DAVIS, Jefferson

Jefferson Davis

DAVIS, Jefferson. (Fairview, KY, June 3, 1808-New Orleans, IA, Dec. 6, 1889). President of the Confederate States of America. In 1832 Davis, then a lieutenant in the U.S. Army, was ordered to the LEAD mines of Dubuque to prevent whites from occupying land still belonging to Native Americans.

Davis again played a major role in Dubuque history when in 1852 as secretary of war he was convinced by Senator George W. JONES into making a third appropriation for work on the Dubuque ICE HARBOR.

After his capture at the end of the CIVIL WAR on May 10, 1865, Davis was led to prison by a guard of one hundred Union soldiers including George Washington HEALEY of Dubuque.