Many of us know that Winnie Davis, daughter of Jefferson Davis and pictured above, was given the title “The Daughter of the Confederacy” by many adherents of the Lost Cause. Winnie had been born in the Confederate White House during the Civil War. After she died, some Confederate groups wanted a new Daughter of the Confederacy and asked the daughter of General A.P. Hill to accept the honor. Hill had been killed in battle on April 2, 1865 in the closing days of the war. This bestowal of “The Daughter of the Confederacy” title was denounced by other Confederate heritage groups.
There was only room enough in the hearts of true Confederates for one Daughter of the Confederacy, apparently.
Here is what the St. Louis Republic said on the subject:
Honors to Miss Hill Bring Forth Protests Confederate Societies Say There Should be No Successor to Winnie Davis as Daughter
Date: Friday, September 30, 1898
Paper: St. Louis Republic (St. Louis, Missouri)
Page: 6
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Strom Thurmond’s daughter tried to apply for Daughter of Confederacy and got rejected.
HA!
I appreciate this primary source and information enormously.
I suppose you can’t blame the veterans’ and their families for the sentiment they regarded Jefferson Davis’ daughter as being in their hearts and minds, ‘the one, true Daughter of the Confederacy’. But it’s nice to see that they nevertheless sought to bestow honour upon Ms. Hill.
This article is also a fantastic micro example of how the generation directly tied to the generation that had fought the war began to see and understand the conflict, the meaning that they placed upon it, the manner in which they made sense of it and those whom had fought it.
But still reflects the present – I am surprised they do not have a “Miss Confederate States” beauty contest…