James Cameron Phifer

Mr. Phifer’s interest in Sam Davis began in grade school, when he read a poem about the Confederacy’s boy hero. “In 1947 it all came alive again,” he writes, “when I joined the staff of the Nashville Tennesseean as copy editor and book reviewer and found myself in Sam Davis territory.” He helped institute the pageant which now takes place annually on the grounds of the Davis home at Smyrna. Much of the information on which this article is based came from interviews with Mrs. Media Davis Sinnott, one of Sam’s nieces. Mr. Phifer, formerly copy editor of the Milwaukee Sentinel, has just completed a history of his adopted state, entitled Wisconsin: The Thirtieth Star.

For further reading: Sam Davis, Confederate Hero 1842–1863 , by Edythe J. R. Whitley (Nashville, 1947).

Articles by

James

Phifer

Articles by this Author

“Mother, I Do Not Hate To Die”, February 1967 | Vol. 18, No. 2

A choice between life and honor is a fearful one for any man. Here is the unforgettable story of how it was made by a twenty-one-year-old Confederate private.

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