Newsletter of
the Free State of Patrick Internet History Group
Notes From The Free State Of
Patrick August 2008
"There is nothing new in the world except the history you
don't know" -- Harry Truman
Ronnie Stone
and I got bipartisan support for the Bassett Historical
Center in the form of a $97,000 HUD Grant working with
Congressmen Virgil Goode and Rick Boucher of the 5th and 9th
Virginia Districts respectively shown below with David Wright on EMI and
Judy Mattox of Goode's office when the Congressmen presented the check to the
building fund at Bassett. The Bassett Historical Center is
the regional history and genealogy library for Patrick
County. I encourage everyone to support the efforts to
expand the library.
The Bassett Historical Center
building fund is now at $400,000 towards $800,000 to expand our regional history
library. Although as a rule, I do not believe in asking for government
assistance believing that if people want to raise money they should do as I did
to save the J. E. B. Stuart Birthplace get out there, beat the bushes, and “beg
for money.” Many months ago, Pat Ross asked me to contact Congressman Virgil
Goode about funding for the library expansion. So with Ronnie Stone (Chairperson
of the Building Fund) drove down to Danville for an enjoyable afternoon and met
with Virgil. On July 29, 2008, Virgil and Congressman Rick Boucher presented the
Bassett Historical Center Building Fund $98,000 from a HUD (Housing and Urban
Development) Grant I would like to share the comments I made that day on my
blog. After pointing out to Rick Boucher that for me to be in long pants and a
golf shirt took an “act of congress.” I usually wear t-shirt, shorts and sandals
while working at the library. We will have another symposium on October 4.
Arcadia Publishing will release Images of America: Henry County Virginia in
March 2009 with all proceeds going to the expansion of the library. As I do not
only talk the talk I put my money where my mouth is and I think that will put my
efforts for the Bassett Historical Center over $100,000. It is nice to be on a
winning team.
The
Bassett Historical Center will present a second symposium on October 4, 2008.
Proceeds from this event will go to the Building Fund. Tickets are $25 in
advance; $20 in advance for senior citizens and students. At the door: $30;
senior citizens and students are $25.
The
schedule is as follows
9:30 a.m.
R. Darryl Holland
“24th Virginia Cavalry”
10:45 a. m.
James W. Morrison
“Bedford Goes to War: The Heroic Story
of a Small Virginia
Community in World War II”
Noon – 1:30 p. m.
Lunch
1:30 p. m.
Julie Williams Dixon
“Melungeon Voices”
2:45 p. m.
Tom Perry
“William J. Palmer: The Man Who Didn’t
Burn Martinsville”
Julie Williams Dixon is a native from
Southwest Virginia, though she has been living in North Carolina since the early
80s. She earned a degree from Virginia Tech in 1981 and acquired a graduate
degree from UNC Chapel Hill in 1985. Residing in Raleigh with her husband and
two sons, she is the owner of “words and pictures” where she splits her time
between scriptwriting, video editing and still photography. Her clients range
from multi-national corporations to small non-profits, museums and schools. Her
film “Melungeon Voices” began in 2000 and she says that it is still a “work in
progress” and may never really be completed though it has been shown several
times to much acclaim. “I’ve written and produced hundreds of programs in my
career, but nothing has ever been as difficult to capture and explain as the
story of the Melungeons.”
James W. Morrison is the author of
“Bedford Goes to War: The Heroic Story of a Small Virginia Community in World
War II.” He is retired from the Department of Defense, having served 3 years as
any Army officer and 27 years as a civilian executive in the Office of the
Secretary of Defense. A graduate of Indiana and Columbia Universities and the
National War College, he also served as a visiting fellow at the National
Defense University, where he wrote two short books on international affairs. He
volunteers at the National D-Day Memorial giving tours.
R.
Darryl Holland is a life-long resident of Henry County. He is a graduate of
Patrick Henry Community College, holds a degree in Animal Science from Virginia
Tech and has a Masters in Agriculture from Texas A & M. The “24th Virginia
Cavalry Regiment” is his third book, and while Agriculture is his profession,
history is his love. Darryl and his wife, Lillian, live on the family farm in
Horsepasture near Spencer.
Thomas
D. “Tom” Perry will be speaking on “If Thee Must Fight, Fight Well” The Life of
William Jackson Palmer: The Man Who Did Not Burn Martinsville. Palmer, a Brevet
Brigadier General under George Stoneman on the April 1865 Raid at the end of the
War Between The States occupied Martinsville on the night of April 8 and left
the next day when Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox. Palmer, born a Quaker
grew up in Philadelphia, fought in the Civil War receiving the Medal of Honor
before making a fortune in railroads in Colorado.
The Bassett Historical Center’s building fund received
$98,000 in federal funds thanks to a bipartisan effort by U.S. Reps. Rick
Boucher, D-Abingdon, and Virgil Goode Jr., R-Rocky Mount. Both Goode and Boucher
were at the center Tuesday to present the federal appropriation that will help
pay to double the space and add amenities such as a meeting room and an
audio/visual station at the center. The expansion also will include new display
cases and shelving to house materials, said Boucher, who represents the 9th
District. “The shelves are running over. We have books that are not able to be
put up” because the shelves are overflowing, said Ronnie Stone, chairperson of
the building committee. The center is in the 4,100-square-foot space that
formerly housed the Bassett Public Library. The library now is across the
street, and the center are branches of the Blue Ridge Regional Library system.
The historical center “is the repository of items such as histories of Bassett
and Henry County” as well as Patrick County, Boucher said. Goode, who represents
the 5th District, said not all of its users are from the Henry, Patrick and
Franklin county areas. Visitors “come from all over. … I don’t know how much
tourism has increased because of this center, but I know it’s been a lot,” Goode
said. According to Stone, visitors to the center stay in local hotels, eat in
local restaurants and buy fuel to travel to areas of interest. In 1992, the
center logged 420 visitors, Stone said, and at the end of fiscal year 2007, that
number had risen to 7,667 visitors, including 964 from Virginia. “A lot of those
people were not from Henry County or Patrick County,” he said, adding that
visitors from each of the 50 states and seven countries have visited the center.
And with good reason, Goode said. The center preserves unique historical items,
some of which “you can’t even find at the state library in Richmond,” Goode
said. Manuscripts and family memorabilia also are housed at the center, which
“has become an often-visited attraction … and a significant resource for those
interested in genealogy,” Boucher said. Students, authors and amateur
genealogists can find help with research at the center, he said, and “visitation
to the center has increased by 125 percent for each of the past five years.”
“Most of the people who live” in the region now may have ancestors who lived in
this area before traveling west, Stone said. “They lived here for a while, and
when things got a little crowded, they moved on west.” Information about their
time here is cataloged at the center, included in the 11,900 reference and/or
family books or listed in the more than 9,500 family files or more than 2,800
local history files, Stone said. The renovation is expected to cost a total of
$800,000. Besides the federal funds, Henry County has contributed $25,000 and
committed to contributing another $25,000 next year. Private donations total
nearly $250,000, Boucher said, and “that is a remarkable accomplishment.”
Photo of David Wright, Rick Boucher, Virgil Goode,
Judy Mattox and Tom Perry, who with Ronnie Stone in the right background
contacted Goode originally about funding.
REFLECTING
ON J. E. B. STUART RELEASED AUGUST 7 ON WWW.AMAZON.COM
Historian Tom Perry speaks on J. E. B. Stuart at the
Bassett Historical Center in 2007.
Part of the proceeds go to the building fund of the regional
history and genealogy library.
Images of
America: Henry County Virginia Cover Chosen
Arcadia Publishing will release Images of America:
Henry County Virginia in March 2009 worldwide. The book of over 200 images will
chronicle the history of the county with chapters focusing on Bassett, Fieldale
and Martinsville along with an entire chapter on the county. Proceeds from the
sale of the book go to the building fund of the Bassett Historical Center.
Historian Tom Perry of Ararat, Virginia, scanned over 1,700 images from the
collection at Bassett and from individuals who brought in their personal photos
for the project. A draft copy of the book will be available for viewing
beginning Monday, August 4 though Saturday, August 9 for anyone wishing to see,
correct or discuss the book project. Perry will be on hand Monday and Saturday.
Anyone with images about Henry County history is encouraged to bring them for
scanning to the Bassett Historical Center. The cover of Images of America: Henry
County Virginia chosen by Arcadia Publishing is of the 1971 Bassett Christmas
parade featuring the cheerleaders of John D. Bassett High School.
The front row are left to
right Lynne Joyce ’71, Pam Akers ’71, Carol Anthony ’72, and sitting directly
behind is Myra Terry ’71 (Captain). The back row is Clarke Stanley ’72,
(Co-Captain) Vickie Price 72’, Betsy White ’72, Genette Hite ’72, and sitting
directly behind is Cindy Fulcher ’71.
HOURS of OPERATION
Monday, Wednesday and Thursday: 10 a. m. – 6 p.m.
Tuesday: 12 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
At present it looks like chapters will be on
Bassett, Fieldale, Martinsville and Henry County. This
photos are from people who brought pictures to the Bassett
Historical Center and from the collection of the library.
Proceeds from the sale of the book will go to the Building
Fund for the $800,000 expansion of the library. With the
outpouring of support, I hope to produce books on individual
communities in Henry County such as Bassett, Fieldale and
Martinsville in the future.
Visit Tom Perry's booth #110 in the
Just Plain Country Store in Stuart Virginia
Books include hardcover fiction, history:
local, civil war and presidential, paperbacks and audiobooks. Visit my booth #110 at the Just Plain
Country Store in Stuart. I reduced many books to 0.99 cents
including hardcover fiction and history including Civil War
and Presidential. Copies of all my books are available and
an exhibit about J. E. B. Stuart is on display.
Remembering Hester Jackson and
Ronald Johnson
Hester Jackson passed away on Saturday in Surry County
North Carolina. She was the author of Surry County Soldiers In The Civil War. I
received the Hester B. Jackson award from the now defunct Surry County Civil War
Round Table. Hester got it first. It hangs in my parent’s home in Ararat in a
place of honor. Her book on Surry County gave me the idea for The Free State Of
Patrick: Patrick County Virginia In The Civil War.
I spent many Friday evenings in the
broadcast booth with Ronald Johnson at Wallace Shelton Stadium in Mount Airy
watching football as my father and Johnson broadcast the games. They did this
for over thirty years getting both of them in the Mount Airy Sports Hall of
Fame. Ronald died this week. Above is a photo of Ronald with my father at the
Hall of Fame marker. Read the story in the Mount Airy News by clicking here.
Thirty years ago this summer on July
20, 1978, Dennis Stockton picked up Kenneth Wayne Arnder
near Mount Airy in Surry County, North Carolina, and carried
him to Kibler Valley in Patrick County, Virginia. Five days
later law enforcement found a decomposed body of a man near
Mount Airy with his hands cut off, a bullet wound between
his eyes wearing a shirt that said, “How Do You Spell
Relief…Colombian Gold.” The latter an obvious reference to
smoking marijuana. This is one of the most bizarre and
controversial murders of our region. While perusing the
shelves of Page’s Bookstore in Mount Airy I came across Dead
Run: The Shocking Story of Dennis Stockton and Life on Death
Row in America by Joe Jackson and William F. Burke, Jr. I
was seventeen that summer between my junior and senior year
at Patrick County High School working at Oakdale Knitting
Company on second shift in the dye house when not driving up
and down Lebanon Street talking to girls and listening to
Cheap Trick, Peter Frampton or Pink Floyd’s The Wall. I had
no idea how rough the under current of the area was until I
read this book. It paints a very bleak picture of our
region. Here is a quote about Mount Airy. “It was the
hometown of Andy Griffith, but the Surry County mill town
was a far cry from TV’s gentle Mayberry. Dubbed ‘Little
Chicago’ for its criminal element, Mount Airy had a mean
streak, a culture of outlawry living on its margins.”
Stuart, Virginia, gets off with the same sort of treatment.
The book states, “Stuart, municipal seat of Patrick County,
Virginia is a small town of colonial and Greek Revival
architecture and dogwood lined streets that prides itself on
tradition and Virginia gentility…’Stuart is a different
world than Mount Airy,’ said Tom Joyce managing editor of
The Mount Airy News. ‘ People there don’t question
authority…If officials say something’s true, it must be.’”
The book, written by two Norfolk reporters, in my opinion is
so anti-death penalty that the crime and victim were
irrelevant to the “innocence” of Dennis Stockton. They claim
that Patrick County officials covered up evidence of
Stockton’s innocence to advance their political careers.
Stockton claimed he gave them letters from “prominent
citizens” implicating them in criminal behavior. While I am
all for believing anything bad about the “darn bunch in
Stuart,” I doubt this knowing these two men and their
service to Patrick County that this is not a serious
allegation. Those involved and quoted in this book, some who
interviewed Stockton over other crimes are quoted in the
book saying, “Dennis would someday end up in the gas
chamber.” Born in October 1940, Stockton moved to Surry
County, where he claimed the New York Yankees scouted him as
a pitcher, but his career as a criminal began passing bad
checks. Prisoner 134466 spent half his life on Death Row.
The book is about one-half about Stockton’s life in
Virginia’s prisons awaiting execution and about half about
the murder of Arnder. Stockton was the first to complain
about the condition of Patrick County’s jail and filed a
lawsuit about it thirty years before the present situation.
Virginia executed Stockton via lethal injection on September
27, 1995. As for the book, Pages has other copies, but I
would read it with a grain of salt. Researching the book was
difficult due to the lack of an index. This is not a pretty
part of our local history, but it is part of it.
Veterans History Project
Our regional
history research library, The Bassett Historical Center, is
working to preserve the memories of the men who served in
World War Two. Volunteer Bradley Harris is conducting
interviews with the veterans of what Ken Burns calls in his
recent epic documentary The War. “We want to interview these
men to have them tell in their own words what happened to
them during the war years, what the war was like for them,
how long they were overseas and anything that they want to
share with us.” Bradley has completed several interviews
with more scheduled. The interviews will be on DVD at the
Bassett Historical Center and a copy sent to the Veterans
History Project at the American Folklife Center of the
Library of Congress along with each veteran receiving a
copy. If you know anyone Bradley could interview please
contact the Bassett Historical Center.
Bassett
Historical Center
http://www.bassetthistoricalcenter.com/
Veterans
History Project
http://www.loc.gov/vets/
"I Want My Book TV"
You know you
are boring when you get excited about the weekly schedule of
CSPAN2’s Book TV (www.booktv.org).
For years on weekends I scan the schedule to see if there
are any new books (mostly history) where the author will be
interviewed or discussing their latest work. I have found
Book TV to be a great place to keep on politics as both
sides are given equal time and you can hear and see some
incredible comments and books discussed. So, if you find
yourself bored on a weekend check out the webpage and tune
in to find a book you like. There is an extensive archive of
past programs available online if you missed the television
version. I kid my friend Deb Goodrich in Kansas that she has
been on Book TV and I have a secret desire one day to make
it to the big time. So to paraphrase Sting singing on the
beginning of Dire Straits’ Money For Nothing “I want my, I
want my Book TV”
History
Detectives
Every summer PBS shows a series of
programs called History Detectives, where a team of four “diverse” professionals
investigate the origins of some artifact whether it paper, metal, fabric,
painting or almost anything you can imagine. UNC-TV airs the shows on Monday
nights at 9 p. m. just after Antique Roadshow. This year’s series began a couple
of weeks ago. The team includes appraiser and auctioneer Wes Cowan, appraiser
and Art Historian Elyse Luray, Architect Professor Gwen Wright, Sociology
Professor Tukufu Zuberi. The first show included the diary of a World War Two
B-24 Bomber Pilot named Bill Moran, who lost his life in October 1944 flying a
mission over Europe. Jim Chapman of Lexington, North Carolina, had the diary
that came home from the war with his father. Chapman wanted to find out what
happened to Moran and to return the diary to his family. Wes Cowan investigated
the story and found the family. A very emotional Chapman returned the diary to
Moran’s daughter. Elyse Luray investigated a coin with a hole shot by markswoman
Annie Oakley. The bronze coin with Napoleon III on it came from a member of the
Cowboy Band in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Tukufu Zuberi investigated a book
titled Female Life Among the Mormons, a not very flattering portrayal of life
among the Latter Day Saints. Each week the team members go all over the country
investigating artifacts that take them in all different directions. The ways
they research the items and the people involved makes the show like Antiques
Roadshow on steroids.
Blue Ridge
Regional Library’s weekly television program on Henry County’s BTW Channel
21 (Comcast Cable)
Airtimes:
Tuesday
2
pm and 9 pm
Wednesday
1
am and 5 am
Saturday
1
pm
Will be broadcast at various other times as time permits
Missed an
episode or not a Comcast Cable subscriber? You can view the program from the
website. You may also subscribe and receive the next available episode when
it is posted. Please tune in to BTW Channel 21 at one of the above times or
this website to view our broadcast.
http://www.brrl.lib.va.us/covertocover.htm
My episode in sixth from
the bottom, but there are many other local people interested in books to
view.
The General Assembly of
Virginia created the Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War
Commission in 2006 (HB
1440) to prepare for and
commemorate the sesquicentennial of Virginia’s participation in the American
Civil War. The years 2011 - 2015 will mark the 150th anniversary of the
American Civil War, the battles of which were fought from 1861 - 1865. Yet
the issues leading up to the war developed over centuries, and legacies of
the war’s aftermath continue today. The goal of the Virginia
sesquicentennial commemoration of the Civil War is to understand this past
by examining the many facets of the war, as we come together to embrace our
future.
http://www.virginiacivilwar.org/index.php
Read James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr.’s
comments to the commission in 2006
Now this is part joke,
part interesting history and part ironic geography. So, in
honor of the latest Indiana Jones movie I thought of Patrick
County Perry in Raiders of Noah’s Ark.
http://www.freestateofpatrick.com/araratriver3 This
is actually part of a series of web pages that I am building
about history along the Ararat River. The Ararat River
begins behind Bell Spur Church along the Squirrel Spur Road
on top of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It flows down the
mountain past Ararat, Virginia, into North Carolina and the
City of Mount Airy before traversing the entire north to
south length of Surry County including a brush with the base
of Pilot Mountain before emptying into the Yadkin River at
Siloam, North Carolina. Many people including J. E. B.
Stuart, the Siamese Twins and Andy Griffith have lived
within the watershed. The watershed that begins in Virginia
eventually makes it way to the Atlantic Ocean at Georgetown,
South Carolina, as part of the Pee Dee River. In Patrick
County, the Dan River District is partly the Ararat River
watershed. Geographically isolated, the river gets no
respect in the county of its birth. In past years the
Patrick County Chamber and its maps did not even list the
river. This should surprise no one in Ararat, Virginia. I
believe the name Ararat comes from the Jefferson-Fry map
that names Sauratown and Pilot Mountains “The Mountains of
Ararat” taking the biblical name associated with Noah and
the Ark. The mountains reverted to their names associated
with the Native Peoples or Indians. The community of Ararat,
North Carolina is a twentieth century invention. Ararat,
Virginia, is the original Ararat. I will pattern this series
of WebPages along the lines of the Mount Airy and Eastern
Railroad “The Dinky” that I built several years ago showing
the path of the railway and the history along its tracks. www.freestateofpatrick.com/araratriver.htm
"We are the Hokies. We will prevail, we will prevail. We are Virginia Tech. "
-- Nikki Giovanni
The Surry County North Carolina Historical Society has
a webpage with the ability to search their photo collection. There is a story in
the Surry Messenger newspaper about the new website.
In the third week of April in
1865, two brothers sat at the elder’s home in Powhatan County, Virginia,
speaking of their father and discussing editing his memoirs from the American
Revolution. The other brother, Sydney, was not present, but all three were in a
financial crisis due to the war. The brothers might have regretted selling their
land in Patrick, Carroll and Floyd counties before the war. After the
Revolutionary War, Buffalo Mountain was a part of a 16,000-acre tract of land
known as Lee’s Order. This tract was a grant made to General Henry Lee
(1756-1818) by the United States government for his service in the Revolutionary
War. Henry Lee III attended Princeton with future president, James Madison, and
served as a cavalry commander under George Washington during the American
Revolution. Known for his swift movements and lightning attacks he earned the
moniker of “Light Horse Harry.” After the war Lee served as Governor of
Virginia, but land speculation led to a term in debtors’ prison and a very
unhappy end for the man who said Washington was “First in War, first in peace
and first in the hearts of his countrymen.” After the death of his wife Ann Hill
Carter Lee in 1829, the three brothers inherited the property. There were unpaid
taxes and bills against the property, but the brothers kept the land. In 1846,
two sold 16,300 acres in the three counties to Nathaniel Burwell of Roanoke
County (Patrick County Deed Book 12 page 425) for $5,000. Originally surveyed as
over 20,000 acres the Patrick portion was 6,268 near Hog Mountain crossing
branches of the south fork of Rock Castle Creek, the Conner Spur Road and a fork
of the Dan River. The Floyd portion was 7,143 and Carroll was 5,797 acres.
Robert Edward Lee (1809-1870) known to history as the “Gray Fox,” commanded the
Army of Northern Virginia during the War Between The States, but his brothers
are lesser known. Sydney Smith Lee (1802-1869) married the granddaughter of
“Founding Father” George Mason, the Father of the Bill of Rights. He was the
father of Jeb Stuart’s subordinate Fitzhugh Lee. Sydney Lee served in the navies
of the United States and Confederate States of America. Beginning in 1820 with a
midshipman’s commission in the U. S. Navy, he rose in rank serving as Commandant
of the Naval Academy, commanding the Philadelphia Naval Yard and accompanying
Mathew Perry on his expedition to Japan. He commanded the Norfolk Navy Yard and
the Confederate Naval Academy at Drewry’s Bluff during the war. Considered very
handsome, his brothers nicknamed him “Rose.” After the war, he farmed in
Stafford County, Virginia, before dying suddenly in July 1869. Charles Carter
Lee was born in 1798 and received a degree from Harvard in 1819. He lived a
disjointed life as a New York City lawyer, land speculator, plantation owner in
Mississippi until his marriage at age 49 to Lucy Penn Taylor. He lived on his
wife’s inheritance, Windsor Forest, in Powhatan County prospering as a husband,
father, farmer and writer, especially of poetry. Of the three Lee brothers, only
Carter lived on the land in Floyd County. Papers supplied from the courthouse by
the Honorable Gino Williams indicate that Carter tried to establish a grist mill
on the land and that he was involved in legal dealings with Archibald Stuart,
father of James Ewell Brown “Jeb” Stuart. Tradition states he lived on the
Buffalo Mountain property at one time in a home called Spring Camp and that he
had a law office. Carter was last of Henry and Ann Lee’s children to die, but
Robert may have summed up the ownership of the land in southwest Virginia and
the plight of the three brothers after the war when he said, “It’s a hard case
that out of so much land, none should be good for anything…”
HISTORY OF THE RESTORATION
OF RICHMOND HILL
The history of the
25-year restoration of Richmond Hill, the antebellum home of North Carolina
Chief Justice Richmond Mumford Pearson (1805-1878) and his family will be given
at Richmond Hill on Sunday, July 20, 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm. The program is free and
open to the public. The program is sponsored by The Yadkin County Historical
Society and The Historic Richmond Hill Law School Commission. The afternoon
begins at 1:00 pm, with a covered-dished picnic in the shelter on the left,
followed at 2:00 pm with a tour of the house and grounds. The free program
begins inside the air-conditioned house at 3:00 pm. A panel of local historians
will tell the story of the $250,000 restoration, which lasted from 1965-1990,
under the leadership of the late Jimmie R. Hutchens, the Yadkin County
Historical Society and the Historic Richmond Hill Law School Commission. The
public dedication was attended by many people, including NC Chief Justice Rhoda
Billings, NC Governor James Martin, members of the NC General Assembly, and
other public officials. The brick building is listed on the National Register
of Historic Places. From 1848-1878, on the grounds of Richmond Hill, Judge
Pearson conducted a famous law school, where as many as 1,000 young men may have
studied to become lawyers. Richmond Hill is also the place where Judge Pearson
invoked the right of habeas corpus to prevent men from being conscripted into
service in the Confederate Army in the Civil War (1861-1865). This year, local
historians erected a marker commemorating this event as part of the NC Civil War
Trail. Richmond Hill is located at 4641 Law School Road, East Bend, NC. To
travel there from NC 67 Highway at Wiseman’s Crossroads in Yadkin County, take
Smithtown Road north to Richmond Hill Road, travel west to Limerock Road, and
north on Law School Road to the end. For more information, contact Judy Vaughn,
(336) 325-3511, or
kerman@yadtel.net.
"If Thee
Must Fight, Then Fight Well" The Life of Brevet Brigadier General William
Jackson Palmer
This talk will
focus on Medal of Honor recipient and Delaware native William J. Palmer, who
rode with
George
Stoneman on his 1865 raid through our area. Palmer, a railroad engineer before
the Civil War
went on to
found the city of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and built railroads amassing a
fortune after the war.
He retired and
left his estate to educational and service organizations.
September 28, 2008, 3:00 to 6:00, Richmond Hill Heritage
Day at the home of Richmond Pearson in Yadkin County.
PATRICK COUNTY HISTORICAL TOURS
Patrick County Historian Tom Perry
is working to bring
tourists to The Free State Of Patrick with history. Tom, a graduate of Virginia Tech,, is the author of
The Free State of Patrick: Patrick County Virginia in the Civil War, Ascent
to Glory: The Genealogy of J. E. B Stuart, J. E. B. Stuart’s Birthplace: The
History of the Laurel Hill Farm, Images of America: Patrick County, Virginia,
God’s Will Be Done: The Christian Life of J. E. B. Stuart and the upcoming
Notes From the Free State of Patrick: Patrick County and Regional History -
Volume One. Enjoy a tour of sites in Ararat
associated with Civil War General J. E. B Stuart, Reverend Bob Childress, made
famous in The Man Who Moved A Mountain and mid-wife Aunt Orlean Hawks
Puckett, made famous by her cabin along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Other
topics will include the Mount Airy and Eastern Railroad along with stories,
legends and infamous crimes in the area known as The Hollow, Friends Mission and
Ararat, Virginia, which are the same place. Tours are flexible and our guests’
interests in any particular subject can be expanded with tours to the “Rock
Churches” ministered by Bob Childress or a stop by Aunt Orlean’s
humble, rustic mountain cabin along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Experience history at its best as Tom brings J. E. B Stuart alive along with
other famous Patrick County residents of the past. Availability is dependent on the author’s schedule and only Advance Reservations
can take advantage of the tours. Many people come into Patrick County and
improve the place we live. My family were once “outsiders” when they came to
“The Free State Of Patrick” the year before I was born in 1959. I think new
blood and new ideas are good especially if they bring better economic times to
the area.
Chestnuts in Patrick County and the Exodus to Amelia County
“Like Manna From God: the
American Chestnut Trade in Southwestern Virginia”
Dr. Ralph H. Lutts of Meadows
of Dan recently published an article in Environmental History. The article is
interesting not only for its discussion of the importance of chestnuts in the
Patrick County economy, but also because it explains how the chestnut blight of
the 1920s contributed to so many Patrick Countians having to find work in coal
fields, knitting mills, and furniture factories. One exodus was to Amelia
County. Dr. Lutts writes that, “Enough Patrick Countians moved to Amelia County,
located southwest of Richmond, to establish the ‘Little Patrick’ community.”
Watching CPSPAN2’s Book TV last
weekend I came across David McCullough talking about a new historical project
Journey Through Hallowed Ground that is basically a driving trail connecting
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to Charlottesville, Virginia. The trail beginning at
the national battlefield follows Route 15 south to Orange, Virginia, and then
takes Virginia Route 20 to Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson. For years
I have thought we could do a similar type historical trail in Patrick County. I
called it the Free State Of Patrick Trail and have tried to get the various
historical groups to work together on it with no cooperation.
I recently joined the Round The
Mountain, Southwest Virginia’s Artisan Network. While I did not think I fit the
scope very well, I thought for $20 I would give it a shot. As a rule I don’t
join just to join I expect to get promoted, something the Patrick County Chamber
of Commerce does not get. When I give an organization $94 a year I expect my
events posted and my work promoted as I want it, not at the there choosing. I am
no longer a member of that group and I ask those who are what they get from
membership except a bill every year. What I don’t see is once the money is the
chamber bank account that members get anything. The focus appears to me to be
getting new members and not taking care of those already part of the
group. Every time I tried to get anything promote it was like pulling eye teeth
and when my mother was not allowed to eat at a chamber after hours and I was
ignored waiting two hours on top of Laurel Hill to talk about the history and
promote my new book at an event that was my idea I came to have serious doubts.
Also, when the PR came out about that event I was not even listed in the chamber
email. The straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back for me was the refusal
of the chamber to promote the Bassett Historical Center symposium that included
myself and other chamber members including the Blue Ridge Regional Library. It
is no secret that I think the Patrick County Historical Society does nothing to
promote the county or preserve history, while Bassett is our regional history
library and is expanding. I always so “Go To The Light” and when people are
moving forward and not sitting still in the town formerly known as Taylorsville
I go with those doing something. Patrick County is trying to bring visitors by
various means such as the Crooked Road Musical Heritage Trail and I think that
is great. What disgusted me was when the new brochure about the county came out
I was completely excluded from it. Now, for years I went around promoting the
history of the county and it certainly was no secret that I had a webpage. When
I complained it was made clear to me that I would be blamed for the cost of
reprinting the new brochure and my physically conservative soul would not allow
that. While covered bridges are part of Patrick County’s history I think the
entire history of the county if marketed correctly and everyone worked together
would bring more people than the Round The Crooked Mountain Agri-Tourism Road
Trail combined in my opinion and it is being ignored. The largest business in
Virginia is tourism. The largest part of tourism in Virginia is history. Why not
in Patrick County too.
This page will have stories, photos and genealogical resources for those who had
ancestors from the county in the War Between the States.
Perry is editing and adding material for a second edition of The Free State Of
Patrick: Patrick County Virginia In the Civil War. Specifically, if you photos
of soldiers in uniform or letters from people in Patrick County and would like
to contribute them please send Tom Perry an email at
freestateofpatrick@yahoo.com.
BOOK REPORT:
I was pleased to assist in donating photos for a new book
about Patrick County History. Arcadia Publishing released Music Makers of the
Blue Ridge on July 21, a pictorial history of musicians in five localities in
Southwest Virginia, as the newest addition to its “Images of America” series.
The soft-cover book contains more than 200 vintage and recent images of music
making in Patrick, Floyd, Carroll and Grayson Counties and the city of Galax–the
Blue Ridge Plateau. During the late 1920s, Ralph Peer and the Victor Recording
Company visited the city of Bristol to look for new talent. They stumbled upon
Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family, two future legends of country music;
however, other amazing musicians were unable to make the trip to Bristol for the
auditions because of work and family obligations. For the locals, music was more
than a way to earn fame and fortune; the music was part of the fabric of life in
this rural environment. Some individuals did become famous, including the
Stoneman Family, who recorded “The Ship That Didn’t Return/ The Titanic,” and
Henry Whitter, who recorded “The Wreck of Old 97,” but that was never the focus.
“The Wreck of the Old ‘97,’” “Caty Sage,” and “Freeda Bolt” were about a train
wreck, a kidnapping, and a murder respectively. Music remains an integral part
of the people’s lives today. The songs they played and created accompanied an
entire generation through the Great Depression and World War II and into the
vigorous growth of the 1950s and 1960s. All of these musicians influenced the
birth, growth, and continued development of the Galax Fiddlers Convention, known
around the world by old-time mountain music fans. For locals, music was more
than a way to earn fame and fortune, according to a news release from Emily
Higgins, publicity manager. The music was part of the fabric of life in this
rural environment and the new book chronicles that history. The Blue Ridge Music
Makers Guild Inc., a non-profit organization that comprises fans, composers,
songwriters, performers, producers and instrument-makers, and is dedicated to
the preservation of the old-time musical heritage of the Blue Ridge Plateau. The
musicians of the Blue Ridge Plateau influenced the birth, growth, and continued
development of mountain music and eventually, the Galax Fiddlers’ Convention,
known around the world by old-time mountain music fans,” the news release
states. The book depicts the traditional music from its beginnings to today’s
musicians who carry on the tradition, and points out that because of separation
by distance and topography, they often developed their own distinctive fiddle
and banjo styles sometimes found in areas only twenty miles apart. The pictorial
history also stresses the importance of instrument building. We found that many
of the earlier music makers were also builders of their instruments because
store-bought fiddles and banjos were too dear or because they liked what they
could make better, the news release says. This encouraged artisanship of the
highest quality in building different types of instruments. These artisans
handed down this quality along with the music. The members of the Blue Ridge
Music Makers Guild wanted to add images, memories and stories to the concept of
the Crooked Road Heritage Music Trail, which includes the localities highlighted
in the book. The local schoolhouses and churches made for ideal gathering places
to share music as did homes as neighbors gathered to share the work of building
or harvesting during the day and dancing and playing music in the evening, the
news release states. As we wrote this book, we found the importance of capturing
the stories that went with the pictures as family members or friends shared
their treasured photos and experiences. We discovered that we were doing more of
a service to the community than we had imagined when we first started this
project. We were capturing moments and memories that could have been lost. The
section on Patrick County contains the following introductory passages: Music
runs through the veins of Patrick Countians. According to A Guide to the Crooked
Road, Patrick County is one of the most productive music thickets in
North America…Patrick County’s rich music heritage came with the first settlers,
who brought along their folk ballads from Scotland, Ireland, Germany, and
England; with Patrick Henry and his fiddle; and with hymns for worship, the
section states. Gospel groups and choirs continue to perform in the community.
People sang ballads about events that actually happened. Arcadia Publishing is
“best known for its popular ‘Images of America’ series, which chronicles the
history of communities from Bangor, Maine to Manhattan Beach, California,” the
news release states “…Each title celebrates a town or region, bringing to life
the people, places and events that defined the community.” The book will be
available at area bookstores, independent retailers and online retailers, or
through Arcadia Publishing at (888)-313-2665 or www.arcadiapublishing.com. The
price is $19.95 per copy.
ISBN: 0738554103
New Biography of J. E. B. Stuart Set For September 23, 2008, Release
Cavalryman of the Lost Cause is the first major biography in decades of the
famous Confederate general J. E. B. Stuart. Based on research in manuscript
collections, personal memoirs and reminiscences, and regimental histories, this
comprehensive volume reflects outstanding Civil War scholarship. James Ewell
Brown Stuart was the premier cavalry commander of the Confederacy. He gained a
reputation for daring early in the war when he rode around the Union army in the
Peninsula Campaign, providing valuable intelligence to General Robert E. Lee at
the expense of Union commander George B. McClellan. Stuart has long been
controversial because of his performance in the critical Gettysburg Campaign,
where he was out of touch with Lee for several days; this left Lee uncertain
about the size and movement of the Union army, information that would prove
decisive when the battle began. In an engagement with the cavalry of Union
general Philip Sheridan in spring 1864, Stuart was killed. He was only
thirty-one. Jeffry D. Wert provides new details about Stuart’s childhood and
youth, and he draws on letters between Stuart and his wife, Flora, to show us
the man as he was: eager for glory, daring sometimes to the point of
recklessness, but a devoted and loving husband and father. Stuart has long been
regarded as the finest Confederate cavalryman and one of the best this country
has ever produced. Wert shows how Stuart’s friendship with Stonewall Jackson and
his relationship with Lee were crucial; at the same time Stuart’s relationships
with his subordinates were complicated and sometimes troubled. Cavalryman of
the Lost Cause is a riveting biography of a towering figure of the Civil
War, a fascinating and colorful work by one of our finest Civil War historians.
“One of those rare, too often overlooked figures in the Civil War pantheon, Jeb
Stuart was as irresistible as he was colorful, as contentious as he was
fascinating. In this endlessly absorbing biography, Jeffry Wert does him justice
and then some. This richly detailed study belongs on the bookshelf of every
Civil War buff, right next to the dog-eared volumes on Lincoln, Lee, Jackson,
and Grant. Bravo!” — Jay Winik, author of April 1865: The Month That Saved
America and The Great Upheaval: America and the Birth of the Modern
World, 1788-1800
“Jeffry D. Wert adds to his considerable reputation as a military historian
of the Civil War with this engaging biography of the Confederacy’s best and most
famous cavalry officer. Jeb Stuart figured prominently in most of the Army of
Northern Virginia’s storied operations, and Wert does full justice to his
striking successes while also exploring with a critical eye his controversial
conduct during the Gettysburg Campaign. This book is the obvious place to begin
any exploration of Stuart’s life and career.” — Gary W. Gallagher, Nau Professor
of History, University of Virginia, and author of Lee and His Army in
Confederate History
“This fresh look at the Confederacy’s premier cavalryman offers a fast-paced
and sure-footed narrative of Stuart’s campaigns combined with fascinating
information about the man and his family. Cavalryman of the Lost Cause
is now the Jeb Stuart biography.” — George C. Rable, Charles Summersell
Chair in Southern History, University of Alabama, and author of
Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg!, winner of the Lincoln Prize
“One of the Civil War’s most popular historians has tackled one of its most
memorable figures. Scrupulously avoiding the pitfalls of either blind worship or
reckless iconoclasm, Jeffry Wert recounts the successes and failures of this
remarkable soldier in a masterful study that combines diligent research and
fresh analysis with the prose of a gripping novel. A must for any bookshelf —
Blue or Gray.” — Joseph Pierro, editor of The Maryland Campaign of September
1862: Ezra A. Carman’s Definitive Study of the Union and Confederate Armies at
Antietam
Hardcover: 512 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (September 23, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0743278194
ISBN-13: 978-0743278195
What Happened To Stuart At Gettysburg?
For most of the last twenty years anytime I am anywhere speaking about James
Ewell Brown “Jeb” Stuart I have had to ask one question continuously and that is
“What happened to Stuart at Gettysburg?” Speaking of that the answer to that
question is now answered with a new book One Continuous Fight: The
Retreat from Gettysburg and the Pursuit of Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, July
4-14, 1863. This book covers the forgotten time (July 4-14, 1863)
period after the Battle of Gettysburg July 1-3, 1863, that many believe was the
turning point of the War Between The States. Experts such as Ted Alexander and
Kent M. Brown, who are recognized experts on the withdrawal as we Southerners
might put it or retreat as “Yankees” might say it, believe that Stuart redeemed
himself in this two weeks when the very survival of Robert E. Lee’s Army of
Northern Virginia was at stake. In 456 pages have for the first time in book
form concentrated and covered Stuart’s role and the cavalry of North and South
in an often overlooked aspect of this important campaign.
I view this book along with Plenty of Blame To Go Around: JEB Stuart’s
Controversial Ride to Gettysburg published in September 2006 as the
answer to the question I have to answer. From this point forward whenever I am
asked I will just tell people to buy these two books and they will know the
answer to question. “What happened to Stuart at Gettysburg?”
The best of thing about this book is the
dedication to my friend, Patricia Walenista, who started the Turner Ashby
Historical Society and in one of the worst times of my life was my friend. If
this book did nothing else I would want it for that reason, but it is a great
new published source on J. E. B. Stuart and his men in the war.
Robert J. Trout has produced They Followed the
Plume: J. E. B. Stuart and his staff, Galloping Thunder: The Story of the Stuart
Horse Artillery Battalion, With Pen and Saber: The Letters and Diaries of J. E.
B. Stuart’s Staff, In the Saddle With Stuart: The Story of Frank Robertson Smith
of J. E. B. Stuart’s Staff and Riding With Stuart: The Reminiscences of Theodore
Garnett.
Again he has produced a book that is valuable to
anyone interest in Stuart and his role in the War Between The States. This book
in 373 pages with footnotes and bibliography is part of Peter S. Carmichael’s
Voices of the Civil War Series published by the University of Tennessee Press in
Knoxville. Trout’s edited three memoirs including Lewis T. Nunnelee’s History of
a Famous Company, Hart, Stephens, Sherfesee and Schwing’s History of Hart’s
Battery and Louis Sherfesee’s Reminiscences of a Color Bearer. Carmichael, now
at West Virginia University wrote a foreword for the book. It is not known if
Pete has burned any couches in his new position at Morgantown.
Here is the information from the University of
Tennessee: “Until recently, it has been difficult for anyone with an interest in
the Army of Northern Virginia’s horse artillery, which served under legendary
cavalry commander J. E. B. Stuart, to envision what the men of the battalion
endured. With the publication in 2002 of Robert Trout’s seminal book, Galloping
Thunder: The Stuart Horse Artillery Battalion, the endeavors of the unit were
rescued from obscurity. In Memoirs of the Stuart Horse Artillery Battalion,
Trout provides readers with complete versions of three important primary
documents, written by soldiers of the battalion. Lt. Lewis T. Nunnelee’s history
of Moorman’s Battery is based on a seven-volume diary that Nunnelee kept during
the war and features near daily entries of the battery’s actions. His
extraordinary attention to detail offers readers an opportunity to follow the
movements of the battery virtually hoofstep by hoofstep through the campaigns in
which he participated. The “History of Hart’s Battery,” as told by Maj. James F.
Hart, Dr. Levi C. Stephens, Louis Sherfesee, and Charles H. Schwing, is, as
Trout puts it, “a cannon of a different caliber.” It recounts in broader terms
the battery’s history from its inception before the war to its surrender as the
last horse artillery in the field. The authors offer rare glimpses into the
development of tactics learned from the “school of the battlefield.” Finally,
Louis Sherfesee’s “Reminiscences of A Color-Bearer” fleshes out many of the
stories in the history that he co-wrote with Hart and his fellow soldiers.
Filled with short vignettes, it offers a behind-the-scenes look at the battery
in action. Together, these rich documents provide welcome insights into the
day-to-day experiences of the often overlooked Confederate horse artillery,
which played an important role in cementing Stuart’s reputation as one of the
most outstanding cavalry commanders in the Civil War. Robert J. Trout is a
retired schoolteacher. He lives in Myerstown, Pennsylvania, where he taught
fourth and fifth grade for thirty-three years. He is the author of They Followed
the Plume: The Story of J. E. B. . Stuart and His Staff and the editor of With
Pen and Saber: The Letters and Diaries of J. E. B. Stuart’s Staff Officers.”
Cloth Edition,
$45.00t
Cloth ISBN: 1-57233-605-6
Library of Congress No.: LC 2007021031
Images of America: Patrick County Virginia
On Sale
Just Plain Country Store and Antique Mall Booth #110 in
Stuart, Virginia.
Wanda's Estate Jewelry in Stuart, Virginia.
Page's Bookstore in Mount Airy, North Carolina.
Mount Airy Museum of History
News From the Website
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Notes from the Free State of Patrick Volume One
I am working on is a new series of local history books that I am calling Notes from the Free State of Patrick taking the title from Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia. This book will have articles, blogs, speeches and photos of various topics relating to Patrick County Virginia and regional history. If successful I hope to bring out future volumes in this series yearly as well each spring. Here is the working table of contents for Notes from the Free State of Patrick
I thought I would write a few blogs to let you know about what I am working on historically. Recently, I sent in a contract to Arcadia Publishing to do a photo book on Henry County Virginia just like my Patrick County book published last year. Proceeds from the sale of the book will go to the building fund of the Bassett Historical Center, a branch of the Blue Ridge Regional Library. I have collected over 1,700 photos for this book, which will only have 200 photos, so the multiple volumes of this book are possible as well. So far, the photos of Bassett, Fieldale and Martinsville dominate the submitted photo. If you know or have any photos that you might wish to submit just bring them by the Bassett Historical Center for scanning. This book will be my way of paying back the regional history library that has embraced me and my work on regional history. The cover will be known by the time of the next newsletter and I expect release in March 2009 to coincide with a symposium at the Bassett Historical Center. With the large number of photos acquired I expect to be able to print books on individual communities within Henry County such as Bassett, Fieldale and Martinsville at this time easily are doable.
J. E. B. Stuart’s North Carolina Connections
“North Carolina Has Done Nobly”: J. E. B. Stuart’s North Carolina Connections
Continuing with several blogs about projects I am working on this week with one that those who know me will find humorous with my aversion for all things Tarheel. This book is something that I have been thinking about for many years. It will cover the many connections that James Ewell Brown “Jeb” Stuart had to the Old North State. As he grew up along the border with North Carolina it was only natural like the people in Ararat do today they went to Mount Airy for shopping, church, mail and no doubt dancing at the Blue Ridge Hotel with Tarheels ladies. It will also focus on Stuart’s travels all around piedmont North Carolina in 1852 and 1854. What many do not realize is that many men from North Carolina served under Stuart in the War Between the States between 1861 and 1864 when Stuart lost his life fighting at Yellow Tavern. This book will on the scale of God’s Will Be Done: The Christian Life of J. E. B. Stuart and I hope it will illuminate in Mount Airy especially the connections that Stuart has with the community.
The Papers of J. E. B. Stuart
Continuing the never ending series of blogs about the projects I am working on. Over the last ten years I have been collecting and transcribing the letters, poems, reports and any papers written by James Ewell Brown “Jeb” Stuart. This manuscript now over 500 pages long is now ready for the editing stage as most of the transcribing and typing has been completed. This project entailed going to the National Archives and looking for Stuart’s letters and reports from the United States Army. I visited libraries such as Duke, Chapel Hill, Charlottesville along with the Library of Virginia, Virginia Historical Society and the Museum of the Confederacy searching for letters and other materials such as account books, dairies, etc. Whether or not I ever get it published it will at least be in my papers at Virginia Tech a place where all his papers will be together in one spot in my collection. Over the years I have noticed that some are almost paranoid about books relating to Stuart coming out, but I do not subscribe to that sort of thinking. J. E. B. Stuart can more than speak for himself and in spending all these years I have never come across anything that would besmirch his reputation. I think that if I could ever get the permissions necessary and get this book published it would cause an eruption of new scholarship about Stuart, which I think would raise his reputation not belittle it. I do not see new knowledge being a bad thing and sharing it is the way to keep history alive.
The Soldiers
Dream
Completing
the never
ending
series of
blogs about
the projects
I am working
on I come to
The
Soldier’s
Dream: The
Life of J.
E. B.
Stuart,
which is the
working
title of my
biography on
Stuart that
I have been
collecting
material on
for over two
decades.
This fall
Jeff Wert
will release
a new
biography of
Stuart, the
first in
twenty-two
years since
Emory
Thomas’s
Bold Dragoon
and I think
that is
great. Every
generation
should have
a go at
interpreting
important
historical
figures.
While few
around
Patrick
County
realize how
important
Stuart was
as a leader
of R. E.
Lee’s
cavalry in
the War
Between The
States he
will soon
have six
biographies
written
about him if
you count W.
W.
Blackford’s
War Years
With J. E.
B. Stuart to
go with H.
B.
McClellan’s
I Rode With
J. E. B.
Stuart, John
Thomason’s
J. E. B.
Stuart and
Burke
Davis’s The
Last
Cavalier.
This does
not include
all the
other books
by authors
such as
Robert Trout
and the
recent
cavalry
books by
authors such
as Wittenberg
and Edward
Longacre
over the
last few
years and
decades. So,
why write a
new book
about Stuart
because as
funny as it
sounds not
everything
has been
looked at.
Virtually
untouched is
Stuart’s
time in the
United
States Army
and those
events that
affected his
Civil War
career. I
have
discovered
for instance
when and
where I
believe the
trouble
began
between he
and William
E. “Grumble”
Jones. For
new material
produced
during the
war the
Virginia
Historical
Society
recently
acquire two
collections
that have
some
important
material
such as the
papers
donated by
descendants
of Stuart’s
daughter,
Virginia,
that
included
many
important
letters
between
Stuart and
his brother
William A.
Stuart and
the Flora
Cooke Stuart
papers that
I knew must
exist, but I
had never
seen.
Another
recent
collection
of material
that may
have
Stuart’s
name
literally
written all
over it is
the Robert
E. Lee
material
that such
new books
such as
Reading The
Man by
Elizabeth B.
Pryor are
based on.
So, when
someone says
that there
is no need
for a new
book I think
he must not
have looked
on World CAT
lately.
Copyright 2007 Tom Perry. No material to be used without permission.
"Never attribute to malice what you can explain with stupidity" -- Hanlon's
Razor
And In The End...
If you have read
this far I congratulate you. Last this month I want to let you know that I am
not very happy with the organization I started nearly twenty years ago. The J.
E. B. Stuart Birthplace Preservation Trust Inc. If you are interested please
read on. Read about the "Poor Stewardship" At Stuart's Birthplace
Robert E. Lee's Patrick County Land
"Never attribute to malice what you can explain with stupidity" -- Hanlon's
Razor