The Jefferson Davis House, located in beautiful Biloxi Mississippi, was built in 1848 and was com pleated in 1852 by James Brown. After having to flee the cottage at the onset of the Civil War, the property was sold at the death of Mr. Brown to Frank Johnston who held ownership to it for a brief 2 months before selling it to Sarah Dorsey, a prominent author, the daughter of a wealthy Louisiana planter, and childhood friend to Jefferson Davis' wife Varina.
Sarah Davis named the estate Beauvoir (Boh-var) meaning "beautiful view" as it sits on 600 acres over looking the Mississippi Sound. Jefferson Davis had been searching for a quiet abode to complete his many writings. After visiting the estate only twice he and his wife fell in love with the land and eventually bought it from Mrs. Dorsey for $5,500 dollars to be paid in 3 installments. Mrs Dorsey died shortly after receiving the first payment, and the Jefferson's then learned that they had been named sole heirs of the estate. Beauvoir was turned over to Winnie Davis at her fathers death in 1889, when both she and her mother moved upstate to New York. Varina and Winnie continued to work in the literature department until Winnie's death in 1898.
Varina then sold the estate to The Sons of Confederate Veterans in 1902. It was kept as both a memorial to her husband, and housing for confederate veterans, widows and orphans. Roughly 2,500 vets and family members were sheltered there from 1903 to 1957
scheduled to reopen in June 2008 after remodeling and repairs suffered with hurricane Katrina in 2005
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