A southern celebration: far-flung descendants of Jefferson Davis reunite at his childhood home for fellowship and great food.

They travel from all over the country to mingle beneath the cedars and oaks of Rosemont Plantation near Woodville, to tell tales, and to reminisce. Their purpose is to celebrate the birthday of a relative who helped shape the destiny of the South. They are descendants of Jefferson Davis, the Mississippian who was the first and only president of the Confederacy.

Arranging a gathering of such far-reaching importance to those involved required vision, but like many of life's pleasures, it happened by chance. Percival Beacroft, a native Texan, had a life-long interest in Jefferson Davis. In 1970, he explored Mississippi's backroads searching for locations associated with Davis when he discovered Rosemont, the Confederate leader's boyhood home. The house, built by Jefferson's parents Samuel and Jane Davis in 1810, was in disrepair and had no electricity or modem plumbing.

Distressed by his find and smitten with the thought of ownership, Beacroft bought the property from the Johnson family, who had owned it since the 1890s. After painstakingly restoring Rosemont, Percival became curious about Davis' family history. His friend Ernesto Caldeira of New Orleans undertook the task of genealogy. During his research, Caldeira uncovered the whereabouts of present family members. This led Beacroft to stage a reunion every other June at Rosemont on the weekend closest to Davis' birthday, June 3.

Many descendants accepted that first invitation and have continued to attend the reunion for years, forming close friendships with newly discovered cousins.

Jefferson and his second wife, Varina Howell, were married at the Briars in Natchez in 1845. They produced six children, but only one, Margaret, lived to marry and start a family. To carry on the Davis name, Margaret and her husband, J. Addison Hayes, gave their children the surname Hayes-Davis. Because the couple settled in Colorado, there is a large contingent from that state at each reunion. Descendants of Davis' nine siblings, who also grew up at Rosemont, also attend regularly. Badges with their ancestors' names as well as their own make it easy to spot their closest kin.

Guests at last year's reunion led a busy schedule. On Saturday, June 1, a luncheon on the grounds was followed by family meetings and a dinner featuring fresh halibut that had been caught by Joel Davis Webb of Homer, Alaska. The family members also paid visits to the cemetery next to Rosemont where five generations are buried.

On Sunday, special services were held at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, where Jefferson Davis and his family were members. Afterwards, the crowd returned to Rosemont for the birthday celebration.

As expected there was much socializing and tale swapping. "There is never a dull person at the reunion. Great stories!" said Mary Coralie Beauvais of Tallahassee, Florida, a descendant of Davis' sister Anna Eliza.

Dr. E. Crampton Harris of Mobile, Alabama, a descendant of Lucinda, another sister, remarked, "My grandmother, Lucy Mae Bradford, lived at Rosemont until she was 13. I grew up on Davis stories."

Cooking multiple meals for a large group takes much preparation, but Kitty Whetstone, a friend of Percival's from Woodville, has become adept at the role of planner. She writes menus for each reunion and supervises the cooking by a trio of local cooks--Doretha Browders, Julia Jenkins, and Bobbie Jackson.

Percival's many friends from Woodville and the surrounding area volunteer to serve. Last June, the Saturday midday menu included fried chicken, cornbread, potato salad, chicken salad, dilly cucumbers, fresh tomatoes, mustard greens, mashed potatoes with milk gravy, marinated green beans, stuffed eggs, and peanut butter sandwiches for the children. The dessert table displayed rum cake, Jeff Davis Pie, and lemon chess pie.

Attendees at the reunion are all familiar with Jefferson Davis' history. A West Point graduate who served in the Mexican-American War, he married Sara Knox Taylor, the daughter of Zachary Taylor, his commander. Davis brought Sara to Mississippi, where she died of malaria three months after their wedding.

Davis owned Brierfield Plantation at Davis Bend near Vicksburg and spent his civilian years as a planter. He was elected to represent Mississippi in the U.S. House of Representatives and, later, the Senate. President Franklin Pierce appointed him Secretary of War in 1853.

After the South seceded, Davis was made president of the Confederacy and held that office throughout the Civil War. When Richmond fell, he and his cabinet fled, and he was captured on May 10, 1865. He was brutally imprisoned at Fort Monroe, Virginia, for 2 years and finally released after the intervention of prominent men from the North.

After his release, Jefferson and his second wife, Varina, retired to Beauvoir on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. It was the home of their friend, Sarah Dorsey, but the Davises eventually bought the comfortable house. Davis wrote The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government in the peaceful seaside setting.

Jefferson Davis died on December 6, 1889, at the New Orleans home of his friend, Judge Charles Fenner. As an interesting footnote, the Mallard bed where Davis died is in the Jackson home of Eveline Fenner Fuselier and her husband, Louis. Although museums have sought the bed for years, the Fuseliers would not consider selling it.

After the reunion, many descendants visit the other houses in Mississippi associated with Davis' life. Brierfield at Davis Bend was ransacked by Union soldiers in 1862, flooded by the unpredictable Mississippi River many times, and, finally, burned to the ground in 1931. Only a few columns remain on the property that is now a private hunting club.

The Jefferson Davis Presidential Library was opened on the grounds of Beauvoir in 1998, Exhibits such as the coat he wore when captured and a grim replica of his prison cell are displayed.

At his funeral in New Orleans, the largest ever held in the South at that time, the clergyman said, "During those four years of strife, he was our chosen head, and at its close, our vicarious sufferer." This is an excellent description of an extraordinary Mississippian.

REUNION RECIPES

JEFF DAVIS PIE

CRUST:
1 1/2 cups flour
    1 teaspoon salt
  1/2 cup Mazola corn oil
  1/4 cup water

Sift flour and salt together in bowl.
Add oil and water, and stir. Roll out
between sheets of waxed paper. Place in
an 11-inch pie pan.

FILLING:

    1 stick butter
    2 heaping tablespoons flour
    2 cups sugar
    5 eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Have butter at room temperature.
Cream with flour and sugar. Add
eggs and milk, and beat well. Add
vanilla. Pour into unbaked crust, and
bake at 325 degrees until brown and
center is still shaky, approximately 45
minutes.

DORETHA'S POTATO SALAD
FOR A CROWD

 10 pounds potatoes, peeled and diced
    Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 quart mayonnaise
3/4 cup mustard
  1 (8-ounce) jar sweet pickle relish
  9 boiled eggs, grated
  1 lemon

Mix all ingredients except lemon to
taste, adding more salt and pepper if
you wish. Squeeze lemon, and add juice
to salad. Toss.

Doretha Browders

DILLY CUCUMBERS

  1 seedless cucumber
  1 small onion
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1-2 tablespoons minced fresh dill
    or 2 teaspoons dried dill weed
  1 teaspoon salt and dash of pepper

Score cucumber lengthwise. With
fork, cut crosswise into thin slices. Slice
onion into rings. Combine vinegar,
sugar, water, dill, salt, and pepper, and
bring to a boil. Pour over vegetables,
and chill. Serve on platter with sliced
tomatoes.

DORETHA'S FRIED CHICKEN

Chicken pieces
Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning
Flour
Crisco shortening
Canola cooking oil

Wash chicken, dry, and season piece
by piece individually with Tony's Creole
Seasoning. Dip each piece in flour.

Heat shortening and oil in a large
iron skillet. Drop a little flour in the
skillet to see if grease is hot enough. The
flour will fry if it is. Keep oil on medium
heat all the time. This makes chicken
golden brown.

Fry chicken in oil until it tests for
doneness with a fork. If the oil becomes
too brown at any time, change it.

Doretha Browders

CHICKEN SALAD FOR A CROWD

   16 cups boiled chicken
      Onions and celery
  3/4 quart mayonnaise
    1 (8-ounce) jar sweet relish
    6 boiled eggs
1 1/2 pounds green seedless grapes, cut
      in half
      Salt and pepper to taste
    2 (16-ounce) cans pineapple chunks,
      drained
  1/2 cup pineapple juice (from can)

Boil chicken with onions and celery.
Refrigerate overnight, then dice. Add
to other ingredients. Chill salad
overnight before serving.

MARINATED GREEN BEANS

2 (No. 2) cans cut green beans, drained
1 thinly sliced red onion
1 tablespoon salad oil
1 tablespoon vinegar
  Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2-1 tablespoon horseradish
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon chopped chives

Mix the first 5 ingredients, and
marinate in the refrigerator for several
hours, stirring once or twice. Mix sour
cream, lemon juice, horseradish,
mayonnaise, dry mustard, and chopped
chives in a separate container, and place
in the refrigerator. When ready to serve,
drain the green beans, and add sour
cream sauce. Approximately 6 servings.

RUM CAKE

CAKE:

1/2 cup chopped pecans
  1 box yellow butter cake mix
  1 small box instant vanilla pudding
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup water

1/2 cap light rum
  4 eggs

Grease and flour a bundt pan.
Sprinkle nuts in bottom. Blend
remaining ingredients in a mixer for
2 or 3 minutes. Pour into pan, and bake
at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes.

GLAZE:

  1 cup margarine or butter
  1 cup sugar
1/4 cup rum
1/4 cup water

Mix all ingredients; boil for about 2
minutes. Pour most of glaze over hot
cake, and let stand in pan for 30
minutes. Remove cake from pan, and
pour remaining glaze over top of cake.

Nancy Harvey

Star Hill, Louisiana

Plantation Country

Women's Service League

St. Francisville, Louisiana