Legends and Lore of the Mississippi Golden Gulf Coast (11 page)

John Guilhot, the “Hermit of Deer Island.”
Courtesy of Alan Santa Cruz Collection
.

On May 27, 1959, Guilhot died in his sleep at the age of eighty-two. One account of his passing implies that it occurred on Deer Island. His family attests that he died at the residence of his stepson, Elmer Lemien, on Tucker Road in the St. Martin community. According to the Bradford O'Keefe Funeral Home records, Jean Guilhot died at Latimer Route 2 in Jackson County. Jean Guilhot's death closed an unusual chapter of Mississippi's Golden Gulf Coast history. The Hermit of Deer Island now lives only in the pictures and memories of those who knew and saw him.

CHAPTER 16

J
EFFERSON
D
AVIS

A Vision of His Early Life

On a windy March day in 1888, a lone figure made his way through the moss-laden oaks of Beauvoir. This representative of the
New Orleans Times-Picayune
newspaper had come to Mississippi's Golden Gulf Coast in hopes of an interview with Jefferson Davis. After being received into the home, he waited in a room he described as having a pine-knot fire in the hearth and a very large china bowl filled with a large number of “delicious pink azaleas.” He noted that the room was filled with souvenirs of the Davis family's foreign travels and with honors Mr. Davis had received from his own country.

As Jefferson Davis entered the room, the reporter noted that he had “the same slight, soldierly figure and refined face, crowned with silvery gray hair.” He noted that he looked stronger and in better health than he had in past years. In Davis's hand was a section of newspaper that contained a letter by one Mr. Gath. It appears that Mr. Gath had written an account of how as a young man serving in the U.S. Army, Lieutenant Jefferson Davis lost his eye. Lieutenant Davis's first assignment after graduating from West Point was with the First Infantry. He was assigned to the Northwest Territories between 1828 and 1833. While in the Northwest Territories, he was placed in charge of the construction of Fort Winnebago, near present-day Portage, Wisconsin.

Mr. Gath's story was a “you are not going to believe what so-and-so told me” kind of story. It appears that one Colonel Smith claimed he heard the story from an old army officer by the name of A.J. Center. Lieutenant Davis and Center were playing billiards. Unknown to them, a “wild westerner,” working for the government with his own team of ox, had broken his yoke. He made a request to Major David E. Twiggs, the post commander, for a replacement. Major Twiggs referred him to Lieutenant Davis. Mr. Gath's story indicates that the “wild westerner” supposedly made his request several times while Lieutenant Davis played billiards and appeared to ignore him. The “wild westerner” felt Lieutenant Davis was insulting him by ignoring him, so he punched Lieutenant Davis above his left eye. Due to the blow, an inflammation developed in his left eye, and “it became useless.”

This portrait of Jefferson Davis hangs over the fireplace at Beauvoir.
Courtesy of Alan Santa Cruz Collection
.

Jefferson Davis treated the report with amusement and without resentment as an “obviously and palpably false” account. We see a little bit of his character and his noted gentleman's point of view. He first stated, “There is not a word of truth in it from beginning to end.” He described Center as an officer and a gentleman, “incapable of telling the falsehood attributed to him.” He did confess to newspaper representative that they were in school at West Point at the same time, and both did serve in the Northwest Territories, but never at the same post.

Davis told the reporter that he had never played billiards. He also noted that there had never been a billiard table at any military post where he had served. One truth was that Major Twiggs was the commander of the post where Lieutenant Davis was stationed. As far as the ox teams that were used to construct Fort Winnebago, all were owned by the government, and the individuals manning the team were all soldiers.

Davis indicated that the inflammation injury to his eye occurred when he was the United States senator for Mississippi. As far as Colonel Smith, the so-called source of the story, Davis referred to him as “the miserable slanderer.” Colonel Smith was the son-in-law of Horace Greeley, the owner and editor of the
New York Tribune
. After the Civil War, President Andrew Johnson had refused Jefferson Davis the writ of habeas corpus unless supported by prominent Northern men who would set a bond for him. In 1867, Horace Greely and twenty-one other Northerners signed the $100,000 bond for the release of Jefferson Davis. Horace Greeley claimed that he had signed the bond in the interest of justice, liberty and humanity, and Davis said that he had never met Mr. Greeley until he signed his bond. Davis believed Horace Greely to be a kind and philanthropic man who, unfortunately, “should have so disgraceful a connection” to Colonel Smith.

The reporter said that Jefferson Davis peered into the pine-knot fire and began to reminisce about great men from his past, like Clement Claiborne Clay, the Alabama senator who served with Mr. Davis before the Civil War; General Andrew Jackson; Jim Bowie; and Sam Huston.

Jefferson Davis explained that he first met Sam Huston at General Andrew Jackson's home, the Hermitage, where both were guests. Sam Huston was the governor of Tennessee and Davis a cadet headed to West Point. After a few days, they both departed the Hermitage. About 1833, both would meet again in the Indian Nations territories. First Lieutenant Davis was serving in various encounters with the Pawnees, Comanche and other tribes. Huston had resigned his governorship, left his wife and was living with the Cherokees. Davis described his state as “half barbarous.”

Just before 1835, they would meet once again. This time, Huston was requesting First Lieutenant Davis's help with army patterns and other assistance. Huston declared that he and some Cherokee braves were going to assist the Texans in a rebellion against Mexico, saying, “Texas will be free, and I will someday be the president of the United States, and I will make you my secretary of state.” At this point, “Mr. Davis laughed at the idea of a young lieutenant and a visionary leading a handful of Cherokee braves against a formidable power.”

Texas was freed and was granted statehood on December 29, 1845. Sam Huston became a senator for the new state and served with Davis in the United States Senate. Huston also became the governor of Texas in 1859. He would have the distinction of being the only person in U.S. history to be the governor of two states, but he would never be president.

Here Jefferson Davis pondered the other prophecy of Sam Huston. Jefferson Davis would not become a secretary of state, but under the presidency of Franklin Pierce, he was appointed secretary of war. It is here that the
New Orleans Times-Picayune
reporter ended his story.

Jefferson Davis's bedroom at Beauvoir in Biloxi.
Courtesy of Alan Santa Cruz Collection
.

We know that during his time at Beauvoir, Jefferson Davis would write
The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government
, published in 1881, and
A Short History of the Confederate States of America
in 1889.

In March 1889, one year after his interview with this reporter, Jefferson Davis made his last public speech at Mississippi City. It is a reflection of his abilities as a statesman and his resolve to see the nation as one. He remarked that the faces he saw in the delegation were young men who would be the destiny of the southland. He told them, “The past is dead; let it bury its dead, its hopes and aspirations. Before you lies the future—a future full of golden promise; a future expanding national glory, before which all the world shall stand amazed. Let me beseech you to lay aside all rancor, all bitter sectional feeling, and to take your place in the ranks of those who will bring about a consummation devoutly to be wished—a reunited country.”

On December 5, 1889, Jefferson Davis died in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was originally buried in New Orleans, but his body was exhumed and reinterred in Richmond, Virginia.

CHAPTER 17

T
HE
D
AY THE
L
IBERTY
B
ELL
V
ISITED
M
ISSISSIPPI
'
S
G
OLDEN
G
ULF
C
OAST

The 1884–1885 World's Fair was scheduled from December to June in New Orleans. It was also known as the World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition. The special commissioner for the World's Fair made a request to the Philadelphia Select and Common Council. There was a heated debate within the council concerning the cost to the city to provide protection for the bell. On December 24, 1884, the Common Council made a resolution to send the Liberty Bell to the New Orleans Exposition. The resolution stated that three police officers would accompany the bell and that the only cost to the city would be the salaries of these custodians. Many Northerners and Southerners felt this could help heal the sectional animosities that existed on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line.

On January 1, 1885, the
Philadelphia Inquirer
reported, “Arrangements for the transportation of the venerable heirloom of the nation have been settled.” General Agent J.W. Latta and Manager Charles E. Pugh with the Pennsylvania Railroad made the transportation arrangements for the Liberty Bell.

The
Philadelphia Inquirer
also stated that a truck car was remodeled to carry the Liberty Bell. The writer reported, “A special truck car, beautifully painted, is being prepared for the bell, half of it open except for the frame to support the canvass canopy and curtains by which, when necessary, the bell may be protected.” A portion of the car was enclosed to house the honor guard of three Philadelphia police officers. The front of the car had “Philadelphia” printed on it and “New Orleans” on the rear. On the sides was the motto, “Proclaim Liberty.”

The journey to New Orleans had twelve scheduled stops. In Pennsylvania, there was Lancaster, Harrisburg, Altoona and Pittsburg. Then it was on to Columbus and Cincinnati, Ohio: Louisville, Kentucky; Nashville, Tennessee; Birmingham, Montgomery and Mobile, Alabama; and finally to New Orleans. The mayors of all of these cities had been contacted and each promised “to welcome the bell on its arrival with an ovation.”

On January 23, the Liberty Bell began its journey. The Liberty Bell left Independence Hall headed for the Thirty-first Street railroad station. It was escorted by an estimated five hundred policemen. At 10:00 a.m., it was loaded on its own special train that consisted of the bell car, a buffet car and an accommodation car for the council committee and other guests representing Philadelphia.

Once the journey began, there would be another stop on Mississippi's Golden Gulf Coast that was not scheduled. During the course of its journey, the Northern Council Committee and others made an amendment to stop at the Beauvoir station and invite Jefferson Davis to attend the reception in New Orleans. Chief Meteur sent a telegram to Mr. Davis, stating, “To: Jefferson Davis, Beauvoir, Mississippi. As representatives of the north and west, and on the part of the United States commissioners to the World's Exposition, we request that you join us on the excursion for the reception of the Liberty Bell.”

After leaving Philadelphia, the bell had made stops in ten cities. While most of the stops were brief, on the morning of January 26, the Liberty Bell arrived in Mobile, where guests were greeted and honored with a reception and a twenty-one-gun salute. This unplanned celebration caused a delay. The next stop had been unscheduled, but Jefferson Davis had accepted the invitation to attend the reception in New Orleans.

From New Orleans, a train with Mayor Guillotte, along with committees, guests and Continental Guards, departed to meet the Liberty Bell at the Beauvoir station. The Liberty Bell train arrived first at 1:00 p.m. It was soon joined by the New Orleans train. Greeting the train was a large crowd that included Jefferson Davis's little granddaughter, Varina Howell Davis Hayes. It was reported that when the train stopped, “A gentleman caught the child in his arms and lifted her to the bell, which she warmly clasped with her tiny arms and reverently kissed.” It was reported that she said, “God bless the dear old bell.”