Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1883-05-24
Beenauep,ts &kadinq.
JEFFERSON DAVIS AT HOME.

|
correspondent of the Detroit Free Press, fur
nishes that paper with the following inter
esting account of recent visit to the home
of Jefferson Davis:
It is a drive of five miles over a sandy
road and through the oaks and pines and
palmettoes from Mississippi City to Beau
voir, the home of Jefferson Davis, and as
passed over the road the other April day,
| frightening an alligator here-skirting an
orange grove there, and all of sudden
breaking out of the forest upon the sandy
shores washed by the waves of the gulf, |
| felt that he had well-chosen the home of his
old age. His had been life of turmoil,
even before civil war was whispered. lie
had been a giant in politics, a warrior in
Mexico, diplomat and an antagonist in
all the main issues of the day, and the prob
lem of civil government Few lives have
| been so eventful. .., ..5
HIS NEIGHBORs.
Iasked the Justice of the Peace who drove
me down in his springless wagon drawn by
a span of two-fat horses if ne knew Jefferson
Davis, and he answered:
"Why, of course-known him for thirty
years."
"And how do the people in this neighbor-
hood feel towards him" 3d. 49,.
Everybody likes him. He is a good
nelghbor, ajust minded citizen, and has the
respect and good will of every man, woman
and child"
care any of his former slaves in the
neighborhood 2"
"Plenty of them, and what's more num-
ber of them are now in his employ. He
was kind to his people, and when the war
closed and he finally came here to settle
down dozens of his old slaves were ready to
hire to him at any price. OF those in his
employ there isn't money enough in the
State of Mississippi to hire them to leave
him. He has two large cotton plantations,
outside of the Beauvoir property, thus di-
rectly and indirectly employing hundreds
of colored people, and you can't find one
who hasn't good word for him. No stree,
mister, there isn't man in this part of the
country better thought of as a neighbor,
citizen and a man than Jefferson Davis"
AT HOME.
The house is what we at the North
would call story and a half cottage in
height, and it faces the gulf. Around it is
a famous grove of oaks and other woods,
and from here and there tree, long gray
moss hangs down and swings in the breeze
in it's wierd and dreamy way. Nature has
done much to beautify the grounds, and
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The house is roomy, finely furnished and,
while there is no ostentatious display, there
is homelike atmosphere and look OF
cozy comfort. One can see refinement and
taste everywhere, and none of the home
comforts are sacrificed. From the Vemnda
one can look out upon the sandy beach, and
the neighbors are all that the word implies.
THE EX-PREs1DENT.
I had only a. moment to, wait before the
ex-President came in and gave me a hearty
grasp of hand and words of welcome. Tall,
almost snow white hair and whiskers, blue
ewes, face Wrinkling with age, voice as soft
and kind as a m0ther's-such was the picture
of the man who for four years held the
destinies of continent in his iron grip.
In the zenith of his power he may have
appeared naughty and imperious to some,
but not to the generality. A kinder face /
have never met, and though there is some
thing in the voice to warn one that it's own
er has held place and power, one is soon
charmed with its kindness and touch of
pathos.
MIR. Davis is 73 years of age and his health
is not of the best. 1t is evident that his
life of viscissitude is drawing to a close,
and as one realizes it he cannot but admire
the physical and mental machinery which
has Stood the strain of so much labor. Many
man of equal age had laid down his bur-
dens of life when Mr.. Davis assumed his
greatest. He has been man without rest
until within the last few years. His itera-
ry work, entered upon long after his sixtieth
| birthday, was o., task which would have
discouraged many an author twenty years
younger, yet he made no pause until the
last stchapter WASH the publishers hands
NORTH AND SOUTH.
He asked me about my Southern trip
where had been, whom | had met, and
what opinion / had formed Of the sentiment
of the masses and when l answered that
the North and South seemed more closely
united to-day than at any period in our
history, he expressed deep qualification.
"It is grand and progressive country" he
said, land the better the people understand
each other the better for our future as
country"
He asked me regarding the sentiment of
the North, and I believe answered truly
when 1 told him that rancor and bitterness
had died out of the hearts of all but dema-
gogues and malevolent politicians.
"That is right" he replied, "and l trust
thatno untOWard event will sever the grow
ing cordial relations"
r. q, a ABOUT WAR. ~
BY and by we drifted into the subject of
war. It was Mr.. Davis who gave Gen. Nc
CIellan his first upward steps, and it was
Mr.. Davis who appointed General Meade to
the LakeSurvey, and was sharply, criticised
| for his selection. He believed that McClel-
lan's campaign against Richmond had he
been permitted to carry it out as planned,
and received the hearty support of the War
Department, must have resulted disastrous
| ly to the Confederates.
81 knew Mcclellan, Meade, Humphrey
and nearly all the Federal Generals" said
Mr.. Davis, sand many of them. were my
proteges. Although they were fighting my
armies, could not resist a feeling of pride
in seeing so many of the young men / had
helped advance winning fame and proving
all that had been predicted"
/ asked him to name the best Federal
General, and he replied:
"There were tWo-McClellan and Meade.
Mcclellan was a grand engineer and great
General; Meade was a steady fighter, and
his movements were more of an enigma to
| Lee than those of any other Federal Cen
eral."
OLD ACQUAINTANCEs.
AS we talked Of this and that the names
of generals, statesmen, governors and gov
ernment officials came up, and many OF
them proved to be old acauaintances of Mr..
Davis. In years agone he and Ben Butler
were on the best social terms, and it was the
same with several other present governors
of Northern States and with various gener-
ais who won their laurelS in war. The eX-
President had kind word and a good wish
| for each and every one, and he seemed to
believe that those who had made their mark
were entirely deserving of their success.