Margaret Kempe Howell

(1806-1867)

Margaret Louisa Kempe Howell was the mother of Varina Howell Davis. She married William Burr Howell in Natchez in 1823, and they had settled at The Briars by the end of the decade. She helped care for the older Davis children in Canada while Jefferson Davis was imprisoned after the war.

For more information, see The Papers of Jefferson Davis, Volume 2, pages 55-56.