31. Davis, Jefferson. Carte-de-Visite signed (“Jeffrn: Davis”), 2.4 x 3.9 in. (61 x 100 mm.) The bust portrait of the President of the Confederacy is by photographer Vannerson & Jones of Richmond, Virginia, with the photographer's printed credit on verso. Davis has signed in ink on the blank portion beneath the image. Some minor damage to emulsion at top of the carte, not affecting the image; light marginal toning. 

Jefferson Davis boldly signs a photograph for a prominent southern newspaper editor, who in turn presented it as a wedding present in December 1866 to H. Victor Newcomb, banker and founder of the West Shore Railroad, who became the focus of a notorious insanity case.

According to the included note that had been placed on the backing of a frame that once displayed the piece, the signed image was 
”Presented to H[oratio] Victor Newcomb in 1866 by John R. Thompson of Virginia his groomsman - given[?] to John R. Thompson by Jefferson Davis that same year — For my darling boy Herman D[anforth] Newcomb a Christmas remembrance [?] 1889…” 

John Reuben Thompson was an American poet, journalist, editor and publisher. In 1847, he became the editor of
The Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond, and in 1859 editor of The Southern Field and Fireside in Augusta, Georgia. Thompson did not take part in the Civil War due to health reasons. Instead, he went to London, from where he supported the Confederacy by writing articles in English magazines. 

Horatio Victor Newcomb was a prominent Louisville, Kentucky banker. He married Florence Ward Danforth on 26 December 1866 in a ceremony in Louisville. In 1880 Horatio moved to New York and organized the United States National Bank and took up residence in a house at 683 Fifth Avenue. He was also the founder of the West Shore Railroad. Toward the end of the century, Newcomb became addicted to chloral and started behaving erratically, including threatening the life of H. M. Flagler of Standard Oil. At the time of his committal, he turned over his fortune to his wife and children. Upon his release the following year, he sued for return of his monies. A court declared him “sane” in August 1901 and he managed to recover his fortune and obtain a separation from his wife. 
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June 11, 2015 11:00 AM PDT
26662 Agoura Rd
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