Only two of his six children were alive when he died

Jefferson Davis had no children with his first wife, Sarah Knox Taylor, who passed away from malaria only three months after their wedding. In the second marriage, three of Jefferson and Varina's six children passed away before they were adults.

His son, Samuel Emory, was born on July 30, 1852. Margaret Howell, who was the only member of her family to marry and start a family, was born on February 25, 1855. She had five kids with her husband, Joel Addison Hayes, Jr. (1848–1919). In Memphis, Tennessee's St. Lazarus Church—also known as "The Confederate Officers' Church"—they were wed. They relocated from Memphis to Colorado Springs in the late 19th century. At the age of 54, she passed away on July 18, 1909. Jefferson Davis, Jr., was born on January 16, 1857. On October 16, 1878, he passed away from yellow fever at the age of 21 during an epidemic in the Mississippi River Valley that claimed 20,000 lives. Joseph Evan, who was born on April 18, 1859, passed away on April 30, 1864, at the age of five, as a result of an accident.

William Howell was born on December 6, 1861; he passed away from diphtheria at the age of 10 on October 16, 1872. Several months after the passing of her brother Joseph, Varina Anne, also known as "Winnie," was born on June 27, 1864. Since she was born during the conflict, she was referred to as the Daughter of the Confederacy. She never wed because her parents forbade her from entering an abolitionist family in the North. At age 34, she passed away on September 18, 1898, nine years after Jefferson Davis.