Brierfield Plantation

Brierfield Plantation was a large agricultural estate established in 1847 at Davis Bend, Mississippi, on a bend of the Mississippi River roughly twenty miles from Vicksburg. It was created from land formerly belonging to Hurricane Plantation, the much larger estate of Joseph Emory Davis, Jefferson Davis’s older brother. Joseph provided Jefferson with the use of more than 1,000 acres, along with financial support that helped him establish himself as a planter after the death of his first wife, Sarah Knox Taylor. The plantation’s operations depended on the forced labor of enslaved people, an essential and coercive foundation of its agricultural production and profitability. After Jefferson Davis married Varina Banks Howell in 1845, he built a substantial frame residence at Brierfield. The house became a home for Davis, Varina, their children, Davis’s widowed sister, and other relatives. Although Davis spent extended periods away while serving in the United States House of Representatives, fighting in the Mexican–American War, serving in the Senate, and acting as secretary of war under President Franklin Pierce, he regarded Brierfield as his principal residence when he was not in public office. The plantation had both prosperous and severely difficult periods. Its income was affected by fluctuating agricultural conditions, flooding, and the broader risks of plantation production along the Mississippi River. Davis returned to Brierfield after Mississippi’s secession in 1861, but his stay was brief. He was summoned to Montgomery, Alabama, after being selected as president of the newly formed Confederate States of America. He did not return to the plantation during his Confederate presidency. During the Civil War, enslaved people at Brierfield sought freedom. In early 1862, a group left the plantation and reached Union lines near Vicksburg. During the Unionist attack on the property in 1863, at least 137 of more than 200 enslaved people crossed to Union-held territory; the remaining enslaved population subsequently followed. These escapes fundamentally ended the plantation’s antebellum labor system. The house survived the destruction that consumed Joseph Davis’s neighboring Hurricane Plantation. Union forces used Brierfield successively as field headquarters, a hospital, and a supply facility. A photograph showing the occupied building under the caption “The House Jeff Built” circulated in newspapers, linking the site publicly to Jefferson Davis. Brierfield’s ownership remained legally complicated after the war. Joseph Davis had never formally transferred full title to Jefferson. After the war, Joseph negotiated a mortgaged sale to members of the Montgomery family, who had formerly been enslaved by the Davis family, while arranging for the mortgage income—but not the real estate itself—to benefit Jefferson Davis. After Joseph’s death, the Montgomery family defaulted, and the property reverted to Joseph’s estate. His heirs disputed Jefferson Davis’s claim, leading to prolonged litigation. A court decision in 1881 ultimately gave Jefferson undisputed title, more than four decades after he had first settled at Brierfield. In the final years of his life, Davis primarily lived at Beauvoir near Biloxi, but he continued trying to restore Brierfield’s profitability. Cotton-price instability, repeated flooding, and the higher costs of free labor after emancipation made the estate less economically viable than it had been under slavery. Davis was at Brierfield overseeing the harvest in autumn 1889 when an illness developed into pneumonia. He was transported by riverboat to New Orleans for medical treatment and died several weeks later. After Davis’s death, his widow and surviving children left Mississippi, and no descendant permanently resided at Brierfield. Eliza Van Benthuysen Davis, Davis’s sister-in-law, was buried there. The plantation house was destroyed by fire in 1931. Later drainage works changed the geography of the site, transforming the former peninsula into an island. Objects removed from the house by Union troops were returned to the Davis family over subsequent decades and are now associated with museums connected to Jefferson Davis and the Civil War. Brierfield is therefore best understood not as a commercial consumer brand, but as a historic plantation site whose significance rests on the history of slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction-era property litigation, and the public memory of Jefferson Davis.

Brierfield Plantation was established in 1847 at Davis Bend, Mississippi, after Joseph Emory Davis made more than 1,000 acres available to his younger brother, Jefferson Davis. The land had previously formed part of Joseph’s Hurricane Plantation, which adjoined the Brierfield property along the Mississippi River. With financial assistance from Joseph and the forced labor of enslaved people, Jefferson Davis developed the estate as a cotton-producing plantation. The property became an important source of income and a domestic base for Davis, even while he pursued a lengthy public career. Following his marriage to Varina Banks Howell in 1845, Davis built a large frame house at Brierfield. The residence accommodated the Davis family and several relatives. Davis was frequently absent during his congressional service, military service in the Mexican–American War, Senate terms, and tenure as secretary of war in the Franklin Pierce administration. Nevertheless, he considered Brierfield his principal home and returned there when public duties permitted. The plantation’s economic performance varied considerably. Some years were profitable, while others were damaged by flooding and the environmental uncertainty of the Mississippi River region. Davis came back to Brierfield after resigning from the Senate when Mississippi seceded in 1861. His return lasted only briefly. He was soon informed that he had been selected to lead the Confederate States of America and was called to Montgomery, the Confederacy’s first capital. He did not visit Brierfield during his presidency. The plantation’s enslaved population increasingly challenged the institution on which the estate depended. In early 1862, a group of enslaved people left the property and reached Union lines near Vicksburg. In 1863, Unionist forces attacked Brierfield. At least 137 of the more than 200 enslaved people living there escaped across Union lines, and the remainder soon followed. Unlike Hurricane Plantation, whose mansion was burned, Brierfield’s main house survived the wartime campaign. Union troops used it for military administration, medical care, and storage. A photograph of the occupied building circulated with the words “The House Jeff Built,” making the residence an identifiable symbol of Davis’s plantation life. The postwar ownership history was unsettled. Joseph Davis had permitted Jefferson to use the land but had not conveyed complete legal title. After the war, Joseph arranged a mortgaged sale to members of the Montgomery family, former Davis family slaves. Joseph’s will directed the mortgage income to Jefferson Davis, but did not give him the underlying real estate. When the Montgomery family later defaulted, the property returned to Joseph’s estate. Joseph’s heirs claimed it, while Jefferson Davis asserted that he was entitled to retain it. The dispute continued through extensive litigation and was resolved in Davis’s favor in 1881, when he obtained undisputed title. Davis spent much of his later life at Beauvoir but continued to treat Brierfield as an agricultural project requiring active management. The economics of the estate deteriorated after emancipation. Cotton prices fluctuated, floods continued, and the cost of employing free labor prevented the plantation from reproducing the returns associated with enslaved labor. Davis was supervising the harvest at Brierfield in 1889 when he became seriously ill. He was taken by riverboat to New Orleans, where he died several weeks later. After Davis’s death, his family left Mississippi and none of his descendants made Brierfield a permanent home. His sister-in-law, Eliza Van Benthuysen Davis, was buried at the site. The house was destroyed by fire in 1931. A drainage canal later altered the landscape, turning the former river peninsula into an island. Furnishings and other belongings taken from the house by Union troops were gradually returned to the Davis family and became associated with museums interpreting Jefferson Davis and the Civil War. The site’s historical meaning is inseparable from the forced labor of enslaved people, their wartime self-emancipation, the transformation of plantation property after the Civil War, and the contested memory of the Confederacy.

• 1931

  Plantation house destroyed

  [1]Brierfield Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  The Brierfield house was destroyed by fire.

• 1889

  Jefferson Davis’s final visit

  [1]Brierfield Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  Davis became ill while overseeing the harvest at Brierfield and was transported to New Orleans for treatment; he died several weeks later.

• 1881

  Ownership litigation resolved

  [1]Brierfield Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  A prolonged dispute over the property ended with Jefferson Davis obtaining undisputed title to Brierfield.

• 1863

  Union forces occupy Brierfield

  [1]Brierfield Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  Unionist forces attacked the plantation, and at least 137 enslaved people crossed to Union-controlled territory. The house was used as a headquarters, hospital, and supply house.

• 1862

  Enslaved people reach Union lines

  [1]Brierfield Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  A group of enslaved people left Brierfield and reached Union-held lines near Vicksburg.

• 1861

  Jefferson Davis leaves for the Confederacy

  [1]Brierfield Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  After briefly returning to Brierfield following Mississippi’s secession, Jefferson Davis was summoned to Montgomery after being selected as president of the Confederate States of America.

• 1847

  Brierfield established

  [1]Brierfield Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  Brierfield was established at Davis Bend on more than 1,000 acres made available to Jefferson Davis by his brother, Joseph Emory Davis.

A historic Mississippi plantation property and former agricultural estate associated with Jefferson Davis; it is not an operating commercial brand.

1. 1Brierfield Plantationen.wikipedia.org