Piano from 1874 donated to Beauvoir

Descendants of Civil War Field Officer William Henry Haywood Tison are donating his post-Civil War 1874 Square Grand piano which will be on permanent display at Beauvoir.

Often referred to as the ‘Poor man’s Steinway,’ this stieff square grand piano is extremely rare in this 88 key configuration and a very similar one was once owned by General Robert E. Lee.

Upon full restoration, this instrument, unlike most period square grand pianos, has the range to play modern compositions due to its extended range.

Lt. Col. Tison helped organize the Mississippi 32^nd infantry regiment April 3, 1862 and went on to fight in many Civil War battles. Beauvoir Executive Director Stephen McKinney said, “One of our board members, Owen McDowell, has friends all over the state and he found that this particular one might come available and he and other board members with the family thought that this might be the best repository for it since we are trying to collect all things associated with Mississippi history and particularly the periods with this particular home and the fact that Jeff Davis lived here on the property.”

McKinney says the piano is in excellent to good condition and Beauvoir is proud to represent another piece of Mississippi history.