Varina Davis - Legacy and Honors

Legacy and Honors

• Varina Howell Davis received a funeral procession through the streets of New York City. Her coffin was taken by train to Richmond, where she was interred with full honors performed by Confederate veterans at Hollywood Cemetery. She is adjacent to the tombs of her husband and their daughter Winnie.
• A portrait of Mrs. Davis, titled the Widow of the Confederacy (1895), was painted by the Swiss-born American artist Adolfo Müller-Ury (1862–1947). It is held at the museum at Beauvoir.
• In 1918 Müller-Ury donated his profile portrait of her daughter, Winnie Davis, painted in 1897-'98, to the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, Virginia.

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina caused extensive wind and water damage to Beauvoir, which houses the Jefferson Davis Presidential Library. The home has been restored and reopened on June 3, 2008. The Presidential Library and Museum and other outbuildings are in the process of being rebuilt. Varina Howell Davis' diamond and emerald wedding ring, one of the few valuable possessions she managed to retain, was held by the Museum at Beauvoir and lost during the destruction of Hurricane Katrina. It was discovered on the grounds a few months later and returned to the museum.