Beauvoir, home of Jefferson Davis near Biloxi, Mis Poster

Beauvoir, home of Jefferson Davis near Biloxi, Miss..Beauvoir was the location of the retirement home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. The compound consisted of approximately 608 acres (2.46 km2) when Davis lived there (today, the site is approximately 52 acres (210,000 m2) in size). Beauvoir is located in Biloxi, Mississippi across US Highway 90 from Biloxi Beach. The name "Beauvoir" means "beautiful to view". The compound consists of a Louisiana raised cottage-style plantation residence, a botanical garden, a former Confederate veterans home, a modern gift shop, a Confederate Soldier Museum, the Jefferson Davis Presidential Library and Museum, various outbuildings, and a historic Confederate cemetery which includes the Tomb of the Unknown Confederate Soldier. Five out of seven of these buildings were destroyed in Hurricane Katrina and replicas are being planned (see below). The house was surrounded with cedars, oaks and magnolia trees and at one time had an orange grove behind it. The home faces the Gulf of Mexico and Spanish moss hangs from many of the large old trees on the property. Oyster Bayou, a freshwater impoundment and bayhead swamp; once connected directly to the Mississippi Sound and runs across the property behind the main house from West to East. This body of water is fed by natural artesian springs that lie on the grounds. The northeast portion of the estate is the site of a primitive, pre-urban hardwood forest with an environment similar to what existed in the area during the 1800s. Proposals currently call for restoration of Oyster Bayou to its original environmental state, though this area also suffered extensive damage from Hurricane Katrina. Beauvoir was built by James Brown, a planter and entrepreneur, in 1848 and was completed in 1852. In 1873 the home was sold to Frank Johnston and soon thereafter to Sarah Anne Ellis Dorsey. Dorsey was a novelist and intellectual from Natchez, Mississippi, who was a staunch southern partisan. Dorsey lived in the home with her half-brother Mortimer Dahlgren. Dorsey invited Jefferson Davis to stay at Beauvoir and to write his memoir The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government. Davis accepted Dorsey's invitation and moved into the Library Pavilion on the estate grounds in 1877. Later, his wife, Varina, joined him. Davis arranged to purchase the property in 1879 for $5500 to be paid in three installments. Six months later, Dorsey died before the other two payments were made and left the estate to Davis in her will. Davis and his wife moved into the house proper along with their youngest daughter, Winnie. Davis lived in the home until his death in December 1889. Varina Davis remained on the property for a short time while she wrote her book Jefferson Davis: A Memoir. She and her daughter Winnie moved to New York City in 1891. Jefferson Davis left the estate to his daughter Winnie. But on her death in 1898, the ownership of the property reverted to Varina who sold much of the property to the Mississippi Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans in 1902 for use as a memorial to her husband and as the location of home for Confederate veterans and widows. A dozen barracks buildings, a hospital, and a chapel were built behind the home and approximately 2,500 veterans and their families lived at the home at one time or another during its existence from 1903 to 1957. In 1941 the main house opened for public tours. Eventually a Confederate Museum was opened on the site. Over the next few decades a Jefferson Davis Gallery, gift shop, the Tomb of the Unknown Confederate Soldier, and the Jefferson Davis Presidential Library and Museum were established on the grounds. In 1969 the home survived the onslaught of Hurricane Camille. Due to its construction and materials it survived. The home did experience some flooding and a major fundraising and restoration effort was required. In 1998 the Mississippi Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans opened the Jefferson Davis Presidential Library which contains the personal library and papers of Jefferson Davis, a biographical exhibit, and a theater and lecture hall. See this beautiful design, amazingly digitally enhanced photo, from the original negative. Thanks to the library of congress. With No Border, no bleed to edge. DEO VINDICE..... SAVE 10% ON ALL ZAZZLE ORDERS. HERE OR EVERYWHERE ON ZAZZLE WITH MR. REBATES!! Also enjoy a rebate on over 2,000 other online retailers. "Don't Shop Online Without Mr. Rebates." Refer others and earn a rebate off their online purchases made through Mr. Rebates. Simply click any of the banners to Mr. Rebates, Create an account, Search for Zazzle.com in the store search box, follow the further instructions and your saving 10%. Enjoy!!! [All Rights Reserved; w/o Prejudice: U.C.C. 1-308.]