Anna Davenport Raines

Anna Mitchell Davenport Raines (April 8, 1853 – January 21, 1915) was an American philanthropist and founding Vice President of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. She later served as the organization's Honorary President General and as the Custodian of the Southern Cross of Honor.

Anna Davenport Raines
Vice President of the United Daughters of the Confederacy
Custodian of the Southern Cross of Honor
Honorary President General of the United Daughters of the Confederacy
Personal details
Born
Anna Mitchell Davenport

(1853-04-08)April 8, 1853
Isle of Hope, Georgia
United States
Died(1915-01-21)January 21, 1915
Savannah, Georgia
Resting placeLaurel Grove Cemetery
SpouseLucian Hamilton Raines
Children5
Parent(s)Hugh McCall Davenport
Martha Anne Elizabeth Stone
Occupation
  • philanthropist
Known forCo-founding the United Daughters of the Confederacy

Biography

Early years

Raines was born Anna Mitchell Davenport on April 8, 1853, in Isle of Hope, Georgia, near Savannah, to Major Hugh McCall Davenport, a Confederate Army officer, and Martha Anne Elizabeth Stone.[1] As a child during the American Civil War, she brought bandages and food to Confederate hospitals and military camps in Savannah.[2] In 1864 Union Army General William Tecumseh Sherman ordered all Confederate officers' families out of Savannah during his March to the Sea, and Raines and her family took refuge in Augusta and, later, Atlanta.[1] When Robert E. Lee surrendered, the family was in Macon.[1] After her father returned from the war, the family stayed in Savannah and then moved to New York.[1]

On February 11, 1873, Raines married Lucian Hamilton Raines.[3] They had five children: Martha Stone Raines, Richard Mitchell Raines, Lucian Hamilton Raines, Jr., Mary Judson Raines, and Davenport Raines.[1]

United Daughters of the Confederacy

In 1892 Raines responded to a call from the Confederate Veterans' Association of Savannah for women of the city to form their own auxiliary organization. She was elected secretary of the Ladies Auxiliary. At a meeting in December 1893 Raines suggested that the auxiliary form into a permanent organization, and moved to change the name to Daughters of the Confederacy.[1][4] The chapter was formed and Raines was elected as the first president.[5] She was unaware that, at this time, another society bearing the name "Daughters of the Confederacy" had been organized by Caroline Meriwether Goodlett in Tennessee.[1][6] Goodlett and Raines were made aware of each other's organizations and joined them together, extending invitations to similar women's societies in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Missouri to create the National Association of the Daughters of the Confederacy.[7][1][8][9] Raines was elected as the first vice president of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, with Nashville becoming the first chapter and Savannah becoming the second chapter.[10] Raines submitted a constitution and bylaws, as well as a design for the organization's insignia. At the Second Annual Convention in Atlanta in 1895, the name of the organization was officially changed to the United Daughters of the Confederacy.[1][11] She later served as the UDC's honorary president general and as the Custodian of the Southern Cross of Honor.[1][12] She and Goodlett were known to have a staunch rivalry, and both considered themselves to be the original founder of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.[13]

Death

Raines died on January 21, 1915, and was buried in the family plot in Laurel Grove Cemetery in Savannah.[1]

References
  1. "Meet the Founders | United Daughters of the Confederacy".
  2. "United daughters of the Confederacy". Social Networks and Archival Context. October 16, 1914. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  3. LaCavera, Tommie Phillips. (June 20, 1994). Anna Mitchell Davenport Raines: co-founder of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. UDC, Georgia Division – via Hathi Trust.
  4. Butler, Douglas J. (2013). North Carolina Civil War Monuments: An Illustrated History. McFarland. ISBN 9780786468560 – via Google Books.
  5. Guss, John Walker (2004). Savannah's Laurel Grove Cemetery. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9780738516295 – via Google Books.
  6. "About the UDC". Alabama Division United Daughters of the Confederacy. Archived from the original on June 21, 2020. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  7. DuRocher, Kristina (2011). Raising Racists: The Socialization of White Children in the Jim Crow South. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0813139845 – via Google Books.
  8. "Founding of the Organization · Kentukcy Women and the Lost Cause · Kentucky Women and the Lost Cause". kentuckywomenlostcause.omeka.net.
  9. Sims, Anastatia (1997). The Power of Femininity in the New South: Women's Organizations and Politics in North Carolina, 1880-1930. Univ of South Carolina Press. ISBN 9781570031786 – via Google Books.
  10. "Confederate Veteran: Published Monthly in the Interest of Confederate Veterans and Kindred Topics". 1898 – via Google Books.
  11. LaCavera, Tommie Phillips (1994). "Anna Mitchell Davenport Raines: co-founder of the United Daughters of the Confederacy". UDC, Georgia Division – via Google Books.
  12. "Southern Cross of Honor". udcbeaufortsc.org.
  13. Simpson, John A. (2003). Edith D. Pope and Her Nashville Friends: Guardians of the Lost Cause in the Confederate Veteran. Univ. of Tennessee Press. ISBN 9781572332119 – via Google Books.
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