BILOXI, MISSISSIPPI– On October 9th, 1868, Jefferson Davis writes to a close friend that the “south shall rise again.” Presently, in Biloxi Mississippi, there have been eerie sightings of risen confederate soldiers.
Keeping watch of the steady movement of the tide is Beauvoir House, once home to Jefferson Davis, the only president of the Confederacy. In life, Jefferson Davis used Beauvoir to write his memoir entitled, The Rise and Fall of the Confederacy. On December 6th 1889 Jefferson Davis passed on. What was once 600 plus acres, is now a 52 acre museum.
Kitsaa Stevens works in museum development and programs at the museum and says, “It was a confederate veterans home from 1903 to 1957. In that time, some 1800 confederate veterans, wives and servants, made their way through our property.”
Bodies now lay still in the cemetery in the back of the property. Their souls however… well thats another matter all together.
“They like to entertain our guests. One of our favorite stories is that we had a guest come in the gift shop and and told miss Rosie that the rein-actor that we had portraying Jeff Davis was really rude. He told her to stay out of his wife’s garden. No matter what Rosie told her or anyone else, we did not have any actors on the property that day. Rosie told her that she should listen to Jefferson Davis,” says Stevens.
On a different day senior visitors received more than what they expected. They were introduced to music of Varina Anne Davis, also known as Winnie. Winnie was the youngest daughter of Jefferson Davis.
“My seniors were on the steps of the house and we heard Winnie’s piano play, inside the house. The curator was quite adamant at the time, to not touch the piano. 40 seniors turned around and said, we’re not even in the house,” says Stevens.
The beauty of the grounds inspires many a love afflicted couple to get married.
“We do weddings here and so a lot of brides come here to take their bridal portraits. We’ve had several brides who send pictures. When they take their pictures, the window behind them is Winnie’s room and she appears behind them in that window,” says Stevens.
On December 11, 1889, Jefferson Davis’ body was rolled through New Orleans, where it was laid to rest in a vault in Metairie Cemetery.
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