Jefferson Finis Davis was born to Samuel and Jane Davis in Fairview, Kentucky on June 3, 1808. Davis was the youngest of ten children and was named after President Thomas Jefferson, who his dad greatly admired. Davis was an educated man, studying at The Catholic school of Saint Thomas and Jefferson College. When he graduated, Davis attended the West Point Academy in 1824, following three of his older brothers, who served in the War of 1812. Davis fell in love with Sarah Knox Taylor, daughter of his commanding officer, Zachary Taylor. Taylor denounced their marriage because he did not want his daughter to be a military wife. It was known that “Jefferson Davis, not to be denied, resigned his commission so that he and Sarah could marry on June 17, 1835 in Louisville, KY.” (La-Cemeteries, 2009). Sarah died at the age of 21 on September 15, 1835. Davis remarried Varina Bank Howell on February 26, 1845. Jefferson and Varina had six children, but only three survived until adulthood.