Dianne Davis, United Daughters of the Confederacy, Varina Howell Davis Chapter from Houston, Texas discovers the house that was the birthplace of Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith, the last Confederate general to surrender. His mother, Frances Kirby Smith, lived in this house during the early part of the Union occupation of St. Augustine until she was exiled from the city for spying. The house is now the St. Augustine Historical Society research library. The collection is open to the public for research and is composed of files and books on Florida history, including those on the Civil War period and the Kirby Smith family. There are two bronze statues in the garden and a plaque inside commemorating its famous former resident. "I enjoy the peace and good feelings of the garden and often stop in for a moment of reflection when I am filming in the Aviles Street area," said filmmaker Bruce Merwin.
William Wing Loring (1818-1886)
Dianne Davis, United Daughters of the Confederacy, Varina Howell Davis Chapter from Houston, Texas looks over the St. Augustine, FL monument to William Wing Loring (1818-1886). After valiantly serving the Confederate Army in the War Between the States, Loring served for nine years in the army of Egypt. He joined about fifty Union and Confederate veterans who had been recommended by William Tecumseh Sherman. "There is a park on the west side of the Government House where I used to perform in Flagler College Summer stock theatre in the late 70's, and in this park is a Confederate monument. It was fun rediscovering the park with a member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy," said the filmmaker Bruce Merwin.
