In his early 20s, Bertram Hayes-Davis was chosen to head the Davis Family Association, dedicated to commemorating his great-great-grandfather, Jefferson Davis. In speaking of his ancestor today, Hayes-Davis points out that his career as a public servant has largely been forgotten in light of his brief stint as Confederate president. He is now the executive director of Beauvoir, Jefferson Davis’ last home, and a new Presidential Library, opened in 2013. Owned by the Mississippi Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, Beauvoir was badly damaged by storms. A restored cottage is the only original building on the grounds. To learn more about plans for new exhibits at Davis’ former home, go to beauvoir.org.
How did Jefferson Davis become associated with Beauvoir?
He first visited Beauvoir in 1877, as he was looking for a location to write his memoirs, The Rise and Fall of the CSA. He was befriended by owner Sarah Dorsey, who offered to rent him a cottage on the property. Davis acquired Beauvoir in 1880, joined there by his wife Varina and their youngest daughter, Winnie. After Jefferson’s death in 1889, Varina and Winnie were the owners. In 1906 Varina sold it to the Sons of Confederate Veterans—with two restrictions: that it be a memorial to Jefferson Davis and to the Confederate soldier.
What was Beauvoir’s fate after that?
In 1906 the state took it over and converted it to a veterans home, which it remained until 1956, with a hospital, chapel and barracks. The maximum residents living there was probably about 280. In 1955 the state gave the property back to the Sons of Confederate Veterans of Mississippi, and they decided to make it a museum, per Varina’s will. The Davis family donated a large collection of artifacts, which were housed beneath the home. In 1969 Hurricane Camille destroyed a lot of those artifacts, and Hurricane Katrina did even more damage in 2005.
What is your biggest challenge at Beauvoir today?
To make the American public understand that Jefferson Davis is more than one sentence in a history book. Most people only know he was president of the Confederate States of America. Nobody knows what he did in the first 52 years of his life or what happened to him after the war. He was a West Point graduate who served in the Black Hawk War. He married Zachary Taylor’s daughter and lost her three months later. He was in exile, or a state of depression, for eight years, and he built a huge plantation with his brother Joseph south of Vicksburg, at Davis Bend. He became a state representative in 1846, fought in the Mexican-American War with his ex-father-in-law and Winfield Scott in 1848-49, became a senator from Mississippi, became secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce from 1852-56, and then a senator from Mississippi from 1856-60. He spent two years in prison at Fort Monroe in the Casemate. From 1866-1877, he traveled the world: He went to Europe and Canada, and ended up in Memphis. He was looking for a job before he came to Beauvoir. And he lived to age 81.
Why is it important to know about his career?
What most Americans “know” about Davis is that he was appointed president of the Confederate States of America. People don’t understand that he was responsible for the surveys of the four transcontinental railway routes, from his period as secretary of War. They don’t know he was directly involved with the design and initial construction of the U.S. Capital and the statue of Freedom on the dome. Most people just want to put him down as a martyr—and he was an American patriot until December 1860.
Was he reluctant to become the Confederate president?
He was very reluctant—matter of fact, he didn’t want it. When he got the telegram at Vicksburg, as Varina describes it, his face turned ashen. But he also knew that he was the man of the hour.
Who pays for Beauvoir?
Funding comes from admissions (we’re open every day). Some grants also come from the state, and we have grants for capital projects—for instance, for the house and restoration. A lot of support came from FEMA for rebuilding after Katrina. We get grants for restoration from the National Park Service and the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Beauvoir also accepts donations from the public. We have 52 acres, and we’re looking for the opportunity to make this not only a historic property but a natural historic property.
What about Varina’s garden?
We used Varina’s drawing and description to re-create her garden. It took 18 months to get the restoration right. We wanted to make it accurate, so we have 17 varieties of roses and we planted 4,100 plants. The walkways and everything else matches the design that she handwrote in the 1880s. When people come to see her garden, we can say, “By the way, did you know…?” and talk about the house, the art and Jefferson Davis—a historical look at the place as a whole. Not that we’re fighting the war. Davis was a slaveholder, but there is so much more to the story of this historic figure.
What new exhibits are planned for Beauvoir?
We’ve been trying to determine where everything is that we could use. We want to tell the entire story of Jefferson Davis—like it’s done at Monticello—with a large video display, a timeline and an interactive display, so you can find out what Davis was doing at any time. And exactly what was going on in the rest of the country. In other words, we want to tie his life story to a history lesson. People don’t understand how integral he was in some of the decisions that changed America. For example, the railway changed America, uniting the Mississippi River with the Pacific Ocean.
Do you ever feel it’s a burden being Davis’ great-great-grandson?
I grew up in Colorado. Davis’ only daughter moved to Colorado Springs in 1885, literally escaping from the South, getting about as far away as you could get. When Davis died in 1889 in New Orleans, the family came to visit from Colorado Springs. But there were no boys—no name legacy. Varina pointed out the window and said: “There lies the last Davis. Isn’t it a shame? Can’t we do something about that?” So they asked my grandfather, who was 6, if he would change his name. On the way back to Colorado they stopped in Jackson, Miss., and through an act of the state legislature changed his name from Jefferson Addison Hayes to Jefferson Hayes-Davis. My brother, Jefferson HayesDavis, didn’t relish the role. When I was in graduate school, I attended a Davis family reunion in Woodville, Miss., where the family decided to create a nonprofit, the Davis Family Association. And for some reason they chose me—a 20-something graduate student with long hair and a beard—as its head. I thought, “If I’m going to do that, I need to know more about who it is I’m speaking about and representing.” For the last 30 years my wife Carol and I have been traveling the country. We’ve probably made about 1,000 speeches. This is my legacy. This is my ancestry. No, it’s not a burden, it’s an opportunity. I didn’t know it was going happen, and God put me there for that one reason. I guess that should have been my first answer. It’s a grace.
Originally published in the December 2013 issue of Civil War Times. To subscribe, click here.
