The home is still Standing and a Confederate Flag still Waving! the only thing left on the 1st floor was the statue of Davis which had a 3rd national draped across it. josie MS Division - Update on Beauvoir Compatriots: As I write this, I am looking at a picture of Beauvoir. When I left this morning for school, I began recording MSNBC to see if I could get lucky, and I have. Three of our compatriots also have seen this picture. Beauvoir Mansion, as seen from the west side has no porch on the front, the front steps are gone, and there is roof damage to the front and front right. It seems to also have some damage to the area underneath but the porch has fallen in on top so it is hard to tell. The shutters on the west and front sides seem intact, and, from what I can see of someone the back, they are also. Just what extent the damage has done is difficult to tell, but the inside may be salvable. We will not know for certain until one of the members has gone to Beauvoir to inspect. Spoke to Ward Calhoun last night and he is hoping to get down soon. My son and I may drive down this weekend if able. FedEx is providing water and we may carry some of it down. If so, will take photos and send next week. My personal thanks to our compatriots, to my son, to 1st Lt. Commander Larry McCluney, and Dan McCaskill, another of my fellow Board members, for keeping me posted so that I can send some good news, not newspaper news. Will send more as I know. Deo Vindice, Sent: Wednesday, August 31, 2005 12:44 PM Subject: Beauvoir House Still Stands Compatriots, An aerial shot of Beauvoir on the Jackson, MS 10:00 news shows Beauvoir still standing although severely damaged. Looking at the house from the air, the main house is still intact but the gallery and columns around the house are gone. It also has a large hole in the southwest corner of the roof and all windows and doors are gone. The Hayes Cottage just west of the House is no longer there. The Barracks in the rear of the House is probably gone as well. The copter did not pan far enough to the east to see the condition of the Gift Shop and Confederate Museum. From an earlier post, it sounds like the Library survived. I was told that many of the artifacts from the museums and House were moved to the upper floors Library for safe keeping. If the structural integrity of the House is sound, I believe Beauvoir can be restored. Update on Beauvoir ... It's NOT a total loss! 1st Lt. Commander, Mississippi Division, SCV and he assures me that Beauvoir is salvageable!!! House - 65% of the main house still stands. The porch, windows, doors, column & front porch are gone, but the structure still stands. If the structural integrity is good, the house can be repaired. Status of contents is unknown until we're allowed back into the area. Library - The first floor is gone, the only thing left on the 1st floor was the statue of Davis which had a 3rd national draped across it. Davis' papers, along with his will, were moved upstairs, so they survived. Small home where Davis resided - survived Other buildings, such as the gift shop, are gone. To view the video of Beauvoir, go to http://www.wlbt.com/ then click on the 2nd Skycopter tour ... this is about 16 minutes long ... Beauvoir is about 9:35 on the film. We're looking at 2-3 years to repair/rebuilt. Beauvoir depends heavily on tourism for survival, which will present a critical problem while it's being repaired. It's even more critical now that we get the matching funds for the federal grant. Please consider fundraising within your chapters to help us preserve this piece of our heritage. The notice below is listed on the Mississippi OCR Homepage. Tonnia C Maddox CPS Alabama Division, UDC Parliamentarian Alabama Society, OCR Treasurer Office of the Chairman & Assist Dean for Off-Campus Family Practice Programs UAB Dept of Family & Community Medicine 930 South 20 Street Birmingham AL 35205 Bus: 205-934-9109 Fax: 205-934-6628 Email: [email protected] Beauvoir Report Beauvoir, the last home of our beloved President Jefferson Davis, was selected as one of three National Landmarks to receive from the United States Government an American Treasures Matching Grant of $311,000. Since this is a matching grant, Beauvoir would have $622,000 for restoration work. We are asking all Confederate Rose members and all OCR Societies to help in our project to raise funds toward the matching grant fund for Beauvoir. This money will go toward the restoration of the Mansion to its original state. What is needed to complete the matching funds necessary to secure the grant is $100,000. Beauvoir needs all its Sons and Daughters of the South to help. Will you answer the call? Please make your checks out to: OCR - and mail them to: Annette McCluney, Vice President . . . Mississippi Society OCR . . . 1412 North Park Drive . . . Greenwood, MS 38930. The long term survival of Beauvoir depends on us! If we can not support Beauvoir, how can we ask others to do what we will not. ************************* -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] Sent: Sep 1, 2005 9:15 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [KYWBTSVETS] Jefferson Davis' Biloxi Home Beauvoir > Jefferson Davis' Biloxi Home Beauvoir Reported "Demolished" by Hurricane Beauvoir, the last home of Jefferson Davis, was reported late Tuesday to be "virtually demolished" by Hurricane Katrina. The Jackson, MS, Clarion Ledger said that the historic building has been "reduced to rubble and a frame of a house." The house was located on the north side of Beach Boulevard, across from a number of "barge style" casinos. One of the closest, the President Casino, was lifted whole from its mooring pillars and transported across the highway where it came to rest crushing a Holiday Inn. The house, constructed in 1854, was dedicated in 1998 as the "Jefferson Davis Presidential Library and Museum." After Davis' death Beauvoir evolved first into the Jefferson Davis Soldiers' Home, serving as a hospital and residence for disabled Confederate veterans and their dependents. The Beauvoir Confederate Cemetery is located at the extreme northwest corner of the estate and contains over 750 graves. One of them is Sam Davis, father of Jefferson Davis, whose body was moved there when the Mississippi River threatened his original gravesite at Hurricane Plantation. The Beauvoir cemetery is also the home of the Grave of the Unknown Confederate Soldier in an above-ground granite shrine. No reports on its condition are available. Another nearby burial ground, Southern Memorial Park, had its mausoleum torn open by the force of the onrushing water, and witnesses told the Clarion-Ledger that numerous caskets were strewn about the grounds. Most "burials" in the area are above-ground entombments due to difficulties with the high water table. The home and grounds have been open to the public since 1957. In 1969 Beauvoir survived Hurricane Camille but the museum, at that time in the basement of the house, was severely flooded. The Library cottage suffered severe damage from that storm. Both had since been rebuilt. ==== KYWBTSVETS Mailing List ==== For "KYWBTSVETS" List Questions Contact <[email protected]> Josephine Lindsay Bass Confederate Southern American 216 Beach Park Lane Cape Canaveral, FL 32920 321-868-1771 My Southern Family, http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~mysouthernfamily/ Becky Bass Bonner Email: [email protected] Home of the *HARRISON* Repository http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~harrisonrep/