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Property At
849 East Scenic Drive, Pass Christian, Mississippi, Belle B’Anne Also Known
As Alva Villa
This
property was purchased by Dr. Harry A. Danielson and wife, Beverly Ann
Danielson, in 1989. Soon thereafter the renovation process began and
extended for three and a half years. The Danielsons occupied the property
from 1991 until the present.
In the
process of determining the historical significance of this estate, Dr.
Danielson became intrigued with the history and did a search of the Land
Records at the Harrison County Courthouse. In his search he found that there
were two lots. Both of the lots were owned by J.U. Payne. The west lot was
where Mr. Payne built his home called "Rosehart." On the east lot Mr. Payne
built the home for Harold Payne which we now call "The Belle B' Anne." The
homes were built from lumber cut from timber at the building site by Mr.
Payne's salves. The building began in 1846 and was completed in 1849, J. U.
Payne having the home on the west lot and residence (The Belle B' Anne) was
built on the east lot deeded to Harold Payne.
As recorded
in the article written by C. H. Coffin and published in the Southern
Historical Society Papers, Volume XXXV, both pieces of property are
historically related as they were built upon at the same time. On page 28,
it is stated:
“It had been built by educated
slaves owned by Mr. Payne, out of timber cut on his ground and thoroughly
dried, in the year 1846 . . .”
As
evidenced in this article, Mr. Coffin bought Rosehart, the home of J. U.
Payne, in 1892, and this was before Harold Payne sold his home (which is now
Belle B’Anne). This is evidenced by two pieces of lathe that were recovered
in the renovation of Belle B’Anne, the northern bay was added on March 11,
1893. On the top lathe was written “H. Payne,” and on the second lathe was
written “March 11, 1893.” Then it was plastered over. So we know at the time
Mr. Coffin purchased Mr. J. U. Payne’s home, which was called Rosehart, that
Mr. H. Payne still owned this property. The property was deeded in 1849 to
J. U. Payne and Harold Payne, individually.
The
particular significance of this property is in the fact that J. U. Payne,
who owned both parcels and who undoubtedly built his home and the home for
Harold Payne at the same time, had as his best friend, Mr. Jefferson Davis.
As noted in the Southern Historical Society Papers, Volume XXXV, page 128:
“Prior to the war Mr. Payne was
a strong Union man. His most intimate and valued personal friend was
Jefferson Davis. They disagreed as to secession. Mr. Payne at that time
owned many sugar plantations in Louisiana and cotton plantations in
Mississippi. He also had offices and warehouses in New Orleans, and was the
largest exporter of cotton and sugar and the greatest creator of foreign
exchange. He owned 300 or 400 slaves, who were all cared for, contented and
happy. He had a large capital invested in business, and hundreds of planters
were indebted to him for the supply of corn, bacon and household articles,
it being the custom to obtain these in advance from their merchants and to
pay when they sold their crops of cotton and sugar. Nearly all the great
planters were thus in debt. Mr. Payne himself carried a considerable debt,
and also carried a very large cash balance.
“When the
seven states which first formed the Confederacy at Montgomery, AL, had
passed their secession ordinances and organized their succession ordinances
and organized their government by electing Jefferson Davis President, they
seemed for the first time to have thought about finances. There is nothing
more astonishing now than to look back and see with what utter disregard of
consequences and lack of plans for the future that war was entered upon by
the South. The South had no store of arms and ammunitions, except as nearly
every individual was the owner of a rifle or shotgun. They had few small
factories capable of making cannons, guns or powder, and almost no clothing
or shoe factories, and practically the southern states were given over to
the growth of cotton. Their leaders were highly intelligent people and held
the ‘free trade’ doctrines taught by Mill and others, and in forming their
constitution inserted a free trade clause, thus depriving themselves of the
benefit of custom revenues. They also, ‘State rights,’ and, therefore did
not authorize their newly-created government to collect tax necessary for
carrying on the war; and when they had created a president and cabinet,
these officers found themselves without any money or any provisions for
setting in motion the wheels of the new government.
“Mr. Davis
telegraphed from Montgomery to Mr. J. U. Payne, at New Orleans, announcing
the formation of the Government and saying: ‘your state calls upon you to do
you duty and come at once to Montgomery and bring with you all the money you
can raise.’ Mr. Payne had been fortifying himself, owning to the ominous
outlook, and succeeded in raising and took with him to Montgomery a large
sum in gold coin, which he turned over to Mr. Davis. The latter insisted
that he should have government bonds for it, and there were accordingly
printed at the old printing office in Montgomery 750 bonds of $1,000 each,
roughly gotten up and promising ‘to pay sixty days after the declaration of
peace or recognition of the Southern Confederacy.’ These bonds remained in
Mr. Payne’s hands, becoming, of course, entirely worthless, and long after
the war he gave to his favorite grand daughter enough of them to paper he
bedroom or boudoir. What became of the rest, I do not know. Mr. Payne’s
export business was, of course, stopped at once by the Federal blockade. The
planters who owed him were unable to pay. The planters who owed him were
unable to pay. The federal troops later on seized his plantations and
destroyed most of the sugar, cotton press houses, and even the fences. His
great home in New Orleans, which was crowded with works of art and vertu
accumulated by years of traveling and careful selections in Europe, was
seized by the federal and used as a residence by some of the officers. Much
of the silver, paintings and bric-a-brac were shipped to New England by
Butler and other officers to their homes. This is probably the origin of
the story of General Butler and the spoons. They were never recovered, and
it was many years before Mr. Payne regained possession of his home in New
Orleans.”
Essentially
Mr. Payne is a very pivotal historical figure in the overall drama of the
confederacy, and no recognition has ever been given to him that Dr.
Danielson can find in his limited pursuit of this history. Dr. Danielson
reports that there may well be some historical information in New Orleans
that he is unaware of which could further clarify Mr. Payne’s role in and
contribution to the confederacy and his life long association with Mr.
Jefferson Davis. His friendship with Mr. Davis continued until the latter’s
death as noed by Mr. Coffin in the Southern Historical Society Papers,
Volume XXXV.
Mr. Payne
was born in 1808 and died in 1905 at the age of 97. In another article
published in the Southern Historical Society Papers, there was a
description of the preparation of Jefferson Davis’ body for the sepulcher in
which a few of his friends were in attendance whereupon they were discussing
the scars in Mr. Davis’ left hand, and the group queried as to whether this
was a war injury (probably related to the Mexican war that Dr. Davis’ fought
in) or just what caused these scars in his left hand. His life long friend,
J. U. Payne, told of an incident. On Mr. Davis’ plantation, his corn field
had been disturbed, and he was checking on this when a big bear attacked Mr.
Davis. Mr. Davis’ hand was in the mouth of the bear. Mr. Payne very coolly
got his bowie knife from its scathe and killed the bear. When one searches
these papers, especially in reference to the connection between Mr. Payne
and Jefferson Davis, it is eye opening and exciting to uncover these stories
that very few people know about. Hopefully some interest can be generated
to pursue Mr. Payne’s background and other historical interests. It is
certain that his contribution to the Confederate cause was immense. The
amount of &750,000 in that day was a sizable amount of money and probably
bankrolled the Confederacy at its onset.
This
individual played an extremely important role in history, and it is not well
known or publicized and probably would not have the interest generated if
the Danielsons had not stumbled across this among the bits and pieces of
history of their property on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. In the property at
Belle B’Anne, the Danielsons have the desk of Jefferson Davis which was made
by slaves and given to the nephew of Mr. Davis when he became a journalist
for the Pass Christian Tarpon Beacon, the most distributed newspaper
in this area in the 1800’s, and it was sometime in the early 1970’s that the
last issue ran. The desk of Mr. Jefferson Davis had been in the old
Tarpon Beacon building since Hurricane Camille, and the Danielsons
retained ownership of this desk, cleaned it up, and it is now on display at
the Belle B’Anne home. There are other historical prize collections in that
home, namely: a solid carved marble bathtub from Napoleon’s estate. One of
the previous owners of this property boasted that his horses were royalty
and could not drink out of a trough but could drink only out of a king’s
tub. Napoleon’s tub was used for many decades as a watering trough. The
Danielsons found out what it was and received a Certificate of Authenticity
from Ms. Elaine Kolp, the heiress from whom they purchased the property.
Additionally the tub in the north wing, almost seven feet in length, was in
the property and has been completely restored. It was manufactured the year
of Lincoln’s assassination, namely October of 1865.
This
property is the most historically intact piece of property in the south,
because all of the out buildings are still there and have been preserved.
The renovation was an extensive project, and from the outset, the Danielsons
had no conception as to the amount of damage there was tot the existing
property and the amount of corrective renovation that was necessary. It
took extensive work from the foundation through all the buildings. They
were able to retain the front wall and one fire place of the guest cottage,
and everything else was rebuilt to its original appearance.
The
property is now offered for sale, and a new proud owner would have a piece
of history that is nowhere duplicated, and the Danielsons can leave the
property with the extreme gratification that they have contributed
enormously to the community and to historical preservation. Dr. and Mrs.
Danielson have continuously been thanked by the community for this
contribution. In the past this was the property and home that many wanted,
but no one was able to undertake the renovation. The renovation has been a
reality since 1991. The house has been opened repeatedly by the Danielsons
through the years for the benefit of the community, and many out of state
people have visited the property and have gone away in awe appreciating the
tremendous talent of that era without the benefit of all the wood working
tools now available. There is octagonal tongue in groove tapered pillars in
front of the home. There are heart pine floors that were laid perfectly in
parallel straight fashion so that all the boards line up form one room to
the other. This home remained through all the hurricanes and all of these
decades, over a century and a half, and Rosehart, J. U. Payne’s home built
to the west, was destroyed. There was certainly extra endeavor in the
construction of Harold Payne’s home. There are pictures of Rosehart showing
rectangular pillars in the front which are like the pillars at Beauvoir, the
home of Jefferson Davis here on the Coast. One almost gets the impression
that perhaps Harold Payne was doing everything he could to outdo J. U.
Payne’s building. There are a few homes in the Garden District of New
Orleans with octagonal pillars. When the Danilesons first began the
renovation, one of the staff from Tulane University from the Historical
Architectural Department, came to the Danileson’s home and told Dr.
Danielson that this was most unusual adding an exclusive type of character
to the dwelling, as the tapered octagonal pillars were state of the art for
that era. Four of the pillars remain. Eight of the pillars necessary for
the front porch and portachere had to be reconstructed according to the
pattern of the original pillars. This was done with special tooling and by
and expert in this area of wood working. The octagonal columns taper tongue
in groove takes special tooling machines, and these were eventually built by
hand to conform to the same historical architectural Greek revival style.
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