306:, the wartime governor of Louisiana. They had first met in 1859, when both the Dorseys and Allen were traveling in the Rhine River Valley in Europe. She also used her study as a way to evaluate the role of women in the southern male-dominated society. She admired Allen's work: "As a leader of wartime relief for the poor, an advocate of emancipation for slaves as reward for Confederate service, and other bold if not always welcomed innovations, Allen much deserved her praise." The highly regarded work is considered to be an important contribution to the
354:. Dorsey was instrumental in his success, organizing his day, motivating him to work, taking dictation, transcribing notes, editing and offering advice. Rumors quickly began to fly that the two were having an illicit affair, and it was nearly "an open scandal," but they refused to yield to it. Varina Davis became enraged and refused for a long time to set foot on Dorsey's property. Eventually she accepted Dorsey's invitation to live there and moved into one of the guest cottages at Beauvoir.
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When the
Davises' last surviving son Jefferson Davis, Jr. died in 1878, the loss devastated both his parents. Varina Davis warmed to Dorsey's hospitality. That summer, Sarah Dorsey nursed Varina through a long debilitating illness. Soon afterward, Sarah Dorsey learned that she had inoperable tumors
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had a young woman fall in love with her cousin, whom she planned to marry until learning about their common blood line. The success of the serials prompted her aunt
Catherine's Philadelphia publisher, Claxton, Remsen and Haffelfinger, to republish the work in book form after the Civil War. Other
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Impoverished after his imprisonment, the
Davises had been living with their eldest daughter and her family in Memphis, Tennessee. Davis moved into Beauvoir on a permanent basis, where Dorsey provided him with a cottage on the grounds for his use.
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as her tutor. Dupuy had also taught Dorsey's aunts
Catherine and Eleanor. Later, about 1838â1841, Dahlgren sent Dorsey to Madame Deborah Grelaud's French School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded in the 1790s by a refugee from the
159:, also came to stay at Dorsey's plantation. In 1878, Dorsey realized she was terminally ill, rewrote her will, and bequeathed her property to Jefferson Davis. Davis wrote his history of the Civil War and began his autobiography,
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region, which Samuel inherited. Between the
Dahlgren-Routh-Ellis plantations on Sarah's side and Samuel's plantations, the newlyweds were rich. They settled first in Maryland but moved to a Routh family plantation near
184:, the "Two Sisters of the West," who while young published two volumes of poetry together. Catherine Anne Warfield went on to publish a number of novels, which achieved significant popular acclaim, including
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Sarah Anne's father died when she was nine. Her widowed mother Mary soon remarried to
Charles Gustavus Dahlgren, of Swedish descent. Her stepfather, who saw great potential in Sarah, engaged
128:(nÊe Ellis; February 16, 1829 â July 4, 1879) was an American novelist and historian from the prominent southern Percy family. She published several novels and a highly regarded biography of
291:(1867), with a heroine modeled on her own experiences in fleeing Louisiana for Texas during the war. Its descriptions were considered harrowing by contemporary readers. She also completed
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in two volumes, which was a bestseller in 1860. She and Ellis became quite close after her sister
Eleanor died in 1849, with Sarah Anne encouraging her to write again.
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Recognizing that she was dying, Dorsey rewrote her will in 1878. She bequeathed all her capital, and more importantly
Beauvoir, to Jefferson Davis. Dorsey died in the
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in New
Orleans on July 4, 1879, at the age of 50. She had undergone an unsuccessful operation for cancer performed by Dr. T. G. Richardson, assisted by Dr.
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veterans. Many were buried after their deaths in the cemetery behind the house. After the last veteran died, the property was adapted as a house museum.
155:, and use a cottage there. He ended up living there the rest of his life. Their friendship created a scandal, but both ignored it, and his second wife,
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The Percy family sued but failed to break the will. After
Jefferson Davis' death in 1889, Beauvoir was adapted as a home for
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was born to Mary Malvina Routh and Thomas George Percy Ellis. She was the niece of
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in her breast. As her health declined, Varina Davis became her primary nurse.
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702:, Mercer University Lamar Memorial Lecture, University of Georgia Press, 1994
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239:, an older man who was a member of a prominent Maryland family. His father
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The Literary Percys: Family History, Gender & The Southern Imagination
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in the 1850s. She published her first fictional work in 1863â1864 in the
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136:. It is considered an important contribution to the literature of the
544:. A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography (lahist.org). Archived from
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Louisiana Historical Association, "Dorsey, Sarah Anne Ellis"
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Soon after her husband died in 1875, Dorsey learned that
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282:which featured a heroine modeled on herself. The
132:, governor of Louisiana during the years of the
351:The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government
162:The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government
751:Deaths from breast cancer in the United States
302:In 1866, Dorsey had published a biography of
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317:, a plantation near Mississippi City, now
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691:, Vol. 1, 4th ed., The Belknap Press of
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348:There, Davis began to write his memoir,
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116: 1852; died 1875)
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771:19th-century American women writers
321:, overlooking the Gulf of Mexico.
540:Louisiana Historical Association.
287:fictional works of Dorsey include
143:In 1876, Dorsey, a widow, invited
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215:At the school, she met the older
741:19th-century American historians
736:People from Newellton, Louisiana
726:People from Natchez, Mississippi
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746:Deaths from cancer in Louisiana
731:People from Biloxi, Mississippi
398:(1863â1864), serialized in the
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16:American novelist and historian
608:Wyatt-Brown 1994, pp. 165â166.
596:Wyatt-Brown 1994, pp. 134â135.
584:Wyatt-Brown 1994, pp. 135â136.
513:Wyatt-Brown 1994, pp. 124â125.
313:In 1873, the Dorseys moved to
268:Dorsey wrote articles for the
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410:(1866), governor of Louisiana
278:, which serialized her novel
243:had accumulated large cotton
149:Confederate States of America
138:Lost Cause of the Confederacy
459:William Armstrong Percy, III
335:president of the Confederacy
781:Percy family of Mississippi
766:Historians from Mississippi
401:Southern Literary Messenger
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542:"Dorsey, Sarah Anne Ellis"
147:, former President of the
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761:Historians from Louisiana
756:American women historians
626:Wyatt-Brown 1994, p. 164.
617:Wyatt-Brown 1994, p. 165.
575:Wyatt-Brown 1994, p. 134.
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504:Wyatt-Brown 1994, p. 128.
237:Samuel Worthington Dorsey
102:Samuel Worthington Dorsey
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693:Harvard University Press
258:Tensas Parish, Louisiana
464:Catherine Anne Warfield
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235:In 1852, Ellis married
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88:Author; benefactor of
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548:on September 25, 2016
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204:. Mme Grelaud was a
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481:Thomas George Percy
408:Henry Watkins Allen
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304:Henry Watkins Allen
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217:Varina Banks Howell
130:Henry Watkins Allen
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552:December 16,
550:. Retrieved
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476:LeRoy Percy
414:Lucia Dare
384:Confederate
325:Later years
289:Lucia Dare
245:plantations
710:Categories
487:References
308:Lost Cause
50:1829-02-16
492:Citations
254:Newellton
210:Episcopal
169:Biography
315:Beauvoir
299:(1877).
206:Huguenot
153:Beauvoir
420:Athalie
293:Athalie
247:in the
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428:(1877)
426:Panola
422:(1872)
416:(1867)
378:Legacy
319:Biloxi
297:Panola
96:Spouse
79:, U.S.
60:, U.S.
655:ISBNs
390:Works
362:Death
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