore; leaves the next day for New York
- March 25
- Arrives in New York
- March 26
- With Davis not present, more complete indictment, based on testimony of Lee and others, handed down in Richmond; trial delayed until May (subsequently continued to June, October, then November)
- March 27
- After learning of trial delay until at least May 4, leaves New York for Canada; arrives in Lennoxville the following evening; sees notice of new indictment in newspaper soon after arrival
- March-July
- Spends most of his time in Lennoxville, where Jeff , Jr., and Billy are attending Bishop's College Grammar School, and Montreal, where Margaret is enrolled in a convent school
- late April
- Leaves Lennoxville on his way to Richmond for trial; word reaches him in Montreal that trial has been postponed
- late May
- Learns that he will not have to be in court until October at the earliest
- June 25
- Breaks two ribs in fall down stairway at the British-American Hotel in Lennoxville
- July 23
- Travels from Lennoxville to Quebec
- July 25
- With family, sails from Quebec for Europe
- August 4
- Arrives in Liverpool; spends rest of the year touring England and Wales
- September 6
- Reaches London for the first time
- November 22
- Attends service at Westminster Abbey
- November 30
- Motion is brought in Richmond by Davis' attorneys asking the government to show cause why the indictment of Davis should not be quashed
- December 3-4
- With Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase and U.S. Circuit Court Judge John C. Underwood presiding, arguments are presented on the motion
- December 5
- Chase and Underwood announce that they cannot agree on whether the indictment should be quashed; Chase gives his opinion that the 14th Amendment exempts Davis from further punishment; no subsequent action is taken in the case (for more information, see Frequently Asked Questions)
- December 30
- Leaves London for Paris
- December 31
- Arrives in Paris
- 1869
- January 2
- Visits the Louvre
- January 14
- Leaves Paris for London
- January-September
- In Great Britain; makes extended visit to Scotland in July-August
- February 15
- Indictment dismissed (nolle prosequi), as are those against thirty-seven other Confederates (for more information, see Frequently Asked Questions)
- September 25
- After receiving offer of a position with an insurance company, sails from Southampton for Baltimore to explore that and other business opportunities
- October 10
- Reaches Baltimore
- October 11
- Meets with representative of Carolina Life Insurance Company; also pursues a position with Southern Pacific Railroad
- October 15
- Sails from Baltimore for New Orleans; friends try to convince him to settle in New Orleans, but make no firm job offers
- November 8
- Arrives in Vicksburg after visiting family in Louisiana and Mississippi; travels to Memphis, Tennessee, the next day
- November 23
- Elected president of Carolina Life Insurance Company at a salary of $12,000 a year; plans to move the home office to Baltimore
- 1870
- July [20]
- Leaves Memphis for Lookout Mountain, near Chattanooga, Tennessee, on the first leg of a trip to Europe
- July [25]
- Departs for Richmond
- early August
- Makes brief visit to White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia
- August 9
- Arrives in New York after making a business stop in Baltimore
- August 10
- Sails from New York for Liverpool
- September 24
- Reunited with family in London after a stay in Liverpool and visits to Ireland and Scotland; while in England, learns of the death of brother Joseph E. Davis (Sept. 18)
- October 8
- Sails with family for Baltimore; learns of Robert E. Lee's death (Oct. 12) upon arrival; family remains at Baltimore while Davis travels to Richmond
- November 3
- Speaks at organizational meeting for the Lee Monument Association in Richmond
- mid-November
- Reaches Memphis; Varina and Winnie Davis follow a month later; older children in school in Maryland
- 1871
- May 1
- With Varina and Winnie Davis, departs for Baltimore
- mid-May
- Returns to Memphis via North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia; speaks in Augusta and Atlanta; family remains in Maryland
- July 13
- Arrives in Baltimore for brief visit; back in Memphis by the 21st
- August 4
- Leaves Memphis for Baltimore
- early September
- Visits Lexington, Virginia, and White Sulphur Springs, then returns to Baltimore
- mid-October
- Goes back to Memphis, leaving family in Baltimore
- late November
- Family joins him in Memphis
- 1872
- September 17
- Arrives in Baltimore, by way of Louisville
- October 13
- Travels from Baltimore to Richmond, planning to go from there to Memphis
- October 16
- Son William Howell Davis dies of diphtheria at age ten
- 1873
- late May
- Varina and Winnie Davis travel to Canada (for Varina's health)
- late June
- Departs on extended business trip for struggling company; travels to St. Louis, New York, Baltimore, and Richmond, stopping in Louisville on the way back
- July 22
- Returns to Memphis
- August
- Journeys to Richmond on business; visits older children, who are staying with William Preston Johnston in Lexington, Virginia; back in Memphis by the 23d
- August 25
- Resigns as president of Carolina Life Insurance Company
- October
- Ill in Louisville; spends most of month there
- November
- Visits Baltimore for two weeks at the beginning of the month, then goes back to Memphis
- December
- Varina Davis returns from Canada
- 1874
- January [25]
- Without family, sails from New Orleans for Liverpool
- February 15
- Arrives in Liverpool; spends over a month looking for positions with British companies
- March 22
- Reaches Paris, where he stays with A. Dudley Mann
- April 16
- Has returned to London
- April-May
- Visits Scotland and Karlsruhe, Germany
- June 4
- Sails from Liverpool for New York; back in Memphis before the end of the month
- July 3
- Files suit to regain control of Brierfield from the heirs of Joseph E. Davis (Jefferson Davis v. J. H. D. Bowmar et al.)
- 1875
- Declines appointment as senator from Mississippi and presidency of what is now Texas A&M University; begins relationship with Mississippi Valley Association (a British firm seeking to promote emigration to the South and to encourage direct trade between New Orleans and European ports), and starts promoting it in his travels; speaks in Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri; makes numerous visits to Vicksburg because of lawsuit; reaches informal agreement with W. T. Walthall to begin marketing proposal for Davis' memoirs; withdraws Jeff, Jr., from Virginia Military Institute, and in fall travels with him to inspect mines in Colorado
- 1876
- January 1
- Daughter Margaret marries Joel Addison Hayes at St. Lazarus Episcopal Church in Memphis (she will be the only one of the Davis offspring to marry and to have children)
- late January
- Chosen president of the American branch of the Mississippi Valley Association; relocates to New Orleans, where he is soon joined by Varina and Winnie Davis
- May 23
- Sails for London via Liverpool on an extended business trip; Varina and Winnie Davis travel with him, while Jeff, Jr., stays with Margaret and Addison in Memphis; Winnie enrolled in school at Karlsruhe, Germany
- mid-November
- With Varina ill in London and Winnie at school, sails for the U.S. by himself; in Memphis by December 1
- December
- Meets with board of Mississippi Valley Association in New Orleans and gives up position
- December 14
- Signs contract with D. Appleton & Co. for memoirs
- 1877
- January
- After looking for a place to live along the Gulf Coast, rents a cottage from Sarah Ellis Dorsey at Beauvoir, near Biloxi, Mississippi; starts collecting information for memoirs
- mid-February
- Begins dictating memoirs to Sarah Dorsey
- mid-October
- Varina Davis leaves London and sails for New York
- November
- Varina Davis decides to reside with Margaret and Addison in Memphis
- 1878
- May
- Varina Davis moves to Beauvoir
- May 20
- Courts render final judgment in Davis v. Bowmar that Brierfield is his property
- July 1
- Agreed-upon deadline for completion of memoirs; Walthall convinces publisher to extend deadline
- October 16
- Son Jefferson Davis, Jr., dies in Memphis in yellow fever epidemic at age twenty-one
- 1879
- February 19
- Signs deed to buy Beauvoir from Sarah Dorsey for $5,500
- June 4
- Leaves Montreal for New Orleans
- July 4
- At bedside when Sarah Dorsey dies in New Orleans; she leaves Beauvoir to him in her will
- 1880
- May 5
- Appleton's receives manuscript for the first volume of The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government
- 1881
- April
Finishes dictating second volume of memoirs
mid-May
Travels by train to Montreal
June 3
The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government published on his birthday (because of the terms of his contract and relatively slow sales, it is unlikely that Davis made much, if any, money from the book
August-November
Travels to Europe with Varina Davis to bring Winnie back from school at Karlsruhe, Germany
November 22
Sails from Liverpool for New York; back at Beauvoir by mid-December
- 1882-88
- Lives at Beauvoir with Varina; travels occasionally and speaks across the South; enjoys time with grandchildren, although Margaret and Addison Hayes move to Colorado Springs in 1885; gives many interviews, covering both Civil War topics and the current political situation; agrees in 1888 to begin work on another book
- 1889
- October
- Completes manuscript of A Short History of the Confederate States of America (published in 1890); also writes several brief magazine articles during the year (see Jefferson Davis Bibliography)