A large part of the history of the Civil War was written in the Burt-Stark Mansion in Abbeville. Here the first reading of the secession papers was done giving birth to the Confederacy. It was also here that President Davis disbanded the armies of the South following great defeats at Appomattox and other places.His cabinet met here with him as did his war council to convince him that to continue the war was going to cause even greater harm to the people. With much reluctance he agreed and signed the papers.The house has been involved in not only the beginning of the war with President Davis but was also a haven for his wife when the war was coming to an end and she needed shelter for herself and her children before leaving to join her husband.