Background
DAVIS, William George Mackey was born on May 9, 1812 in Portsmouth, Virginia, United States, United States. Son of George and Margaret (Mackey) Davis. His father, an officer in the U.S.
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William George Mackey DAVIS
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Education
Public school.
Career
Navy, died while the younger Davis was a child, and William ran away to sea at the age of seventeen. On November 14, 1837, he married Mary Elizabeth Mills, by whom he had two sons. Davis was a Whig and an Episcopalian.
After his youthful adventure at sea, he edited a newspaper in Eufaula, Alabama, and was a lawyer and cotton speculator in Apalachicola, Franklin County, Florida. In 1844, he was elected county judge of Franklin County. Two years later, he moved to St. Joseph and in 1848 to Tallahassee, Florida.
He represented Leon County at the Florida secession convention. He was a secessionist. In 1861, he contributed $50,000 to the Confederate cause and recruited and equipped the 1st Florida Cavalry, of which he was colonel.
Although he was chosen for the Confederate Congress, he preferred military service. He was promoted to brigadier general on November 4, 1862, and commanded the Department of East Tennessee before resigning his commission on May 6, 1863. He was a close friend of Jefferson Davis.
He moved to Richmond, where he operated a fleet of blockade runners to Nassau for the remainder of the war. After the war, he practiced law in Jacksonville and later in Washington, D.C. Around 1880, he purchased a plantation near Norfolk.
Religion
"Peculiar institution" of slavery was not only expedient but also ordained by God and upheld in Holy Scripture.
Politics
Stands for preserving slavery, states' rights, and political liberty for whites. Every individual state is sovereign, even to the point of secession.
Connections
Spouse Mary Elizabeth Mills.
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Born
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Died
March 11, 1898 (aged 85) -
Political Party
Secessionist