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 The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) is an American neo-Confederate hereditary association for female descendants of Confederate Civil War soldiers engaging in the commemoration of these ancestors, the funding of monuments to them, ...

. She later served as the organization's Honorary President General and as the Custodian of the Southern Cross of Honor.

Biography

Early years

Raines was born Anna Mitchell Davenport on April 8, 1853, in

Isle of Hope, Georgia Isle of Hope is a census-designated place (CDP) in Chatham County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Savannah Metropolitan Statistical Area, and at the 2020 U.S. census its population was 2,357. The island is one of the most affluent comm ...

, near Savannah, to Major Hugh McCall Davenport, a Confederate Army officer, and Martha Anne Elizabeth Stone. As a child during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, she brought bandages and food to

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

hospitals and military camps in Savannah. In 1864

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...

General

William Tecumseh Sherman William Tecumseh Sherman ( ; February 8, 1820February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author. He served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865), achieving recognition for his com ...

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 Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. When Robert E. Lee surrendered, the family was in Macon. After her father returned from the war, the family stayed in Savannah and then moved to New York. On February 11, 1873, Raines married Lucian Hamilton Raines. They had five children: Martha Stone Raines, Richard Mitchell Raines, Lucian Hamilton Raines, Jr., Mary Judson Raines, and Davenport Raines.

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. The chapter was formed and Raines was elected as the first president. 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. 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. 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. 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

. She later served as the UDC's honorary president general and as the Custodian of the Southern Cross of Honor. 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.

Death

Raines died on January 21, 1915, and was buried in the family plot in

Laurel Grove Cemetery Laurel Grove Cemetery is a cemetery located in midtown Savannah, Georgia. It includes the original cemetery for whites (now known as Laurel Grove North) and a companion burial ground (called Laurel Grove South) that was reserved for slaves and fr ...

in Savannah.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raines, Anna Davenport 1853 births 1915 deaths 19th-century American philanthropists 20th-century American philanthropists American women philanthropists Members of the United Daughters of the Confederacy People from Savannah, Georgia People of the Confederate States of America Philanthropists from Georgia (U.S. state) Women in the American Civil War 20th-century women philanthropists 19th-century women philanthropists