Jim Limber

Jim Limber
Nationality American
Other names Jim Limber Davis
James Henry Brooks
Known for Being a biracial orphan who lived with Jefferson Davis and his family during the American Civil War

Jim Limber (also known as Jim Limber Davis, possibly born James Henry Brooks) was an orphaned boy of mixed white and black descent who lived briefly with the family of Confederate president Jefferson Davis as an informal ward from February 1864 until the family was captured by Union forces in May 1865. A playmate for the Davis children, Jim Limber was varyingly referred to as the family's "protégé" or "pet" in surviving correspondence between members of the Davis family.[1][2][3]

On February 14, 1864, Davis's wife, Varina Davis, was returning home in Richmond, Virginia, when she saw the boy being beaten by a black woman. Outraged, she immediately put an end to the beating and had the boy come with her in her carriage. He was cared for by Mrs. Davis and her staff. They gave him clothes belonging to the Davis's son, Joe, since the boys were of similar age. When asked his name, he just said "Jim Limber."[4]

Davis arranged for Jim to be freed from slavery. It is unknown if Davis actually adopted him. There was no adoption law in Virginia at that time, so any adoption would be an "extralegal" affair.[5][6]

Jim was with the Davises when they were forced to abandon Richmond before the Union Army captured the city in April 1865. When the Davises were captured by Union forces in Irwinville, Georgia, on May 15, Jim was separated from them. Some recounts of the story say this was due to a swift kidnapping of Limber by the Union Army, while other accounts say that the Davises recognized a Union general they knew well, Rufus Saxton. The Davis family never saw Jim again.[4][6][7]

Jim briefly lived with Saxton in Charleston, South Carolina, but was eventually sent north for education until he was old enough to support himself.[1][3] Though it is mentioned in some of the more sympathetic biographies of Jefferson Davis that he never stopped searching for Jim Limber, this search seems to be recorded only in oral history as it is not mentioned in his voluminous surviving correspondence for the last two decades of his life in which mention at all of Jim Limber is fleeting.[1]

In 2008, the Sons of Confederate Veterans offered a $100,000 statue of Jefferson Davis to the American Civil War Center in Richmond, which consisted of a life-sized depiction of Davis holding hands with his son, Joseph Evan Davis, and Jim Limber. The statue was completed in fall 2008[8][9] and while it was initially accepted by the center,[10] the deal quickly fell through and is now on permanent display at the Beauvoir estate, Davis's last home in Biloxi, Mississippi.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Coski, John M. (March 8, 2014) [2009]. "Limber, Jim". Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
  2. ↑ Sebesta, Edward H. (September 29, 2011). "Celebrating Leaders Of The Confederacy As Heroes: The Museum of the Confederacy". The Black Commentator (Issue 443). Part 2 of 4. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
  3. 1 2 Crist, Lynda (ed.). The Papers of Jefferson Davis: 1808-1840. Volume 11. LSU Press. p. 547.
  4. 1 2 Johnson, Jr., Calvin E. (February 2005). "Jim Limber's Story for Black History Month". Southern Party of Georgia. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
  5. ↑ Levin, Kevin M. (June 20, 2008). "John Coski on Jefferson Davis and Jim Limber". Civil War Memory. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
  6. 1 2 Coski, John M. (Winter 2008). "What do we really know about Jim Limber?". Museum of the Confederacy Magazine. p. 18—19.
  7. ↑ Griffith, Michael T. (2003). "Jefferson Davis: His Character, Leadership Style, and Race Relations". The Civil War, The War Between the States, The War for Southern Independence. Archived from the original on October 13, 2008.
  8. ↑ Szkotak, Steve (June 18, 2008). "Confederate group offers statue to Civil War Center". Kilgore News Herald. Associated Press. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
  9. ↑ Jones, Will (June 10, 2008). "Statue of Jefferson Davis is proposed". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Archived from the original on February 12, 2012.
  10. ↑ "Civil War Center Accepts Donated Davis Statue". International Herald Tribune. Associated Press. August 14, 2008. Archived from the original on September 19, 2008.
  11. ↑ Johnson, Jr., Calvin E. (February 26, 2009). "Jim Limber Davis—Black History Month's Forgotten Story". Opinion. Dawson Times. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.