Richmond Whig,
May 2, 1864
At 7 o’clock Saturday evening, a little boy, son of President Davis, died from injuries believed to have been received by an accidental fall from the back porch of his father’s residence. Nothing is known of the particulars of the accident. At 6 o’clock in the evening, the child was found by one of the servants lying in an insensible condition in the back yard, with blood issuing from his mouth and nose, and his right thigh broken. Neither Mr. or Mrs. Davis being at home at the time, several ladies of the neighborhood were called in and a physician sent for. Every restorative that could be thought of was put in requisition, but all to no purpose. The little sufferer, without having once recovered its consciousness, died about 7 o’clock, from violent concussion of the brain.
The child, whose name was Joseph, was a bright and handsome little fellow, and at the time of this deplorable accident was in perfect health. He was the third child of the President.
As we have said, the particulars of this accident, further than we have stated, are not known; but it is believed that the child, whilst playing about unwatched, climbed over a low railing that surrounds the back porch, and losing his balance, fell a distance of twelve feet, upon a narrow strip of granite flagging that skirts the basement wall.
The funeral took place from St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, at five o’clock last evening, and was largely attended.