Page News & Courier
Heritage and Heraldry
The Winnie Davis Cottage (Luray Orphanage)
Article of February 18, 1999
When recently going through old copies of the Confederate Veteran Magazine, I came upon various items of interest relating to Page County history that bore merit in repeating. One item that resurfaced regarded the Winnie Davis Cottage which was also recognized as the Luray Orphanage.
The idea for the cottage memorializing the daughter of Jefferson Davis was planned in 1899 and was to be devoted specifically for the care of the orphans of Confederate soldiers and their descendants. Conceived by Rev. Dr. H.M. Wharton of Baltimore, the idea was endorsed by Mrs. Jefferson Davis who wrote; �I accord permission to name the Confederate cottage after my child with pride and pleasure. If there is anything good in a name, I think God will bless this if only to hold the memory of my good and noble child, and your great and successful efforts to serve the cause of humanity. I am much gratified by your desire to honor my daughter�s name, and send you every good wish for your success.�
Former Confederate General John B. Gordon also endorsed the project. Then the commander of the United Confederate Veterans, Gordon wrote Dr. Wharton:
�My Dear Doctor: I am rejoiced to know that you are still carrying on your heart and shoulders the �home for orphans.� Your last movement to erect a cottage bearing the name of the beloved �Daughter of the Confederacy,� within whose walls are to be nurtured and prepared for useful lives Confederate orphans, will find encouragement and support from every true son and daughter of our section. God bless you in your truly noble work! Is the prayer of your comrade and friend, J.B. Gordon.�
Within months nearly $10,000 of the necessary $25,000 was raised for the project which was to be built on the �Whosoever Farm,� near Luray. The �functional memorial� was to contain �paintings, photographs, and such Confederate relics as can be gathered, and where will be preserved the names of all contributors to this fund.� Within weeks of the appearance of the article in the magazine, Dr. J. William Jones, the co-sponsor of the project and Chaplain General of the United Confederate Veterans, was to begin delivering lectures in order to raise funds for the orphanage, the first stop being Columbus, Mississippi.
In a note to the magazine, Dr. Jones wrote: �Surely our Confederate veterans, the Sons of Veterans, the Daughters of the Confederacy, and our people generally will esteem it a privilege to contribute to the erection of this appropriate and noble monument to the �Daughter of the Confederacy,� to be located in the beautiful Valley of Virginia, whose clear streams murmur the praises and whose mountain gorges echo the glories of Ashby and Stuart and Jackson and Lee and the barefooted heroes of the rank and file who followed these great leaders to an immortality of fame.�
One young lady who was brought from Baltimore by Dr. Wharton to live at the orphanage was a Miss Bessie Booth. Booth later married Mr. Charles Burner who was the son of Hamilton Vincent Burner (a veteran of Company D, 7th Virginia Cavalry of Page County). Orphaned in her early life, Mrs. Burner�s unfortunate life was yet to be marred in 1917 when she was and her children were murdered by Will Nichols.
Interestingly, Strickler�s A Short History of Page County mentioned that the orphanage was discontinued by 1900. According to Strickler, the farm was located �east of Luray on the Lee Highway . . . . and is opposite Benton Smith. In referring to Wharton, Strickler wrote that he had been the pastor of the Brantly Baptist Church of Baltimore, and an eloquent speaker of great ability.� If anyone has more information to share regarding the Winnie Davis Cottage, please contact me.
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