As the historic last home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, we’re able to have a glimpse into 19th-century Southern architecture and history. It has been restored to what it looked like when Mr. Davis, his wife, and daughter lived here after the war. It was interesting learning about this home from our tour guide who gave us a whole new view of the Civil War, and especially President Lincoln. Guess every story has at least two sides.
We were told that this was the only antebellum home along the Mississippi Gulf that hadn’t been flattened by Hurricane Katrina, but then we learned that only 4 or 5 of these beautiful homes had been along the Gulf before that horrendous storm. We had only known about the damage in New Orleans because the water and buildings were still standing when the news-people were able to come in. By that time, most of the buildings in Biloxi were already being cleared away. We can still see foundations and driveways leading nowhere.
Biloxi has been known as a vacation destination for years since it’s right on the coast..
Beauvoir was built as a summer vacation home by James Brown, a wealthy planter and entrepreneur, in 1848 and was completed in 1852. It features a Louisiana-Raised Plantation (creole) style for hurricane protection with a central hall and two cottages.
With wide porches all around, high ceilings, and big windows, Beauvoir was designed to take advantage of the cool breezes from the Gulf in the days before air-conditioning.
Brown designed the home using local wood; he even built a sawmill for the construction, but later sold it because of financial difficulties before the Civil War. The sturdy construction, including cypress doors, helped the home survive numerous storms until Hurricane Katrina caused significant damage, and led to its restoration
Brown built his home on this 51-acre estate that had land for animals, crops, and an orange grove. This estate was necessary to provide for his family of 13 children: 9 of the boys slept in hammocks under the house (we’ll see a picture of the area later), while the parents and 4 girls had bedrooms on the main floor.
Brown moved his family inland in 1868 after the war, but the property remained in the family until his widow sold it at auction in 1873 to pay taxes after his death (around 1866). (All of this family information has been gleaned from various websites and AI information.)
Have you noticed the walls and ceilings. They look so fancy.
But the tobacco smoke from the men and their loud voices when talking politics probably forced the men to meet elsewhere.
This dry well was probably dug as the house was being constructed to be used as temporary cool storage. For example, leftovers from a dinner could be lowered and kept cool until they could be served again. Ice was used to lower the temperature even more, and the water runoff would have just seeped into the sand.
In sea transport, a packet service is a regular, scheduled service, carrying freight and passengers (and ice).
After the Civil War and the death of Jefferson Davis, the home was used for Confederate Veterans and their families since they weren’t receiving any support from the government. They renamed the Dry Well to the Wishing Well: a quarter was for wealth, a dime for love, and a nickel for good health. All other wishes were for a penny. More about this use of the house in the next post.
other buildings on the property
After Mrs. Brown had to sell the property when her husband died, eventually the Dorsey family bought it. After Mr. Dorsey died, Mrs. Dorsey learned that her friend, Jefferson Davis, wanted a place to write his account of the Confederacy. So she offered the cottage to the couple since they had lost any fortune they had had with the end of the war.
description of the land
The house was surrounded by live oaks, magnolias, and cedars, with Spanish moss covering the live oaks. The sea lay in front of the house, and behind it was an orange grove. Beyond this was a pine forest, crossed by a running brook, on the banks of which grew wild azalea, bay yellow jasmine, and sweet olive. There were also six acres of scuppernong grapes [a variety of muscadine grapes that could be used for jams and sweet wine]. The Louisville and Nashville Railroad cut through the property, and north of the railroad was a virgin forest of long-leaf pine. It was the perfect spot in which Davis could write his long-delayed book.
Mrs. Dorsey showed Mr. Davis her east cottage of one room with a pillared gallery [a covered walkway or balcony with a row of supporting pillars or columns] surrounding it. She said the rear gallery [or covered porch] could be enclosed to become a bedroom and dressing room. The larger room could be lined with bookshelves.
Davis paid for the carpentry expenses to remodel the building. He retrieved his official letters and documents being held by a friend in South Carolina during his flight from Richmond. By February 1877, Davis, Dorsey, and Walthall were all hard at work on Davis’ book. She volunteered her services as a literary assistant, and her talents and literary experience became indispensable.
The following photograph is of Jefferson Davis enjoying his front porch.
ownership of the home over the years (per AI)
In 1878, while ill with cancer, Sarah Dorsey remade her will, leaving all her property, including Beauvoir, to Jefferson Davis. The will explicitly stated that if Davis did not survive her, the property would go to his daughter Winnie.
Before Dorsey’s death in July 1879, Davis had already arranged to purchase the home and title for $5,500 [about $162,000 today]. After her death, he paid the remaining installments to settle her estate’s debts, meaning he bought the property in full.
Jefferson Davis lived at Beauvoir until his death in 1889. In his own will, he left Beauvoir to his daughter Winnie, following the succession plan suggested in Dorsey’s will.
Winnie died in 1898 without a will, and the property passed to her mother, Varina Davis. Varina then sold Beauvoir to the Mississippi Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans in 1902 with the condition that it be maintained as a memorial and a home for Confederate veterans and their widows. The state did as she wished.
Beauvoir as a Confederate home for veterans
The home closed in 1957 after the last Mississippi Confederate veteran died. The cemetery that’s on the property was their final resting place.
We’ll learn more about the life of Davis in the next post when we walk through the museum/library next door.
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