United States Senator from Mississippi
United States Secretary of War
President of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War
Plus Alabama pro "States Rights," Congressman & Senator, Dixon H. Lewis
(1808-1889) Graduated in the West Point class of 1828. He married the daughter of General and President Zachary Taylor, but she died only 3 months after their marriage. Elected to the U.S. Congress in 1845, he resigned, and fought gallantly in the Mexican War, where he served under General Taylor, and was severely wounded at the battle of Buena Vista. He declined the appointment of brigadier general in the U.S. Army to re-enter politics, serving as U.S. Senator from Mississippi. In 1853, he was appointed Secretary of War by President Franklin Pierce. He was chosen as the provisional president of the Confederacy and inaugurated in February 1861, at Montgomery, Alabama, and was later inaugurated as president of the permanent government at Richmond, on February 22, 1862. Fleeing from Richmond with his cabinet at the end of the war, he was captured on May 10, 1865, at Irwinsville, Ga., and held in prison for 2 years at Fort Monroe, Va. Jeff Davis was the first and only president of the Confederate States of America.
Signature With State: 4 3/8 x 2, in ink, Jeffn. Davis, Miss. The complete word. "Mississippi" is written above in another hand. This autograph was signed by Jeff Davis when he was serving as U.S. Senator from Mississippi. It came out of a 30th United States Congressional autograph album, circa 1847-49. Excellent large signature. Light age toning. Always a very desirable historical autograph!
There is a bonus autograph on the reverse which is of Alabama "States Rights," Congressman and Senator Dixon H. Lewis. 4 3/8 x 2, in ink, Dixon H. Lewis of Ala.
Dixon H. Lewis: (1802-48) Born on Bothwick Plantation, Dinwiddie County, Virginia. He graduated from Mount Zion Academy, and from South Carolina College at Columbia in 1820. He moved to Autauga County, Alabama, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1823, and commenced practice in Montgomery, Ala. Served as a member of the Alabama State House of Representatives, 1826-1828; elected as a States Rights Democrat to the U.S. Congress, and served from March 4, 1829, to April 22, 1844, when he resigned to accept an appointment as a Democratic U.S. Senator in 1844. He was chairman, of the Committee on Indian Affairs, and served as Senator from April 22, 1844, until his death on October 25, 1848. He served as chairman, of the Committee on Finance, and served as a member of the Committee on Retrenchment. |