Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 39.djvu/85

 Genealogy of Jefferson Davis. 73

GENEALOGY OF JEFFERSON DAVIS.

By Dr. WM. H WHITSITT, Richmond College, of Forrest's Cavalry.

I am sincerely grateful to the gentlemen of Lee Camp for the invitation extended to me to deliver an address upon some Confederate subject. It was suggested by Comrade Freeman, that I should present a tribute to the Confederate Army of the West, and speak a kind word for the soldiers of that service. I hold my comrades of the Western Army in the highest esteem and affection. They were brave and honorable soldiers, but I am not able to do justice to their memory. I held no high position among them, and I did not understand a great deal concerning the military operations that went forward before my eyes. I have learned more about these operations by read- ing over the dispatches in the so-called "Rebellion Records," than I Avas able to find out when I was on the spot, and watched the progress of them. Moreover I have never made any special study of military science, and I feel convinced that it would be out of my power to speak of the soldiers of the Western servicj in a manner that would be equal to the present occasion, or worthy of their skill and courage.

After some reflection I have concluded to address you on the Genealogy of President Jefiferson Davis, which appears to be a worthy Confederate subject, about which very little has been said hitherto. The materials are as yet incomplete, and I shall be compelled in several places to indulge in hypothesis ; but the working hypothesis is an indispensable resource. I have de- cided to make a beginning, in the hope that other investigators will find additional material, and clear up the points th-it ma^^: remain imperfect in my treatment of the subject.

The most important material consists of certain notices which Mr. Davis himself dictated a short while before his death