May 27, 2019. Beauvoir and Jefferson Davis Museum.

May 27, 2019.  Beauvoir and Jefferson Davis Museum.  Jefferson Davis was a graduate of West Point, plantation owner, son-in-law of President Zachary Taylor, hero of the Mexican War, U.S Representative, Secretary of the Army and U.S. Senator.  He was also the first and only President of the Confederate States of America.  He was reviled by many on both sides during the Civil War.  Following the war, he was indicted for treason and spent two years in prison before the charges were voluntarily dismissed on the orders of President Andrew Johnson.  From 1865 until his death in 1889, he was impoverished, modestly successful, then finally comfortable in the last decade prior to his death.  He regained his reputation in the South and was admired in that region.  He wrote his two-volume memoirs in which he steadfastly defended his actions and those of other State's Rights advocates.  He and other "Lost Cause" proponents argued that slavery had little to do with the war, that it was caused by northern aggression to eliminate the noble southern culture.  

Beauvoir means "lovely view."  The house was built in 1848 and came into Davis' ownership in the late 1870s.  He had lived on the grounds for several years, working on his memoirs in an adjacent cottage.  Davis, his wife Varina and daughter, also named Varina, but called Winnie, lived there until 1889 when Davis died.  Varina and Winnie continued to live there while Varina wrote a book about her husband.  Both then moved to New York and Varina sold the house and grounds to the state of Mississippi for use as a Confederate soldiers home.  

The original museum and surrounding buildings were destroyed by Katrina in 2005.  The house was severely damaged but withstood the hurricane.  A new museum has now been built.  Unfortunately, many of the artifacts in the original museum were damaged, destroyed or washed away by Katrina, too.  

The museum pales in comparison to the Presidential Libraries.  The most interesting artifact is the coat worn by Davis during his capture.  As Grant sacked Richmond in April, 1865, Davis and his cabinet fled south, hoping to escape to Cuba.  Northern newspapers mocked Davis, claiming that he dressed as a woman to avoid capture.  The coat could be mistaken for a dress or nightgown, but it appears to be a coat to me.  There is also a pedal Singer sewing machine in the museum.  I don't know the year of manufacture, but the cabinet could have been made at the Singer cabinet factory in Trumann.  

Depicted above is a vintage painting of Beauvoir, a couple of current pictures, the small dining room, Davis' bedroom and Varina's bedroom , the cottage where Davis worked on his memoirs, the museum and library.  The sitting room of the library was very small.  That may be misleading because the building itself is pretty big.  Without intending to be negative, I was disappointed in the contents of the museum.  I am sure that is a result of Katrina and that the curators are working hard to restore it to its prior condition.  

Today, we biked and ate lunch out.  More about that next time.  

Goodnight.