Margaret Howell (Davis) Hayes (1855 - 1909)

Born 25 Feb 1855 in Washington, District of Columbia, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Joel Addison Hayes Jr — married 1 Jan 1876 in Memphis, Tennessee

Descendants

Died 18 Jul 1909 at age 54 in Colorado Springs, El Paso County, Colorado, United States

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Biography

Margaret was the only one of the Davis children to marry, bear children, and outlive her parents. Born in Washington, she was the eldest of the surviving children (Samuel Emory Davis died in 1854) and was known as both Polly (or Pollie) and Maggie. She was a great favorite of her father's and carried on a charming correspondence with him while Varina and the children stayed in Raleigh in 1862 (see Davis Papers, 8:192, 360).

Margaret began her studies with a tutor in the Confederate White House and was enrolled at schools in Montreal, London, Paris, and Baltimore as the family moved about after the war.

On New Year's Day of 1876 she married J. Addison Hayes in Memphis, where the young couple settled. Jeff Jr. was living with the Hayeses in 1878 when he contracted yellow fever, and Margaret risked her own life to care for her dying brother.

The first of the Hayes children died as an infant, but the subsequent four lived to adulthood. The family moved to Colorado Springs in 1885, and descendants still reside in the area. As her husband rose in city banking circles, Margaret became involved with charitable causes and was a leading member of local society. After her death in 1909, Addison and the children took her ashes to Richmond to be interred with the Davis family at Hollywood Cemetery.

Margaret was born about 1855. Margaret was the child of Jefferson Davis and Varina Howell. Margaret passed away in 1909.

Yuma Examiner; Yuma, Arizona October 29, 1909; Page One.

Richmond, Va., Oct. 29-

While all Richmond mourned, the body of Margaret Davis, daughter of Jefferson Davis, was laid to rest in Hollywood Cemetery today. The casket was placed in the Davis lot, near the graves of the Confederate president and his wife. An impressive memorial service was held at St. Paul's church. As the family had asked that the service be as quiet as possible, the ceremony was attended by little of the spectacular character.

Mrs. Hayes, who was the wife of J. Addison Hayes, died in Colorado Springs last June and the body was cremated and the remains temporarily buried at that place, pending the final burial here at a time which could be best suit the members of the family of the dead woman. It was the earnest wish of Mrs. Hayes that her body should find its last resting place in the family burying ground, beside that of her father's, the chief executive of the ill-starred Confederacy, and her mother, sisters, and brothers.

Mrs. Hayes was a woman of great intelligence and was prominent in the councils of the Daughters of the Confederacy. Despite the tragedy which had entered into the life of her father, she retained in mind or heart none of the bitterness of the great conflict or the subsequent reconstruction.

Sources

• Find A Grave: Memorial #6662366

• https://jeffersondavis.rice.edu/peoplelist/margaret-howell-davis-hayes