Davidson Bradfute Penn was born on March 13, 1835, in Lynchburg, Virginia. He grew up in his grandmother’s household in Lynchburg. In 1856, he enrolled at the University of Virginia, and he studied law and modern philosophy. He withdrew from the university in March 1857, and he settled in New Orleans, Louisiana. He married Marie Allain, and they had at least eight children: Alfred, born around 1860; Allain, born around 1866; Davidson, born around 1868; James, born around 1870; Imogen, born around 1873; Marie, born around 1875; Evelyn, born around 1879; and Louise, born around 1881. He worked in the cotton industry, and by 1860, he owned $65,000 of real estate and $15,000 of personal property.

 

In May 1861, he received a commission as a captain in the 7^th Louisiana Infantry. According to his service records, he was 5 feet, 11 ½ inches tall, with black hair and dark eyes. He earned a series of promotions: to major, then to lieutenant colonel, and finally to colonel. The regiment took part in the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Chancellorsville, and the Battle of Gettysburg. Union forces captured him near the Rappahannock River on November 7, 1863, and imprisoned him at Johnson’s Island in Ohio. He remained there until May 12, 1865, when he received a parole.

 

He returned to New Orleans after the war, and he earned a living as a cotton merchant. He supported the Democratic Party, and he ran for lieutenant governor in 1872. Democrats resorted to fraud and violence in an effort to win the election. Federal officials declared Republicans victorious, but Democrats disputed the results and insisted that their party had won. As late as 1890, Penn referred to himself as the “Lieut[enant] Gov[ernor] of Louisiana.” By 1880, he was serving as the “recorder of mortgages” in New Orleans. His wife died on December 15, 1883, and he died in New Orleans on November 15, 1902.

 

Image: Davidson B. Penn (Confederate Military History, Vol. 10)

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