The Burt-Stark Mansion, also known as Armistead Burt House, in

Abbeville, South Carolina Abbeville is a city and county seat of Abbeville County, in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It is located west of Columbia and south of Greenville. Its population was 5,237 at the 2010 census. Settled by French Huguenot settlers, it was ...

was the site of the last Council of War of cabinet members of the Confederate government. On May 2, 1865,

Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives as a ...

, hoping to continue the struggle, met unanimous opposition, and realized the Confederate independence cause was lost. It was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1992, specifically for being where Jefferson Davis had his last council of war.

History

The property has had seven owners. The original owner, David Lesley, owned it until his death in 1855. He had hired a man named Johnson, an English landscaper, to organize the property. The next owner was a Presbyterian pastor named Thomas A. Hoyt, who owned it until 1859 when he was sent to another church in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

. A banker from

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

, Andrew Simonds, bought it from Hoyt, and in 1862 sold it to

Armistead Burt Armistead Burt (November 13, 1802 – October 30, 1883) was a U.S. Representative from South Carolina. Armistead Burt House - Abbeville, SC.jpgBorn at Clouds Creek, near Edgefield, Edgefield County, South Carolina, Burt moved with his parents ...

, who owned it when Jefferson Davis used the building. Davis' wife,

Varina Davis Varina Anne Banks Howell Davis (May 7, 1826 – October 16, 1906) was the only First Lady of the Confederate States of America, and the longtime second wife of President Jefferson Davis. She moved to a White House of the Confederacy, house in ...

, had met Armistead Burt when Jefferson Davis first entered the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

in December 1845. Burt invited Varina Davis and her children to his house, as Varina was sent away from

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

for her protection. Varina pointed out to Burt that Union soldiers might eventually burn his house for harboring her, but he said there would be no greater cause then for his house to be burnt for. Varina moved to the Mansion on April 17. Days later, after Varina had left to go further South, Davis came to the house. On May 2, 1865, between four and six in the afternoon, Jefferson Davis held his final war council, with Secretary of War

John C. Breckinridge John Cabell Breckinridge (January 16, 1821 – May 17, 1875) was an American lawyer, politician, and soldier. He represented Kentucky in both houses of Congress and became the 14th and youngest-ever vice president of the United States. Serving ...

, Secretary of State

Judah P. Benjamin Judah Philip Benjamin, QC (August 6, 1811 – May 6, 1884) was a United States senator from Louisiana, a Cabinet officer of the Confederate States and, after his escape to the United Kingdom at the end of the American Civil War, an English ba ...

, and several military officers, most notable of them

Braxton Bragg Braxton Bragg (March 22, 1817 – September 27, 1876) was an American army officer during the Second Seminole War and Mexican–American War and Confederate general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, serving in the Weste ...

and

Basil W. Duke Basil Wilson Duke (May 28, 1838 – September 16, 1916) was a Confederate States Army, Confederate general officer during the American Civil War. His most noted service in the war was as second-in-command for his brother-in-law John Hunt Mo ...

. Davis wanted to continue the fight, using the forces still plentiful west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

, but the others disagreed. When Davis asked the men why they were still there, they replied it was to make sure Davis got to safety. After fuming for several minutes, Davis resigned himself to the decision of the others, effectively ending the existence of the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

. However, the last land Confederate force to surrender would not be until June 24, when

Stand Watie Brigadier-General Stand Watie ( chr, ᏕᎦᏔᎦ, translit=Degataga, lit=Stand firm; December 12, 1806September 9, 1871), also known as Standhope Uwatie, Tawkertawker, and Isaac S. Watie, was a Cherokee politician who served as the second princ ...

surrendered in

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

; the last Confederate naval vessel surrendered at Liverpool later that year. After the Abbeville meeting, the Cabinet, Davis; a 3,000-strong protective force, and the treasury of the Confederacy dispersed.Gipson, Steve. ''The Great Civil War Exposition and Living History Show'' videorecording 1996 After the war, in 1868 Burt had to sell the house due to bankruptcy. A local planter, James R. Norwood, bought it; when he died in 1875, his widow and daughter inherited it. James Samuel Stark bought it from them in 1900, and with his wife restored the building. On their death, their daughter Mary Stark Davis inherited it. After Davis died in the Fall of 1987, Abbeville Historic Preservation Commission was given control of the house, and have operated tours of it ever since.

Construction

The house is a white

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

style two-story house with a frame structure and lap siding. A front pedimented

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

, also two stories high, is supported by four square columns. Underneath this is a small wooden latticework second-story balcony. It has a

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

foundation, with wooden walls. The roof is made of

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...

and

tin Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal. Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...

, with both

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

and

cedar Cedar may refer to: Trees and plants *''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae *Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar Places United States * Cedar, Arizona * ...

shingles Shingles, also known as zoster or herpes zoster, is a viral disease characterized by a painful skin rash with blisters in a localized area. Typically the rash occurs in a single, wide mark either on the left or right side of the body or face. ...

. The shutters on all the windows are original. There were several exterior buildings, but the only one still standing is the kitchen; the other building once on the property were a carriage house, cow barn, milk house, smokehouse, and well house. Spacious rooms and high ceilings mark the interior. A central great hall with an Adam fanlight is the main entrance to the domicile, with a drawing room on each side. The left drawing room would be where Jefferson Davis would hold his final war council with

, his Secretary of War, and senior military officials. Before the War, the wide double doors would open to create a ballroom from the entire front area. The only additions to the house after the War was a bathroom and a northwest corner wing, which provided extra kitchen space. Most of the furnishings are from the 1850s and 1860s. It was built in the 1830s by David Lesley, a local attorney, judge, planter, and

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

Church elder. Lesley had seen a house in the north that he liked, and chose that house as the prototype for his own. He sent a man named Cubic, a slave that was also a master carpenter, to look at the prototype house, and he then oversaw construction of Lesley's.

References

External links

Official site
* {{National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina Historic American Buildings Survey in South Carolina National Historic Landmarks in South Carolina Museums in Abbeville County, South Carolina Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina Historic house museums in South Carolina American Civil War museums in South Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Abbeville County, South Carolina Houses in Abbeville County, South Carolina