Lot
4342 
Confederacy, Jefferson Davis Medallion, blue patriotic design with verse below and rare "Natchez Rifles, Capt. A.V. Davis" regimental imprint at top (slogan 59), on fresh cover to Natchez, Miss., light "Richmond, Va., Sep 23, 1861" cds struck over design, matching "Paid 10" in circle handstamp; some mounting remnants on reverse, Extremely Fine, a choice example of the Jefferson Davis Medallion patriotic bearing the extremely rare "Natchez Rifles" regimental imprint. C.S.A. Catalog No. JD-1B, verse 26 Estimate $2,000 - 3,000.
Capt. Alfred Vidal Davis, Sr. commanded the Natchez Rifles, Company E, 4th Louisiana Battalion. He enlisted at age 34 as a captain on March 8, 1861. He was born September 7, 1926, in Vidalia, La., and died May 13, 1899, in Pass Christian, and was buried in Natchez. Davis owned the only fully colonnaded house (Dunleith) now remaining in Mississippi, which he bought from Confederate Brigadier General (to be) Charles Dahlgren. Davis owned a slave, John Roy Lynch, who spent his childhood as a house slave at Dunleith. Following the arrival of Union troops, Lynch went on to become quite wealthy through trading land and was also one of the first African-American congressmen, serving four terms and advocating for civil rights legislation and against racial violence in Mississippi. Lynch also served as temporary chair of the Republic National Convention in 1884 and in 1898 was appointed by President McKinley to be a major in the US Army and paymaster of volunteers during the Spanish American War.
Realized: $1,800