Beauvoir - Jefferson Davis Estate Biloxi Mississippi

Beauvoir is the estate where Jefferson Davis, former President of the Confederate States, spent his final years along the banks of the Mississippi River.  It is a quiet and quaint place that has quite a bit of charm.  Many of the furnishings within the home are of the Davis family.  After Varina, his wife died, she wished the estate to become a home for CSA Veterans and widows, which it did become.  During the 1910's and 20's there were many dormitory style buildings on the grounds to serve those men and women.  They are buried in a cemetery upon the estate.  Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of the estate and it was repaired and restored thanks to contributions and donations from the United Daughters of the Confederacy and Sons of the Confederacy.  

 A parlor to greet the many guests that visited

 Original Clock

 Ceilings were painted with a three dimensional appearance

 Portrait of Jefferson Davis in his final years

 Entrance or formal hallway

 Varina's Bedroom

 Sitting room

 Winnie's room, along with her childhood dolls

 Varina's Gardens

 UDC archway to the cemetery

 Tomb of the Confederate Unknown

Andersonville Civil War Prison Camp - Memorial Day 2014

Andersonville Civil War Prison Camp

Memorial Day Remembrance 2014

I am a member of the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War (DUVCW) and have over a dozen ancestors who fought in the Civil War, although none of them were imprisoned in Andersonville.  My Florida Chapter of DUVCW participates in this very special Memorial Day Remembrance and I was asked to present the wreath for our Chapter - Mary Todd Lincoln Tent #10.  It was a hot, humid and sweltering 95 degree day in Georgia and many of the Ladies still wore full attire.  Let me present the town of Andersonville first.  

One of the reconstructed churches

Cemetery has been in used since the 1840's

Andersonville Village Hall since 1832

Mr. Wirt's Office during his tenure as the Prison Warden

A monument to Mr. Wirt, the prison warden who was the only civilian executed for war crimes during the Civil War.  This monument was presented by the Daughters of the Confederacy.  Mr. Wirt did receive a pardon for his alleged crimes but denied it and hence was executed.  

Abandoned buildings that look like they were constructed in the 1920's

I think this says it all when remembering the importance of Memorial Day.  War is such an unfortunate event and yet there are men, and women, who have given their lives for this country and must be interred as name unknown.  Their mothers and fathers went to their own final resting never knowing what happened to their sons or where they lay and therefore denied the humble act of grieving at a grave.