I can contribute something on Varina. I found a picture of her with a little information. It was in a book in our county library. I did not copy all of the information on the book but the bottom of the page (page 30) says "1846: Portrait of the Nation". Here is what was written under the picture. "Married in February 1845 to widower Jefferson Davis, who was eighteen years her senior, Varian Howell (1826-1906) was almost immediately introduced to public life when her husband was elected to Congress from Mississippi. Traveling to Washington in December, the Davises had a horrendous journey by steamboat, sled, and stagecoach--'three weeks of peril, discomfort, and intense cold.' Varina wrote, 'during which we were obliged to eat our life-long supply of worst with maple syrup for a condiment.' They took rooms in a boarding house on Pennsylvania Avenue, where they ate their meals with others of like political persuasion. Mrs. Davis later recounted that she was kept busy assisting her husband in his correspondence with his constituents. Varina Howell Davis by John Wood Dodge (1807-1893), watercolor on ivory. 1849. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.: gift of Varina Webb Stewart" On Mon, 11 Feb 2002 20:57:32 -0800 Lewis Howell <[email protected]> writes: > Rednap Howell was a leader or advisor to the leaders of the > Regulators in > North Carolina shortly before the RW. A number of them were hanged > by > the British, but Rednap avoided that fate. He was a brother of > Richard > Howell, RW patriot and governor of NJ. This puts him in the same > family > as Varina Howell, wife of Jefferson Davis and first lady of the > CSofA. > My father and several of his aunts had bright red hair, so I'm > waiting > for the DNA site to open. Lew Howell > ________________________________________________________________ > GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! > Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! > Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: > http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/. > > > ==== HOWELL Mailing List ==== > To post messages to the Howell discussion list, send them to > [email protected] > ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/.