Devotion: A novel based on the life of Winnie Davis, Daughter of the Confederacy

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments For฀his฀astute฀advice฀and฀ongoing฀encouragement฀through฀all฀ phases฀of฀this฀project,฀I฀am฀indebted฀to฀Richard฀Jordan.฀It฀was฀ my฀good฀fortune฀to฀connect฀early฀on฀with฀Ruth฀Ann฀Coski฀at฀the฀ Museum฀of฀the฀Confederacy฀in฀Richmond,฀who฀responded฀to฀ numerous฀queries,฀steered฀me฀to฀other฀sources,฀and฀corrected฀ errata.฀My฀deep฀appreciation฀goes฀to฀Director฀Nicole฀Mitchell,฀ Courtney฀ Denney,฀ John฀ McLeod,฀ Stacey฀ Sharer,฀ and฀ everyone฀ else฀at฀the฀University฀of฀Georgia฀Press฀whose฀expertise฀and฀enthusiasm ฀have฀contributed฀to฀the฀production฀of฀this฀book.฀฀ I฀thank฀Bill฀Muller฀for฀his฀interest฀and฀counsel;฀James฀Rogers,฀ Jeanie฀Thompson,฀Isabel฀Sanders,฀Danny฀Gamble,฀and฀Robyn฀ Litchfield฀ for฀ timely฀ suggestions;฀ Dodgie฀ Shaffer,฀ Mary฀ Ann฀ Neeley,฀and฀Anne฀King฀for฀tea฀and฀empathy฀(Anne’s฀notes฀on฀ Beauvoir฀ and฀ the฀ Jefferson฀ Davis฀ Presidential฀ Library฀ were฀ more฀helpful฀than฀my฀own);฀Tibby฀Elebash฀and฀her฀friend฀Avery฀ Bassich฀for฀information฀about฀nineteenth-century฀New฀Orleans;฀ Mary฀Lynne฀Levy฀and฀the฀book฀club฀for฀keeping฀me฀well฀read;฀ and฀everyone฀who,฀in฀the฀last฀few฀years,฀has฀asked฀me฀if฀I’m฀writing ฀another฀book. I฀have฀taken฀a฀novelist’s฀prerogative฀in฀allowing฀my฀imagina- tion฀and฀intuition฀to฀embellish฀what฀is฀accepted฀as฀fact฀and฀legend ฀about฀the฀Jefferson฀Davis฀family฀and฀their฀times.฀Dates฀have฀ not฀been฀altered,฀with฀one฀exception:฀I฀moved฀the฀publication฀ of฀Guy฀de฀Maupassant’s฀first฀novel,฀Une฀Vie,฀from฀1883฀to฀1881,฀ so฀that฀Winnie฀could฀read฀it฀during฀her฀summer฀in฀Paris.฀In฀a฀ few฀instances,฀text฀has฀been฀incorporated฀from฀the฀writings฀and฀ correspondence฀of฀those฀on฀whom฀characters฀are฀based฀or฀who฀ are฀referred฀to฀tangentially฀in฀the฀narrative.฀The฀sections฀labeled฀ “Winnie’s฀Notebook”฀are฀not฀based฀on฀actual฀journals฀or฀diaries;฀ however,฀a฀fictional฀letter฀therein฀was฀inspired฀by฀an฀archived฀ Wisconsin฀memoir฀by฀E.฀P.฀Arpin฀Jr.,฀which฀was฀shared฀with฀me฀ by฀his฀daughter,฀Helen฀Till,฀and฀brought฀to฀my฀attention฀by฀Tom฀ Fitzpatrick. The฀quotation฀that฀became฀this฀book’s฀epigraph,฀which฀I฀didn’t฀ come฀across฀until฀the฀manuscript฀was฀almost฀finished,฀eloquently฀ echoes฀a฀premise฀I฀began฀with:฀that฀Winnie฀Davis฀was฀a฀complex฀ enigma,฀even฀to฀those฀closest฀to฀her.฀It฀didn’t฀happen฀right฀away,฀ but฀at฀some฀point฀during฀the฀early฀sessions฀of฀writing฀about฀her,฀ I฀began฀to฀feel฀as฀though฀I฀had฀passed฀muster฀and฀been฀granted฀ permission.฀When฀the฀serendipitous฀hunches฀(that฀novelists฀receive ฀and฀have฀to฀decide฀whether฀or฀not฀to฀go฀with)฀increased฀in฀ frequency,฀I฀even฀wondered฀if฀my฀protagonist฀might฀also฀be฀my฀ collaborator. Institutional฀repositories฀consulted฀include:฀the฀Harvard฀University ฀Archives,฀Pusey฀Library,฀Cambridge,฀Massachusetts;฀the฀ Ray฀ M.฀ Thompson฀ Papers,฀ McCain฀ Library฀ of฀ the฀ University฀ of฀ Southern฀ Mississippi,฀Hattiesburg;฀ the฀ Robbins฀ Papers฀ and฀ the฀Mary฀Stamps฀Papers฀at฀Wilson฀Library,฀University฀of฀North฀ Carolina฀at฀Chapel฀Hill;฀Olin฀Library,฀Cornell฀University,฀Ithaca,฀ New฀York;฀the฀Eleanor฀S.฀Brockenbrough฀Library,฀the฀Museum฀ 208 acknowledgments฀ of฀the฀Confederacy,฀Richmond;฀the฀Jefferson฀Davis฀Papers,฀Rice฀ University,฀Houston;฀the฀Rosanna฀Blake฀Confederate฀Collection,฀ Marshall฀University,฀Huntingdon,฀West฀Virginia;฀Memorial฀Hall฀ Confederate฀Museum,฀New฀Orleans;฀the฀Alabama฀Department฀ of฀Archives฀and฀History,฀Montgomery;฀the฀Center฀for฀Southeast฀ Louisiana฀ Studies,฀ Southeastern฀ Louisiana฀ University,฀ Hammond ;฀the฀Williams฀Research฀Center,฀the฀Historic฀New฀Orleans฀ Collection;฀ the฀ Library฀ of฀ the฀ Virginia฀ Historical฀ Association,฀ Richmond;฀Nancy฀Burris,฀Librarian,฀New฀Orleans฀Times-Picayune;฀ Records฀of฀the฀Third฀Regiment฀Georgia฀Volunteers฀of฀the฀Army฀ of฀the฀Confederacy;฀the฀Southern฀Historical฀Association,฀University ฀of฀Georgia,฀Athens;฀the฀Casemate฀Archives,฀Fort฀Monroe,฀ Virginia;฀the฀Birmingham฀Public฀Library;฀the฀Montgomery฀Public ฀Library;฀the฀Syracuse฀Public฀Library;฀the฀Onondaga฀County฀ Historical฀Association,฀Syracuse;฀the฀New฀York฀State฀Historical฀ Association,฀Cooperstown;฀the฀American฀Newspaper฀Repository,฀ Rollinsford,฀New฀Hampshire;฀and฀the฀Sinclair฀Manuscripts,฀Lilly฀ Library,฀Indiana฀University,฀Bloomington. acknowledgments฀ 209 This page intentionally left blank ...