Sarah Dorsey | |
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| Born | Sarah Anne Ellis February 16, 1829 Natchez, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Died | July 4, 1879 (aged 50) New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Author; benefactor of Jefferson Davis |
| Spouse | |
Sarah Anne Dorsey (née Ellis; February 16, 1829 – 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 Henry Watkins Allen, governor of Louisiana during the years of the American Civil War. It is considered an important contribution to the literature of the Lost Cause of the Confederacy.
In 1876, Dorsey, a widow, invited Jefferson Davis, former President of the Confederate States of America, to visit her plantation, Beauvoir, 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, Varina Davis, 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, The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government.