Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
DAVIS, Jefferson
DAVIS, Jefferson. (Fairview, KY, June 3, 1808-New Orleans, IA, Dec. 6, 1889). President of the Confederate States of America. Jefferson Davis, then a lieutenant in the United States Army, was ordered to direct the construction of a dam and lumber mill on the Yellow River near McGregor. The mill produced lumber used in the construction of Ft. Crawford at Prairie du Chein. (1)
In 1832 Davis, then a lieutenant in the U.S. Army, was ordered to the LEAD mines of Dubuque to prevent whites from occupying land still belonging to Native Americans.
Davis again played a major role in Dubuque history when in 1852 as secretary of war he was convinced by Senator George Wallace JONES into making a third appropriation for work on the Dubuque ICE HARBOR.
After his capture at the end of the CIVIL WAR on May 10, 1865, Davis was led to prison by a guard of one hundred Union soldiers including George W. HEALEY of Dubuque.
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Source:
1. "Low Water Shows Dam," Telegraph Herald, November 25, 1956, p. 15