Lexington - White House of the Confederacy

Above is a picture that Ms. Edwards took of the "White House" of the Confederacy. It was located in the second capitol of the Confederate States of America. The second capitol was located in Richmond Virginia.

• The mansion was built in 1818 by John Brockenbrough
• The family sold the house in 1844 and eventually ended up in the hands of Lewis Dabney Crenshaw. He added a third floor and sold the house to the City of Richmond.
• The government of Richmond rented the house to the Confederate government to be used as the home of the President.
• Jefferson Davis and his family moved into the house in August of 1861.
• Two of the Davis's children were born in the house.
• One of his children died after falling off from the balcony at the "White House"
• Davis admired Jackson's opening up the White House for visitors and continued the practice in his own executive office.
• They abandoned the house during the evacuation of Richmond and six days after the capture of the city Abraham Lincoln toured the capitol and sat in Jefferson Davis's "White House" Six days later Lincoln will be assassinated at Fords Theater.
• During Reconstruction, the White House of the Confederacy was headquarters for the occupation government.
• After Reconstruction the city of Richmond turned the house into a school. (Richmond Central School)
• In 1890, the city announced an interest in destroying the house. The Confederate Memorial Literary Society purchased the house and eventually turned it into a museum for the Confederate Government.
• The Museum has the largest collection of artifacts relating to the Confederacy. It includes a variety of artifacts from the Davis's family.