1841 Mr. Iliff was an excellent man of good family, an old-time Methodist, earnest and devout. Seven children were born to them, five sons and two daughters. Two sons died in infancy. Mrs. Iliff never gave up her business, but carried it steadily forward, assisting in the education of the children and the acquisition of a competency. Mr. Iliff died in 1867, after a long illness. Mrs. Iliff became the wife in 1870 of B. W. Davis, editor of the "Palladium" and postmaster of Richmond. He died in 1884. Mrs. Iliff-Davis has marked executive ability. As early as 1844 she was a charter member and officer of the order of Daughters of Temperance. She was active in the Temple of Honor and the Good Templars In 1861 the Woman's Aid Society of Union Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church, of which Mrs. Iliff was president from first to last, began sanitary work for the Union Army. It soon became auxiliary to the Indiana State Sanitary Commission. That society continued active work until the close of the war. Then her efforts were directed to giving entertainments to aid in establishing the State Soldiers' Orphans' Home. Later the Freedman's Aid Society claimed her attention. In 1868 she was appointed one of a committee of women by the Young Men's Christian Association of Richmond to organize a Home for Friendless Women. For twenty years she was in active work for the home, and for sixteen years she was president of its board of managers. In 1870 she was one of a committee of two women, appointed by the home management, to go before the county commissioners, asking that the home be legalized for the commitment of women prisoners That request was granted. The same day these ladies attended the trial of a young woman, who received a sentence of imprisonment for two years, and who was committed to the home instead of the State penitentiary. They left the court-house in Centerville, taking the prisoner a distance of seven miles by railroad. That young woman served her time, working faithfully at domestic duties, and went out from the home to live an upright life. Afterwards the managers of the home petitioned the city Council to give them the keeping of all women prisoners. That was granted, and an addition was built to the home for a city and county prison. The action of the Wayne county officials was an initial step towards separate prisons for men and women, and towards establishing the Indiana State Reformatory for Women. Mrs Iliff-Davis is still actively engaged in business. As a writer her essays and reports show marked ability, and she has written poems and other contributions for the local press.
VARINA ANNE DAVIS.
DAVIS. Miss Varina Anne, born in Richmond, Va., 27th June, 1864. She is more generally known as Winnie Davis, the second daughter of Jefferson Davis, President of the Southern Confederacy. She is endeared to the South as the "Daughter of the Confederacy " Shortly before the evacuation of Richmond, Mr. Davis sent his wife and daughter to Charlotte, N. C., where they remained until he instructed them to go to Chester, S. C. At Abbeville they heard the news of Lee's surrender, and Mrs. Davis and her children went on to Washington, Ga., where Mr. Davis joined them and accompanied them to Macon After Mr. Davis had been taken to Fortress Monroe, Mrs. Davis took her children to Savannah. After Mr. Davis returned to his family, they visited Canada, Cuba, various parts of the South, and Europe, and then settled in Memphis. Tenn., where Winnie remained till 1877 In that year she went to Karlsruhe, Germany, where she remained until 1882. She next went to Paris, France, where she attended a boarding-school and was joined by her parents. Miss Davis studied drawing and the drama, and her experience convinced her that it is folly to send American children to Europe to be educated. Leaving Paris with her parents, they returned to New Orleans, La., where in the following spring Miss Davis made her entrance into society at the Mardi Gras Ball. The family were invited to visit Alabama and were received with distinction. They extended their tour to Atlanta, Ga., and there Governor Gordon presented Miss Davis to the people as "The Daughter of the Confederacy." She went to Paris, on the advice of her physicians, and was ill there at the time of her father's death. She has made her home with her mother in Beauvoir, Miss., the family residence since 1879. Miss Davis has recently shown literary talent of a high order and has contributed to a number of periodicals. She is an accomplished musician, a skilled linguist, a ready writer, and most attractive type of the southern woman of intelligence, culture and refinement.
DAVIS, Mrs. Varina Howell, widow of Jefferson Davis, was born in Natchez, Miss. She is a descendant of the famous Howell family, whose founder settled in New Jersey. Her grandfather. Gov. Richard Howell, was a Revolutionary officer, and her father, William Burr Howell, won with distinction under McDonough on Lake Champlain. Mrs. Davis's maternal grandfather, James Kempe, was an Irish gentleman, who came to Virginia after the Emmet rebellion. He was a man of large wraith and moved to Natchez. Miss., when her mother was an infant. Col. Kempe organized and drilled the "Natchez troupe." a company that fought through the Revolution. Mrs. Davis's uncle, Franklin Howell, was killed on the "President." Mr. Davis's marriage with Miss Howell took place 26th February, 1845. While the public life of the Davis family in many respects was one
