Jefferson Davis - Bridegroom to Widower in 89 days - By: Howard Edward Haller, Ph.D.

The public is well aware that Jefferson F. Davis was President
of the Confederate States of America. This article is one of a
series of articles from a forthcoming book Jefferson Davis-a
Memoir and the article series From a Kentucky Log Cabin to the
Capitol which will share the rest of the story of who Jefferson
Davis was, what he stood for, and includes his wide range of
accomplishments. This extensive series of well-documented and
informative articles will explore a number of the facts of
Jefferson Davis life not just as a military or political leader,
but as a man, husband and father. Jefferson Davis was truly a
renaissance man with deep values and was a compassionate man.
This article will focus on the first love of his life, Sarah
Knox Taylor Davis, and their life journey together and marriage
cut short by tragedy.

After their marriage in Kentucky, the couple then proceeded down
to Hurricane,Jeff's brother's successful cotton plantation in
Southern Mississippi. As the oldest son Joseph Emory Davis
handled his father Samuel's estate after Samuel died; Jeff was
only sixteen. Joseph Davis was instrumental in helping youngest
brother Jeff to acquire the 1800 acres of what was uncleared
swamp land, in an area know as Brierfield. The name Brierfield
was an appropriate description of the land. Actually the land
that Jefferson Davis now owned would have been more accurately
been called Swampy Brier Field. Brierfield,was near his fathers
former home in Woodville, Mississippi. Then Joseph sold, on
credit, to Jeff the slaves that Jeff would need to do the
extremely hard work of clearing the Mississippi bottom land.
Clearing the swamp land consisted of removing and burning the
almost virtual wall of wild cane and thick briers, as well as
digging ditches.

Jeff and his new bride, Sarah, and Jeff's faithful servant, James
Pemberton, worked together in the fields clearing the extensive
briers and brambles from the swampland. It was common in the
summer in this part of Mississippi for swamps to give off steam
which provided a perfect environment for mosquitoes and the
fever to thrive. Working in the fields under these conditions
was very hard on both Jeff and Sarah.

In that part of the South, this portion of the summer is called
the chill and fever season.Jeff was still somewhat weak from the
illness he suffered while in military service in the bitterly
cold Northwest Territories. When she was young, Sarah had had a
previous battle with malaria, which killed two of her sisters.
After weeks of clearing the field in these unpleasant and even
dangerous conditions, the newly weds, Jeff and Sarah, were both
not feeling well, and in fact were very sick. Jeff had
contracted malaria, becoming so ill and he literally fell off
his horse and had to be carried back to the house. The following
day Sarah was so ill she could not work.

After the couple would not respond to his treatment, the local
doctor recommended that the couple needed to go to a better
climate and better living conditions. So Jeff, Sarah, and James
Pemberton, Jeff's personal servant, left Brierfield by boat to go
to Bayou Sara. The young married couple seriously needed to
recuperate from their illnesses and fatigue from their labors in
clearing the swamp (what would later become Brierfield). Jeff's
older sister, Mrs. Luther Smith, made her home available as a
more suitable environment in which the newlyweds could recover.
She lived in nearby Locust Grove, which is near the small town
of St. Francisville in Louisiana about 40 or so miles south west
from Brierfield in Mississippi.

Promptly after the couple arrived at his sisters home, Jeff
began to show all the classic signs of having contracted
malaria. Jeff was moved to another room from Sarah, as he had
become quite delirious with a very high fever. The following day
Sarah also became to show symptoms of having the deadly malaria.

Jeff was quite delirious and he was initially not expected to
live. And while Jeff was still very ill, Sarah made a serious
turn for the worst. The family did not plan to tell Jefferson
that she was dying. The doctor forbade Jefferson from leaving his
bed fearing he would learn of his brides eminent death. However,
on September 15, 1835 after hearing Sarah Knox singing in an
unusually way the song Fairy Bells, Jefferson, who was still
very ill quite fever ridden got up out of bed and went to Sarah's
room. Knox, as Jefferson fondly referred to Sarah, was so far
gone she did not even recognize Jeff and he knew at that point
that she was dying. Overcome with emotion, he was able to do
nothing for her except to hold Sarah in his arms until she died.

After Sarah died at age 21, Jefferson was inconsolable and
completely brokenhearted. He had to be helped back to his room
and then helped into bed. Young Jefferson had lost the true love
of his life. Jeff's seriously critical condition was complicated
by his intense grief over the loss of Knox after less than three
months of marriage, and this was in addition to his personal
torment over his insistence in marrying Sarah in spite of her
fathers objections. The entire family and his Doctor were
seriously concerned that Jefferson would now also die from
malaria. Even though he was critically ill, Jefferson Davis was
resolute that his wife Knox's funeral service be held in his
sickroom so he could be present for the services. Sarah Knox
Taylor was buried in the southwest corner of the Smiths family
cemetery. The family and his doctor were guarded about Jeff's
condition as his life literal hung in the balance for several
days after Knox's funeral. Thanks to the tender loving care from
Jeff's oldest sister, Mrs. Luther Smith, he was able to recover
over the next month.

Jefferson Davis did recover, but he was still very weak, so
James Pemberton, his personal servant, had to carry Jeff back to
his home, about 40 miles to Mississippi from his Sisters home
just over the state border in Louisiana. It was the same servant
James Pemberton that had previously carried Jefferson from the
bed to the window as if he was a small child, when he was
seriously ill with pneumonia while stationed was in the Army in
the Northwest Territories. Colonel Zach Taylor's worst nightmare
became a vivid and painful reality! Malaria did finally take his
daughter Sarah's life. In spite of the great loss of Knox to both
Jeff and her father, this would not be last chapter in the
relationship between Jefferson Davis and Zachary Taylor.

It was truly tragic for Jeff and Sarah to be so in love, having
been engaged for two years, having waited for the reticent
Colonel Taylor to finally agree to their marriage and then to
lose her in less than 90 days. It is not surprising that a grief
struck Jeff was in morning and mostly secluded from the world
for the better part of the next eight years, from 1835 to 1843.

Historical Note: The successful effort to restore Jefferson
Davis United States citizenship was led by United States
Senators Eastland, Thurmond, Hatfield, and Hatch on the US
Senate Judiciary Committee to Jefferson Davis citizenship (the
authors Great Great Grandfather). Jefferson F. Davis was a West
Point graduate, a US Military career officer, and was a
Mississippi Militia Colonel (later Major General). He served in
the US Congress (as Congressman and Senator), and as the US
Secretary of War for President Franklin Pierce; this was in
addition to having been President of the Confederate States of
America. Dr. Haller actively lobbied on both sides of the aisle
of the US Congress, along with the significant efforts by
Senators Eastland, Thurmond, Hatfield, and Hatch, to
successfully restore Jefferson Davis citizenship. Haller worked
with President Jimmy Carter and his senior White House staff,
including the White House Chief of Staff. President Carter
signed the unanimously passed US Senate Joint Resolution 16, on
October 17, 1978.

The public is well aware that Jefferson F. Davis was President
of the Confederate States of America. This article is one of a
series of articles from a forthcoming book Jefferson Davis-a
Memoir and the article series From a Kentucky Log Cabin to the
Capitol which will share the rest of the story of who Jefferson
Davis was, what he stood for, and includes his wide range of
accomplishments.

Dr. Howard Edward Haller is a respected academic scholar, University Professor, University Trustee, past University Board President, award winning author and professional speaker. Dr. Haller is an accomplished senior business executive. Dr. Howard Edward Haller is the Great Great Grandson of Jefferson Davis.