This Italian villa mansion was the home of Maj. William T. Sutherlin, Danville's wartime quartermaster and one of its most prominent citizens. For one week, April 3-10, 1865, Sutherlin and his wife opened their home to Jefferson Davis and the Confederate government. Here Davis wrote and delivered his final proclamation to the Confederacy on April 4. Four days later, during the final cabinet meeting in Danville, Lt. John S. Wise arrived with news that the Army of Northern Virginia might be compelled to surrender near Appomattox Court House. On April 10, reliable news arrived that Lee had surrendered, and at 10 p.m. Davis and other officials left Danville by train for Greensboro, North Carolina.
