A Brief History of the Mississippi Division
While the National Sons of Confederate Veterans (originally named the United Sons of Confederate Veterans) was officially organized in Richmond, Virginia, on July 1, 1896, there is evidence to support that the Mississippi Division Sons of Confederate Veterans got its start several years before that. A report from June 7, 1894, claimed that Sons of Confederate Veterans in Mississippi had been meeting for several years, with J.W. Keys serving as Commander.
While early records are incomplete, we know that the Mississippi Division would officially join the National organization in 1897, with T.L. Trawick of Crystal Springs serving as the first Division (State) Commander. During those days, many of the Veterans themselves were still alive, and the Sons of Confederate Veterans would actually meet with the United Confederate Veterans, or UCV. Supporting and honoring the actual veterans was the Divisions earliest priority.
In 1902, Mrs. Varina Davis, wife of the deceased Confederate President Jefferson Davis, sold Beauvoir to the Mississippi Division of the United Sons of Confederate Veterans. Beauvoir was the last home of the beloved President, situated on the beautiful shores of the Mississippi Gulf Coast in Biloxi, Mississippi. For years, the home would be used as a Veterans Home, seeing hundreds of Confederate Veterans and their spouses live out their last days on the grounds, just as their President had done before them.
The Great Depression and World War II would take their toll on the SCV as a whole, including the Mississippi Division. Membership would drop and finances would dry up. As the number of living Veterans began to dwindle, Beauvoir would shift from being used as a soldier’s home to becoming a shrine to Jefferson Davis and the Confederate soldier. The transition would not be an easy one though.
Thankfully, Major General Dr. W.D. McCain of Hattiesburg would be named Adjutant-in-Chief of the National SCV in 1953. He would work tirelessly to restore the organization to its former glory, and he would succeed. The excitement of the centennial of the War combined with the work of Dr. McCain would reenergize the Mississippi Division and carry it into the future.
Another pivotal moment would occur in 2001, when the Mississippi Division would successfully force the issue of whether or not the state of Mississippi should change its flag to a vote of the people. Division members would travel the state collecting signature and would successfully have the issue brought to the people for a vote. On April 17, 2001, under the leadership of Division Commander Billy Ray Hankins, the people of Mississippi would overwhelmingly choose to keep their historic flag first adopted in 1894.
Unfortunately, the people who wanted to twist history and tarnish the memory of our Confederate Veterans would not go away. In the wake of the flag vote, outside interest groups and neo-Marxist would regroup and continue attacking Confederate History and Heritage. They would use the Covid pandemic and the George Floyd tragedy to steal the Mississippi State Flag and attack Confederate Monuments, attempting to rewrite history in the process. However, the Mississippi Division is fighting back.
Today, the members of the Mississippi Division stand as a thin grey line between our Confederate Veterans proud history and those who wish to pervert and destroy it. Our members still own and operate Beauvoir, including a museum to preserve and tell the true history of Jefferson Davis and the Confederate Soldier. We work with MDAH to preserve Confederate artifacts and our members travel the state cleaning our Confederate Monuments and Veterans headstones. We have historians who research, write, and publish true history to educate the public. We carry out the Charge Lt. General Stephen D. Lee gave us by being the guardians of their history. We are the descendants of men who would not bow to an overreaching government. We are the NRA for Southern History. We are the Mississippi Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans!
