Letter Written By Varina Davis, Wife Of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Praising A Sewing Machine: It Has Arrived Safely With Only One Or Two Teeth Scratchy And Is, As My Cook Pronounced It On Sight A Daisy

VARINA DAVIS (1826-1906). Davis was the First Lady of the Confederate States of America as the longtime second wife of President Jefferson Davis.ALS. 2 pgs. 5.5 x 9. March 24, 1887. Beauvoir, Miss. An autograph letter signed Varina Davis to My dear Mr. Leon: I was as profoundly delighted as astonished by the reception of the sewing machine so kindly presented by you It has arrived safely with only one or two teeth scratchy and is, as my cook pronounced it on sight a daisy It is the simplest and lightest machine I have ever seen. I never before could work on a foot machine, but this gives me no trouble at all. I learned at once to use the different parts, the threading process, etc. Then it is so very pretty but what shall I say of the basket. It is lovely and decorative in the extreme beside a great convenience to put work in. The whole house gathered to see it unpacked, but my Daughter finished her community in praise of it by saying I like my bear much better. The hope of a visit from you which you kindly hold out to us is much prized by us all then you can XX a good many things which my daughter is thinking of painting She is going to Chattanooga for a short visit very soon, but she will be at home again before you come I am sure. Mr. Davis has not felt very strong this spring, but is not ill You must not delay your visit long enough to throw you into the melting season in the north, for I believe that is your XX season there. This letter was written by Varina who would outlive her husband and spend the last years of her life as a writer in New York City friendly with Julia Grant and Booker T. Washington. The letter mentions her familys acquisition of a sewing machine; though invented nearly a century earlier, sewing machines were not marketed to middle-class consumers until the 1860s. The identity of the recipient is unknown, but the letter is in excellent condition and a great post-Civil War artifact.