Newsletter of the Free State of Patrick Internet History Group

                                 Notes From The Free State Of Patrick March 2008

                                        "There is nothing new in the world except the history you don't know"  -- Harry Truman

                            "We are the Hokies. We will prevail, we will prevail. We are Virginia Tech. "  -- Nikki Giovanni

                                             Virginia Tech We Remember Webpage http://www.vt.edu/remember

NEW! Click Here To Visit The Free State Of Patrick Blog

J. E. B. Stuart's Birthplace Vandalized

Black History Month Story: Slave Cemetery Along The Blue Ridge Parkway

Courtesy of Leslie Shelor http://meadowsofdanva.blogspot.com/

Up against a narrow border of trees a cemetery spreads beside the Blue Ridge Parkway. Generations of mountain people have been buried in this cemetery, next to a white church that is a landmark in the community of Meadows of Dan. The existence of a Baptist church on these grounds dates back to the early settlement of the region, and most of the oldest families are represented on the gravestones in the cemetery.

There is a little field between the cemetery and US Business 58, a triangle bound on the third side by the Parkway. This land now belongs to the National Park Service. But at one time it belonged to the church cemetery, and local lore has it that there are graves in this small field. Some of the graves are supposed to hold the remains of the slaves of local families, particularly those of the Langhorne family.

There are records of few slaves in this region of the mountains. The few families that owned slaves in these remote areas lived and worked side by side with their human property, and often slaves were buried with their masters in family cemeteries. The Langhorne family owned large expanses of property in Meadows of Dan and it is reported that they gave the land for the two Baptist churches in the community. Marked graves for members of the Langhorne family rest in the cemetery at the Baptist Church, and the story is passed down through locals that there were graves marked only with fieldstone in the small meadow now owned by the Parkway.

A fieldstone set on end was a common marker for members of the community, slave and free alike. Such markers are seen in family cemeteries all across the Blue Ridge Mountains. Families dug the graves and saw to what markers could be managed, long before the days of funeral homes. In even earlier times engraved markers were handmade, carved fieldstone with rough-cut letters chiseled by a family member or neighbor. If no one got around to making a marker, which could happen with the press of farming and raising a family, the simple stone had to suffice. Memory served to record the placement of family graves, and memory failed as people aged and died without passing on the information.

When the construction of the Blue Ridge Parkway commenced in the 1930s, the small field that now adjoins the Meadows of Dan Baptist Church cemetery became Park Service property. Local
members of the community remembered that the fieldstone markers were removed by the construction workers to the edge of the woods as the road came through. When the work was done the stones remained piled askew, and the fact that they were markers for members of the community, slave or free, was overlooked and neglected. As time went on the exact locations were forgotten.

When slavery was abolished, most of the few remaining black citizens of Meadows of Dan left the area. There are a few stories about families that lived on and worked in the community, but all were gone by the 1930s. Even if there had been relatives of the people buried in the cemetery remaining in the area, black or white, people were preoccupied with their own lives and memory had probably faded by that time as to who was actually buried in the little plot.

In the 1950s a handsome, well-dressed black woman came to Meadows of Dan, searching for information about her ancestors that were slaves in Meadows of Dan. Sadly the locals could tell her little, but she was taken out to the little plot by the Parkway and the possible location of her family graves was pointed out.

Family cemeteries across the Blue Ridge are in danger of being forgotten, as the young people leave the mountains in search of ways of making a living. The few people with first hand knowledge of the existence of the lost graves at Meadows of Dan Baptist church are slipping away with each passing year. Bob Heafner of The Mountain Laurel has made an attempt to press the National Park Service to right the wrong done to these members of the community by asking that a marker be placed to commemorate the graves and highlight the contributions of black slaves who worked alongside the first settlers. His last update of information about his efforts is dated May 16, 2005.

Mountain Laurel Link http://www.mtnlaurel.com/slaves/slave_meadow.htm for the article listed below

It’s Time To Remember The Slave Meadow Unmarked Graves on National Park Service Land by: Bob Heafner

Visit Leslie Shelor's Website The Greenberry House

NEW BIOGRAPHY OF J. E. B. STUART RELEASED ON HIS BIRTHDAY

Story  From The Mount Airy News

http://www.mtairynews.com/articles/2008/02/14/news/local_news/local03.txt
 

Laurel Hill Publishing is pleased to announce the release of God’s Will Be Done: The Christian Life of J. E. B. Stuart by Thomas D. Perry. The  147 page book is a biography of Patrick County Virginia’s most famous son Civil War General James Ewell Brown Stuart focusing on his faith along with his life and military career. The book will be available locally exclusively at Booth #110 in the Just Plain Country Store in Stuart, Virginia, until February 12 when it will be released nationally. Cost of the book is $14.99.

Did you know that J. E. B. Stuart?

Founded churches in Kansas that are still standing.

Gave $100 to the formation of a church in Patrick County.

Bought his men copies of the scriptures from his own pocket.

Gave Temperance speeches throughout his life after promising his mother at 12 he would not drink.

These are some of the history revealed in this new book.

Thomas D. Perry is the author of Images of America: Patrick County Virginia published by Arcadia J. E. B. Stuart’s Birthplace: The History of the Laurel Hill Farm, The Free State of Patrick: Patrick County Virginia in the Civil War and Ascent To Glory: The Genealogy of J. E. B. Stuart published by Laurel Hill Publishing.

Perry started the J. E. B. Stuart Birthplace in 1990, the 75 acre park that preserves the site of the house where Stuart was born and spent his first 12 years. Visit www.freestateofpatrick.com/Laurelhill.htm for information about the history of the site. In 2005, Perry started the Free State of Patrick Internet History Group, the largest historical organization relating to Patrick County Virginia history with 550 members. Membership is free of charge to anyone interested in history. Members receive a monthly email newsletter about local and regional history. www.freestateofpatrick.com/fsop.htm.

Perry will be speaking on March 1, 2008, at the first annual symposium at the Bassett Historical Center. He lectures all over the country about Stuart and Patrick County History. He is a Life Member of the Patrick County Historical Society and on the Board of Directors of the Bassett Historical Center, Patrick County’s regional history library.

Laurel Hill Publishing

P. O. Box 50

Ararat, VA 24053

freestateofpatrick@yahoo.com

276-692-5300

www.freestateofpatrick.com/book.htm

NOTE TO SUBSCRIBERS TO THE NEWSLETTER IF YOU OWN A COPY OF J. E. B. STUART'S BIRTHPLACE: THE HISTORY OF THE LAUREL HILL FARM THEN YOU HAVE THIS BOOK AS IT IS THE THREE CHAPTERS ON J. E. B. STUART BROKEN OUT WITH ADDITIONAL MATERIAL ADDED.

Groundhog Day At The Foot Of Groundhog Mountain

A Scottish Poem goes this way:

“As the light grows longer

The cold grows stronger

If Candlemas be fair and bright

Winter will have another flight

If Candlemas be cloud and snow

Winter will be gone and not come again

A farmer should on Candlemas day

Have half his corn and half his hay

On Candlemas day if thorns hang a drop

You can be sure of a good pea crop”

Groundhog Day celebrated on February 2 each year is the traditional day holds that when one of the fury critters comes out of its burrow and sees its shadow then winter is going to last six more weeks. There is the famous Punxsutawney Phil of Punxsutawney Pennsylvania who you see on television each year, but in researching this article I discovered there were many famous groundhogs such as Sir Walter Wally of Raleigh, North Carolina.

There is a German tradition that started in America on February 4, 1841, from Morgantown, Berks County, Pennsylvania, storekeeper James Morris' diary, “Last Tuesday, the 2nd, was Candlemas day, the day on which, according to the Germans, the Groundhog peeps out of his winter quarters and if he sees his shadow he pops back for another six weeks nap, but if the day be cloudy he remains out, as the weather is to be moderate.”

It stems from Candlemas Day. In the British Isles good weather on Candlemas indicates bad weather later as they have no groundhogs there was no furry prognosticator to rely on.

There is the poetry of Robert Herrick (1591-1674). 

CEREMONY UPON CANDLEMAS EVE.

“Down with the rosemary, and so
Down with the bays and misletoe;
Down with the holly, ivy, all
Wherewith ye dress'd the Christmas hall;
That so the superstitious find
No one least branch there left behind;
For look, how many leaves there be
Neglected there, maids, trust to me,
So many goblins you shall see.”

Known as The Feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple or Feast of the Purification of the Virgin celebrates an early episode in the life of Jesus. In the Catholic Church, the Presentation is a feast celebrated on 2 February and is the fourth Joyful Mystery of the Rosary. The Bible specifically the Gospel of Luke 2:22-40 from The New American Bible:

“When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, just as it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord,’ and to offer the sacrifice of ‘a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons,’ in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord. Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Messiah of the Lord. He came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him, he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying: ‘Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.’ The child's father and mother were amazed at what was said about him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted (and you yourself a sword will pierce) so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.’ There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer. And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem. When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.”

So from Jesus to Bill Murray, who starred in the 1993 movie Groundhog Day with Andie MacDowell, Groundhog Day has become part of our American Cultural. Murray plays a weatherman who keeps reliving Groundhog Day waking up continually on February 2.

So who is this Groundhog? Wikipedia describes him this way. “The groundhog (Marmota monax), also known as the woodchuck, land beaver, or whistlepig, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots. Most marmots, such as yellow-bellied and hoary marmots, live in rocky and mountainous areas, but the woodchuck is a lowland creature. It is widely distributed in North America and common in the northeastern and central United States. In the west it is found only in Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, northern Washington” and Patrick County, Virginia.

Known as “Hard Smith’s Mountain” in The Man Who Moved A Mountain, Groundhog Mountain dominates the view from Ararat, Virginia, where I grew up. So when you see a groundhog along the roads around Patrick County think about the history of this day and the critter. When my neighbors Jim and Marie had a son on February 2, I called Derrick Guynn “Groundhog” until he got big enough to whip me. Although I am not sure what Derrick’s weather forecast is, but Phil says we are in for more winter.

Black History Month Story: Lynching In The News

(from freestateofpatrick.com/blog on Martin Luther King  Jr. Day

“It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can stop him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important.” –Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) 

Lynching is back in the news. On the golf course! Golf Channel announcer and former Duke University Golfer Kelly Tilghman in describing what the other pro golfers could do to stop Tiger Woods, a golfer of African-American descent, that they could “lynch Tiger Woods in a back alley.” While Tiger Woods thinks it is a non-issue on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the national holiday signed into law by Ronald Reagan we should not forget that the lynching of African-Americans in this country is one of the motivating forces that inspired King to work for Civil Rights through peaceful protest. These are three stories about an African-American, Jewish-American and a white man from Patrick County.    

In the new movie The Great Debaters produced by Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Productions starring and directed by two time Oscar winner (Glory and Training Day) Denzel Washington portraying Professor Melvin B. Tolson and Forrest Whitaker portraying Minister James B. Farmer.)  Whitaker is the reigning Oscar winner for best actor for his portrayal of Uganda dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland. The dramatic moment of the movie takes place in Boston when Wiley College takes on and defeats Harvard in Debate. In reality, in 1935 they took on Forest Whitaker’s alma mater the University of Southern California. The movie about the debating team from Wiley College in Texas has a graphic lynching scene witnessed by Washington’s character and his debating team consisting of two males and one female. The scene is every bit as bad as horrific as that word can mean. Some would say we should gloss over such things, but I think we should talk about such acts. That people would do things to other people in this country should be remembered.  
 

Another infamous lynching in this country involved Leo Frank, who was convicted of killing a white girl named Mary Phagan and sentenced to death. This story was portrayed in a 1988 TV movie starring Jack Lemon as Georgia Governor John Slaton, Kevin Spacey and Peter Gallagher as Frank and filmed mostly in Richmond, Virginia.  While watching the American Experience on PBS three part documentary The Jewish Americans reminded me of the story.  Frank born in Texas, moved to New York and educated at Cornell University came to Atlanta to manage a pencil factory. On Confederate Memorial Day, April 26, 1913, Phagan was found murdered in the National Pencil Factory. Tried and convicted Frank was sentence to death. Suspicion then and later pointed to an African-American Jim Conley. Governor Slaton commuted Frank’s sentence to life in prison. A well organized mob took Frank from a Marietta jail and was lynched on August 17, 1915. In 1986, Georgia pardoned Frank four years after a witness came forward saying he saw Conley dragging Phagan’s body through the factory. The documentary states that Frank was the only Jew known to be lynched, but the Knights of Mary Phagan met three months after Frank’s murder met at Stone Mountain Georgia, burned a cross and revised the new invisible order of the Klu Klux Klan. Within a decade the KKK had four million members.  
 

Lynching is not unknown in Patrick County, Virginia. Growing up in Ararat we all heard about Lynch Hollow, a piece of land nestled between the Hunters Chapel Road and The Hollow Road just above the Ararat River. Herman Melton of Pittsylvania County sent me a copy of his book “Thirty-Nine Lashes—Well Laid On:” Crime and Punishment in Southside Virginia 1750-1950.  The following comes from his books and oral interviews with many locals including Carrie Sue Culler and others, which contained the following information.  
 

In September 1897, a twenty-two year old white man named Henry Walls lived in Ararat, Friend’s Mission or The Hollow depending on what name the post office was using at that time. A member of the Cook family accused Walls of being in possession of a stolen saddle and a confrontation ensued resulting in Walls threatening to run off the entire Cook family even if it meant burning their home down. The following Friday, Walls attempted to burn down the Cook home, but Sadie, the only member of the family at home discovered him. Tracks show that Sadie attempted to flee, but was pursued about seventy-five yards from the house and met her death due a blow to the head, a throat slash and several gashes to her body. Sadie survived this attack long enough to be discovered. Locals questioned her and although unable to talk revealed the identity of her assailant by squeezing a Mrs. Epperson’s hand when she mentioned Walls. The next day Constable Tom Childress arrested Walls and imprisoned him overnight until he could transport him to Stuart. Constable Tom Childress was a relative of Robert Childress, the subject of Richard C. David’s The Man Who Moved A Mountain as preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Emotion running high in area caused Sheriff Rufus Woolwine to venture to the area stopping for the night within a mile of the Childress home that night. Woolwine, a major character in the my book on the Civil War in Patrick County, would be the most famous Confederate soldier from “The Free State of Patrick” if not for J. E. B. Stuart.  A mob came to the Childress Home, took Walls and hung him in the hollow behind Hunter’s Chapel Church. Later, locals identified Walls's tracks as the possible assailant later. People became incensed over evidence of sexual assault on Sadie Cook. The story made it into the Lynchburg News and the New York Sun reporting, “…there was practically no evidence to convict Walls of the crime. It is now believed that he was innocent. There is much indignation in the neighborhood against the mob.”  
 

Carrie Sue Culler let me see a book by Charles Seaton entitled After Conestoga Wagons and a Peruvian Odyssey that contained the following information. Seaton writes that the leader of the vigilante mob was thirty-five year old Charles Walter Taylor, son of Surry County Sheriff Samuel Taylor, the owner of Laurel Hill. Charles married Sara Elizabeth Pedigo at the end of 1884 and thus the connection to Carrie Sue. Taylor placed the rope around the neck of Walls. Almost immediately, Taylor realizing the trouble he was in left for California, eventually sent for his wife and children and started a new life. Family tradition holds that Charles experienced problems with his throat in some sort of bizarre psycho-somatic illness due to his actions. Charles Taylor lived until 1942. 

The murder of Sadie Cook and lynching of Henry Walls was one of those events I heard of from an early age. I remember mowing the grass of the cemetery at Hunter’s Chapel Church that supposedly holds the remains of both apparently buried the same day in unmarked graves. A folk tale rose from the murder and lynching and it metamorphosed into a tale used to scare children into coming home before dark called “Raw-Headed-Bloody-Bones.” The folk tale no doubt gets Raw Head, a traditional Scottish bogeyman and the murder/lynching story intermingled. The story was told to me that a monster lived in Lynch Hollow with a hoe handle for a tail and this monster got boys who played hooky from school to go fishing in the Ararat River and did not get home before dark. This monster made a sound along the lines of “Shifty-Shifty-Thumpty-Thumpty.” For all this monsters powers he could not open a gate or climb over a picket fence, which saved the boy quaking under his bed after barely escaping clutches of the monster of Lynch Hollow. We were told this story so we would get home before dark, but it is rooted in a dark side of our history. 

James Madison wrote in Federalist #51. “If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.”

Believing that you can play God and take another’s life without due process of law is a reason we should remember these horrible crimes. Glossing over or ignoring history because it upsets or sensibilities is a mistake. You cannot have it both ways. We are better people than that. Martin Luther King Jr. knew that we were better than that. If men were angels there would no lynchings and there would be no King Day, but there are still people who think vigilante justice or assassinating the leader of a movement is the right thing to do and thus we must have laws and government. King's birthday and his life's work are celebrated today. He was a man influenced by his times and these are three stories about three different lynchings in our history. Sadly, it is still in the news and it will always be part of our history.  

Gladys Akers Honored as Miss Patrick County 1935

Bassett Historical Center Announces Symposium

The Bassett Historical Center is pleased to announce a symposium on regional history to be held March 1, 2008, from 9:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. at the Old Bassett High School Auditorium now owned by EMI Imaging, who  is providing the facility free of charge in Bassett, Virginia. Proceeds from this event will go to the Bassett Historical Center Building Fund. All speakers are coming free of charge to support the project to expand the library.  Advance tickets are $25 and $30 at the door. Students and Senior Citizens are $20 in advance and $25 at the door.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

Regional History Library Receives Government Funding

For years, the historical center was located in the back room of the present building, but in 1998, the regular library moved across Highway 57 to a new facility leaving the entire building on the banks of the Smith River to the Historical Center. Today, the back room over looking the river contains military and Native American materials. If you want to find your ancestor in the Civil War, there is no better room to begin that search. All of the Howard Virginia Regimental Series along with the entire index of Confederate Soldiers published by Tom Broadfoot, the Time-Life series on the war and most of the Official Records of the war are present with many supplementary publications. You can work with large screen computers as George Stoneman and Jubal Early peer down on you from pictures above the door and if you sit in the right place you can look upon Sauratown Woman or a glance to the shelves will bring you in contact with my favorite item, a brick from Stuart’s birthplace.  The staff of the Blue Ridge Regional Library’s Bassett Historical Center are  Library Director Patricia Ross with Fieldale’s Anne Copeland, Mr. Sam Eanes and Cindy Headen will come through for you too. Copeland summed up what any historical library should do, “the amount of material we are able to share with the public only came about because so many people were willing to share with us.”

Patrick County History and Tourism

FEEDBACK FROM THE GROUP

Genealogy Queries

The Patrick County Genealogy Society will publish genealogy queries in the quarterly newsletter of the organization and monthly in the local newspaper. Send queries to David Sheley 4522 Dobyns Road, Stuart, VA 24171.

Newsletter From The Reynolds Homestead

The 2007 Liberty University Civil War Seminar:

Reaping the Whirlwind:  The Battle of Gettysburg

On March 28-29, 2008, Liberty University will present its 12th annual Civil War Seminar.

This year's program is entitled Reaping the Whirlwind:  The Battle of  Gettysburg.

Featured speakers include the following nationally renowned authors whose books are familiar to all Civil War enthusiasts:

--Dr. Steven Woodworth--The Decision to Go North

--Drs. Darlene and Michael Graves-- The Gettysburg Address  

--Dr. Ethan Rafuse--Meade at Gettysburg

--Eric Wittenberg--Calvary Actions at Gettysburg:  Stuart's Ride

--Troy Harmon--Lee's Command Structure on the 2nd and 3rd Day

--Dr. Brian Melton--Gen. Slocum at Gettysburg

--Richard Williams--The Spiritual Lives of the Gettysburg Commanders

--David Rider--Berdan's Sharpshooters at Gettysburg

--Tom  Desjardin--Chamberlain and Little Round Top

--Dr. Brad Gottfried--The Artillery Battle at Gettysburg

--Dr. Steven Woodworth--Pettigrew's & Pickett's Charge

--Kent Masterson Brown--Lee's Retreat From Gettysburg 

Other Featured Speakers Include:

--Dr. Brenda Ayres--Women at Gettysburg  

--Ben Marinak--Union Chaplains at Gettysburg

--Delanie Stephenson--The Life and Death of Jenny Wade

--Jerry Markham--The 11th Virginia, Company Battle of Lynchburg

In addition to the speakers' presentations, there will be numerous exhibits of Civil War artifacts and memorabilia for the public, vendors of Civil War items, and a special exhibit of Civil War art about The Battle of Gettysburg. On the evening of Saturday, March 29, there will be a period ball with music provided by the 2nd South Carolina String Band. The event will be held in DeMoss Hall on the campus of Liberty University which is located in Lynchburg, Virginia. Everyone is encouraged to secure reservations for this seminar by Wednesday, March 26. Admission to the seminar is $55 (which includes all of the seminar sessions, the Friday night banquet, and Saturday's luncheon). After March 26, 2006, the price for both days is $65. Admission for Friday only is $25; admission for Saturday only is $30.  Special Note:  Students admitted free.  Admission to the period ball is separate:  $25 per couple.  Period dress only will be allowed.  Special Note:  Heal plates on period footwear will not be allowed.  This will be strictly enforced. Special lodging rates at the Days Inn of Lynchburg are available for those who will be attending the seminar. For pricing and location of lodging, call 434-847-8655. For special group pricing for the seminar or more information, call 434-592-4031 or email cehall@liberty.edu or kgrowlet@liberty.edu.    Also, go to the website at www.liberty.edu/civilwar

Washington Times Civil War Page

Every Saturday the Washington Times newspaper produces a Civil War Page. Here is a recent article on J. E. B. Stuart.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20071208/CIVILWAR/112080016/1011
 

Atlantic and Yadkin Railroad Yahoo Group

A list focused on the history of the only railroad with corporate headquarters in North Carolina. This list supports anyone interested in the history of the railroad or the towns, industries and people it served. Those interested in producing scale models of the railroad will find help here as well. The A&Y was a short line railroad running from Sanford through Greensboro to Mount Airy with branches to Ramseur and to Madison. This railroad existed from 1899-1950.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/A_and_Y/

A_and_Y@yahoogroups.com

News From Tom Perry

NEW! Click Here To Visit The Free State Of Patrick Blog

Click Here To Take Learn More About My Recent Trip To South Carolina

Click Here To Learn More About My Recent Trip To Kansas and Missouri

The Free State Of Patrick: Patrick County Civil War Virginia Second Edition

Tom Perry is looking for more photos and letters for an updated second edition of the book on Patrick County In The Civil War to be released in 2009. Send an email to freestateofpatrick@yahoo.com if you know of any letters or photos of Patrick County Civil War soldiers that could be used.

Images of America: Patrick County Virginia On Sale

Monies Raised For The Following Groups

Ararat Ruritan Club

National Ruritan Scholarship For Virginia Tech

Dan River Park

Bassett Historical Center Building Fund

J. E. B. Stuart Birthplace

Collinsville Library History Day Program

Book Mobile Fund Patrick County Library

Patrick County High School Alumni Association

Patrick County Music Association

Reynolds Homestead

Willis Gap Community Center

Patrick County 4-H
 

New Web Pages Under Construction

Willis Gap Community Center http://www.freestateofpatrick.com/willisgap 

Dan River Park http://www.freestateofpatrick.com/danriverpark

News From the Website

"We Conquer by continuing"

Copyright 2007 Tom Perry. No material to be used without permission. 

VISIT THE FRIENDS PAGE BY CLICKING HERE www.freestateofpatrick.com/friends.htm

Historic Bowman House For Sale In Ararat Virginia

The house where the last owner of J. E. B. Stuart's Birthplace, Icy Bowman Brown, grew up is available. Check the link below for more information. The property includes The Hollow Post Office.

http://www.century21.com/buy/property_detail.aspx?tr_key=34074848

                                                                 "Illegitimus non carborundum"

                                 "Never attribute to malice what you can explain with stupidity" -- Hanlon's Razor

The following are blogs on J. E. B. Stuart's Birthplace. Obviously, someone has lit a fire under the founder.

A Park in Ararat

Twenty years ago when I began thinking that we could save part of the Laurel Hill Farm, where Patrick County’ most famous son, James Ewell Brown “Jeb” Stuart was born in 1833, the idea was to turn it into a park and give it away for the future as a county, state or national park. I think the time has come for this process to begin. It is obvious that the organization the J. E. B. Stuart Birthplace Preservation Trust, Inc. has run its course and is at best treading water and they are losing the battle.

A county, state or national park at Laurel Hill would attract visitors from the Interstate 77 corridor, a mere ten miles away along with the Virginia Welcome Center along the North Carolina/Virginia state line. In fact on a clear day you can see I-77 coming down the mountain from Stuart’s Birthplace. It would also bring the massive numbers of Mayberry tourists from Mount Airy, North Carolina, a mere five miles away. In fact the Stuart property’s southern border was the state line.

Although you would not know it from reading The Enterprise, which has not written a story about the property in over a decade, Laurel Hill is interpreted with eight signs telling the history of property written mostly by me until butchered by the birthplace and five more under the “Stuart Pavilion” written by Robert J. Trout. Additional interpretation could be used for such topics as the Mount Airy and Eastern Railroad, Ararat River, etc.

The eras of history already interpreted are the Native-Americans, American Revolution, Antebellum Farm, Slavery and the Civil War. The Mitchell House could be interpreted as a 20^th century tobacco farm unless the board is going to let it fall down.  This house could be a perfect vehicle to tell the story of a tobacco farm in the 1900s and a perfect outlet for the Tobacco Commission monies.

Instead of trails not needed along the Danville and Western Railroad or skateboard parks, why not a national park in Patrick County connected with the most famous person from Patrick County. The research is done. The book is written. The history is documented. The interpretation and the trails are built.  

I cannot imagine a site on the Virginia and National Registers of Historic Places associated with such a prominent person from the War Between the States that is not a park at this point nearly twenty years after inception. While having an encampment and dressing up in uniforms is nice, it is my understanding that it does even pay the bills anymore. Highland Games are fun too, but the Stuarts were lowland not highland Scots that were shipped off to Northern Ireland to become Scots-Irish before continuing on to Pennsylvania and the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. Eventually, they came to Patrick County on Mrs. Elizabeth Letcher Pannill Stuart’s inheritance after Archibald literally lost the farm. A state and national park with professional trained historians would make sure the real history of the site is explored not this sort of thing that while entertaining is not the history of the Laurel Hill Farm.

Democrats Rick Boucher, Ward Armstrong and Roscoe Reynolds always talk about their seniority and they certainly have never met a spending bill they did not like, so this should be a no-brainer for them to get funding. I bet even Virgil Goode would support it. Virgil has actually been to Laurel Hill unlike the above mentioned three who I have never seen at Stuart’s Birthplace probably because they are afraid they would get their photo made with a Confederate flag.

A shame in Ararat

There are a lot of questions going around Ararat, Virginia, these days about the Board of Directors of the J. E. B. Stuart Birthplace Preservation Trust, the group I founded over seventeen years ago. Although I have not sat on the Board of Directors in over a decade, I have never publicly commented negatively on the organization until now, but I feel I must. The Board of the Birthplace in my opinion and the pun is intended are poor stewards of the property entrusted to them.

Over a year ago in their infinite wisdom they changed the mailing address of the organization from Ararat where it had been since the last time a group of Board members from Stuart tried this same stunt to Stuart. As the person who started the organization, I have complained about this since the action was taken and have been ignored. Common sense would tell you that if someone sees a Stuart address they will go to Stuart looking for the site, but they will not find the site there. In fact, they will not find anything about James Ewell Brown “Jeb” Stuart there except the plaque on the court house grounds placed there in the 1930s.

The board moved the bulk mailing permit from Ararat nearly costing a job at the post office due to the loss of volume. I know this because employees of the post office personally complained to me about it. The Board apparently does not think how that might alienate the local community.

I have had multiple people in Ararat come ask me about this situation in recent weeks. When asked about the situation of late the following is what I have been telling those who ask. There are SIX board members that live in or have Ararat addresses. Their excuse for moving the address was that the secretary was not receiving the mail in a timely. Apparently, the secretary is still not receiving the mail as I and others have not received acknowledgement of recent monetary donations or memberships in the last three months that we have made to the organization. Now common sense would tell you that with SIX board members surely someone could visit the post office once a week and take the mail to Stuart. I cannot believe the board gets so much mail that it needs more than a once a week pickup. In fact, three board members have their offices in Stuart, Virginia, and travel there every day from Ararat. At one point I even offered to deliver the mail myself in order to keep the address in the same place it is really located.

In my opinion, the board moved the mail box to take control of the Civil War encampment away from the Ararat member, who had ran the event and resigned after the 2006 encampment because of the infighting with the group. Every three or four years there has been a massive controversy within the organization that prevents it from moving forward.

The dirty little secret is that there is not one ounce of proof that J. E. B. Stuart ever sat foot in the town that bears his name. It reminds me of what G. E. “Sug” Brown once said to me. “If you ain’t got no history of your own then go steal someone else’s” The truth is that J. E. B. Stuart is from Ararat. His birthplace is in Ararat. Reverend Bob Childress “The Man Who Moved A Mountain” is from Ararat. Orleana Hawks Puckett, the mid-wife made famous along the Blue Ridge Parkway is from Ararat. Ararat is the most historic community in Patrick County.

I believe it is time for Laurel Hill, the birthplace of Patrick County’s most famous person to be given to Patrick County, Commonwealth of Virginia to become a state park or the U. S. Government to become part of the National Park Service as it was intended to be seventeen years ago. A state or national park in the western end of Patrick County would give the site exposure that the present organization cannot give it and it will take it out of the hands of a group that has shown me, the founder of the group, that they are clueless in managing such a potentially great resource for our county. 

Ashamed? It is a shame that we cannot preserve and protect Patrick County’s history and the potential for bringing tourism money to the county better than this.

Stuart's Birthplace Vandalized

ARARAT, Va. - Leads are sought in a vandalism incident at the J. E. B. Stuart birthplace, which Patrick County's top law enforcement official is “taking personally.” “That's one of the biggest historical sites we've got around here,” Sheriff Dan Smith said Wednesday. “It's a Patrick County treasure and I take it personally when somebody tries to harm it.” The property damage occurred during the early morning hours Sunday at Laurel Hill, the homeplace of the Confederate general located on Virginia Route 773 in Ararat near the North Carolina border. The Ararat Volunteer Fire Department responded to a call at the birthplace and extinguished a fire at the scene. However, the blaze had destroyed a picnic table and damaged the grounds in surrounding areas, according to the Patrick County Sheriff's Office. Smith said Wednesday that no arrests had been made in the case. He is asking anyone with knowledge about the incident to contact the Sheriff's Office at (276) 694-3161 or Patrick Crime Stoppers, (276) 694-5000. Crimes Stoppers offers rewards for information leading to arrests in unsolved cases. “Anonymous tips are how things are solved a lot of times,” said the sheriff, who added that the fact someone would damage the Stuart site “burns me up.” No monetary estimate was given for the damages. The 75-acre historic site was saved from potential development in 1991 when it was purchased by the J. E. B. Stuart Birthplace Preservation Trust. Much ambitious effort has been undertaken in the years since to enhance the birthplace, including the establishment of a self-guided walking tour to educate visitors about its historical significance. For the past 17 years, an annual Civil War encampment also has been held on the grounds of Gen. Stuart's boyhood home, including battle re-enactments.”   

Above courtesy of and from the front page of the Mount Airy News. 

From Free State of Patrick Blog www.freestateofpatrick.com/blog

“I take it personally when somebody tries to harm it.” These are the words of Patrick County Sheriff Dan Smith in the newspaper story shown above. I am glad he takes vandalism at Laurel Hill this seriously. He thinks he takes it personally. He has no idea.  This week I saw something I have not seen years. A story graced the front page of The Enterprise about the J. E. B. Stuart Birthplace. It is a pity that only when someone tries to tear something down that our local newspaper thinks it is news worthy of coverage. The years of effort by myself and others have not been worthy of such coverage. I have spent most of my adult life trying to build up the J. E. B. Stuart Birthplace, but there has not been a story written by someone at Patrick County’s only newspaper in years. I have not been personally not been interviewed in over a decade. The Enterprise is capable of printing anything that you send them such as the story this week, but seldom in my opinion do they print anything about Stuart’s Birthplace or expend energy to write anything original.  Over the years I offered articles on Patrick County History for free to the newspaper. When they printed a few I got many positive comments and then they refused to print anymore with no explanation. I started this webpage and blog because I got tired of this control of the message in the “Free State Of Patrick.” I know several people recently including my parents who will not renew their subscription this year. The internet will eventually destroy local newspapers. I have noticed that as newspaper subscriptions go down my online membership goes up. I realized that Patrick County can do better, so I started producing a monthly newsletter. With the success of my recent photo book on Patrick County, which was almost totally ignored the week it was released nationally by the local newspaper. A case in point The Mount Airy News did a front page story as it did on the recent vandalism.  I realized that I do not need “The Voice of the People” except for advertisement. What the local newspaper is the “Voice of Their Friends.”  When we held a candidate’s forum at the Ararat Ruritan Club this year, guess what? No coverage from The Enterprise. Too far to drive I guess. When the racetrack in Ararat opened stories about the positive aspects such as raising money for the Dan River Park or church groups where ignored or put on the back page while any negative comment was displayed prominently on the front page. Fair and balanced? I do not think so. Personally, when I had a display last year at the library in Stuart for a month on the seven men from Patrick County who lost their lives in Vietnam nothing was run until the week before the exhibit came down. Like many other times multiple emails were sent to the newspaper with the information by myself and the library. When I did a book discussion about my book on Stuart’s Birthplace at the Reynolds Homestead NOTHING was in the local newspaper. Yet there are weeks a recent one comes to mind when the opening page of the second section had three large stories about events at the Reynolds Homestead and one little blurb about the upcoming symposium at the Bassett Historical Center. Now, I enjoy the programs at the Reynolds Homestead, but give me a break a symposium to expand our regional history library that has a larger Patrick County collection than the Patrick County Historical Society is more important in my opinion. Some might think this is sour grapes, but this is over a decade of being treated this way. I was once told that saving Stuart’s Birthplace was a “pipe dream.” Yes that is correct it came from The Enterprise. So, yes I take it personally. Now the recent vandalism looks to me like teenagers out enjoying the birthplace probably after dark with some alcohol playing with some matches.  I am sure they will never read this blog, so I could gripe about it, but when you give everything you have and your family devotes many thousands of hours and dollars to preserving something you tend to take it personally. I think about Mike Hayes and the guys at Brown Wooten Mill who built and donated those picnic tables at cost. I thank them for what they did. A favorite theme in the town of Stuart is that I quit the Birthplace all those years ago or any numerous slanders and lies that I will not go into. None of which are true. It is suggested that I really had little to do with the creation of the organization or the subsequent fund raising. Well I have a whole chapter about that in my book on Stuart’s Birthplace and boxes of material at the Special Collections Department at Virginia Tech that tells a different story. I did indeed start the group and I worked very hard to save the site.  In fact, if you decide to go to Laurel Hill you might visit their website www.jebstuart.org and read about it. Almost every word you read was written by me. If you visit the site when you pull in and take a brochure out the box. You will find that everything you read in the tri-fold piece of paper was written by me. As you walk around the 75 acres you will find eight interpretive signs with text written by me. So, yes I take it personally when someone tries to destroy the site or does not give it the recognition it deserves. I think it is jealousy and the fact the site is in Ararat just burns some people up. Home for J. E. B. Stuart was Ararat, Virginia, from his West Point application to his many comments about the “dear old hills of Patrick” are aimed at his birthplace not the town named for him twenty years after his death. I hope the Sheriff catches the vandals, but I will bet that the alienation that the Birthplace Board has caused in Ararat with their condescending view is the real cause of the problem. This one of the many reasons I think Laurel Hill needs to become a county, state or national park and no longer under the control of a board that not only has no interest in the real history of the site, but obviously cannot protect it either. Of course, if they went there more than one weekend a year to be seen they would know that.