about

J. E. B. Stuart’s biographer Emory Thomas describes Tom Perry as "a fine and generous gentleman who grew up near Laurel Hill, where Stuart grew up, has founded J. E. B. Stuart Birthplace and attracted considerable interest in the preservation of Laurel Hill. He has started a symposium series about aspects of Stuart’s life to sustain interest in Stuart beyond Ararat, Virginia."

Tom produces a monthly email newsletter about regional history entitled Notes From The Free State of Patrick that goes out to over 2000 people from this website.

"ARARAT, Va. - Patrick County has 483 square miles, virtually all of which are covered by a new book celebrating the area's history through a collection of vintage photographs. “Patrick County,” part of an “Images of America” series by Arcadia Publishing, is the first nationally released book on the county. The book goes on sale Monday, offering numerous glimpses of Patrick's past. It was authored by Tom Perry of Ararat, a longtime historian who founded the J.E.B. Stuart Preservation Trust and has authored three other books on Patrick County. The latest brings into focus more than 200 images of all facets of life in a community that has produced colorful figures ranging from the Confederate Gen. Stuart to tobacco magnate R.J. Reynolds. Also on the list are sports notables including the Wood Brothers of NASCAR fame, pro football player Tim Goad and Major League pitcher Brad Clontz. All are included in the new volume. In the book, Perry makes generous use of photos loaned by people from throughout Patrick along with various archival sources. Many are included from the author's own collection, with all managing to spring vividly to life for the reader despite their black-and-white format. Among the book's more interesting tidbits are photos of famous people not usually associated with Patrick County, such as Andy Griffith's mother, Geneva Nunn Griffith. The book also offers images buildings gone but not forgotten, especially in the county seat of Stuart. Another of its more interesting facets are images of regular people engaged in the daily routines of agriculture, transportation and recreation, whose activities are meticulously woven into the 128-page volume. It also explores photographically the county's role in the bigger history of the nation and the Blue Ridge region. Individual sections are devoted to “Those Who Served,” containing pictures of soldiers who have been part of Patrick County's rich military history, along with “Far From Ordinary,” highlighting some of its more unique individuals. Another is dedicated to “Industry and Commerce,” with the book containing nine chapters in all. “Patrick County/Images of America” will retail for $19.99 at area bookstores, independent retailers, online bookstores or online from the publisher at www.arcadiapublishing.com. Copies also can be ordered from Arcadia at (888) 313-2665." -- Courtesy of the Mount Airy News October 28, 2007

"I have been teaching Virginia and United States History for five years at Patrick County High School. As most teachers can imagine, my lesson plans are full of SOL (Standards of Learning) objectives. After entering the Appalachian Arts and Studies in the Schools (AASIS) program in the fall of 2005, I have become more interested in teaching local history to my students. Our school is located in Stuart, Virginia, named after JEB Stuart, the famous Confederate Army General who was born in Patrick County.

This year I decided that I was going to spend some time teaching my students about Patrick County during the Civil War. I talked with Tom Perry, author of Patrick County in the Civil War, about speaking with my classes. Mr. Perry is a very accomplished historian with a great knowledge of JEB Stuart. For my students, however, he focused his talk on the people of Patrick County. During his presentation he discussed the lives of the county’s citizens during the war. I was hoping to just the majority of my students to be somewhat interested in their history. What I noticed was that the majority of my students were very interested in Mr. Perry’s discussion. In fact, several students knew of their family’s heritage and linkage to the Civil War.

I decided that I would ask my students to search their family tree for last names and maybe even relatives that they knew who served in the Civil War. Since I typically do not assign a lot of homework, I was really worried that they would not do an assignment that would probably only take a few minutes and little conversation with their parents. What I did not realize at the time is that it allowed some parents the chance to teach their children about their heritage and family history.

The next day the majority of the students had finished their assignments and some brought family trees to class. We then took a roster of Civil War soldiers from Patrick County and started to look for last names that students shared with the soldiers. The list that we used included several details about the soldiers, such as battles that they fought, injuries they sustained, and plots where they are buried. It was really amazing to see how the students became interested in what happened to the soldiers that shared their last name.

Overall, it was the most engaging lesson plan on the Civil War that I have implemented. Students really appreciate and want to understand history if they can find a linkage between their lives and history. This experience has helped me understand that the story of regular citizens is more important to students than the usual larger than life historical figure we seem to focus on in the classroom."

On September 21, 2005, Tom Perry presented J. E. B. Stuart's Last Ride: The Battle of Yellow Tavern to the Western Pennsylvania Civil War Round Table near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This was the one hundredth time he presented the slide program that is part biographical and part about the last four days of the life of Patrick County's most famous son, Major General James Ewell Brown Stuart. Stuart died on May 12, 1864, after being mortally wounded at Yellow Tavern, just north of Richmond. Perry began giving the program in 2004 to commemorate the 140th anniversary of the battle that took Stuart's life and to promote Patrick County and Laurel Hill, Stuart's Birthplace, the organization Perry started in 1990. Shown below in September 2004 Tom gave "Jeb Stuart's Last Ride" to the Roanoke Civil War Round Table.

In 2005, Tom acted as Historical Consultant to Frank Levering's Play about J. E. B. Stuart The Last Cavalier based on Burke Davis book of the same name.

In 2005, Tom spoke to Lynn Wilkes and Paula Simpson's Fifth graders shown above at Franklin Elementary School in Surry County, North Carolina.

Each year on J. E. B. Stuart's Birthday Tom donates books to the two Patrick County Schools he attended about the Civil War. Above left, Tom with Librarian Larnette Snow in 2005 when he donated books to Blue Ridge Elementary School about the Jeb Stuart and the Civil War. Above right, Tom with Principal and Librarian Betty Kirkpatrick at Patrick County High School donating books to the library.

“Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset; and knowing that such as these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grins, as have the malady in less attractive forms. His own heart laughed: and was quite enough for him.” -- Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol.

Below, the shadowbox of the rubbings from the Vietnam Memorial in Washington for the seven men from Patrick County

who gave temporarily loaned to Patrick County by the Perry Family to Patrick County in 2005-2007 along with photograph of J. E. B. Stuart

on the Wall of Honor in the Veterans Memorial Administration Building in Stuart, Virginia.

These are the seven men listed on the monument at the Patrick County Courthouse and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D. C.

Thirty years ago on many mornings I stood in the freezing cold of the Blue Ridge mountain air when Deputy Zeb Scales would pull over and offer a ride to Patrick County High School in a big green Dodge. This ride always include dialogue of Deputy Scales personal version of Patrick County history especially when crossing the Dan River you would always hear, “I help build that bridge.” This trait of telling teenagers still resonates with me and I find myself doing similar expressions about spots on the Ararat River or about Jeb Stuart’s birthplace.

As an only child growing up somewhat isolated with Guynns or Smith boys being over a mile away I was excited when the Scales family moved back from Fort Bragg in the 1970s. Two beautiful daughters and two sons, one exactly my age named Stuart, and another son three grades younger, who became a particular favorite of my mother who refers to him as “My Joe” to this day, returned to Ararat. This brought cultural change to our little community because the worldly Scales brothers brought the latest cutting edge rock and roll and long hair to our fifth grade class at Blue Ridge Elementary School.

Many games of basketball or football in the backyard until dark occurred and still occasionally, rounds of golf until dark along with groundings for jumping fire with bicycles, games of UNO or rook at the kitchen table and too many peanut butter sandwiches to remember. A walk into the front room of the Scales home brought exposure to the accomplishments of the father in his medal case displayed on one of the end tables.

Many times Zeb Stuart Scales told me that he was really named Jeb Stuart Scales, but the hospital got it wrong on his birth certificate, an act that causes his sons to roll their eyes up in their heads and tell me that their father is pulling my leg. The irony that the obsession of my life, the preservation of Stuart’s Birthplace, is reinforced by the fact that a neighbor was named after the Civil War general or that his son is named Stuart spelled with a U not Stewart with a EW is not lost on me.

About fifteen years ago I was showing retired Colonel J. E. B. Stuart IV around Ararat when I spied Sergeant Major Zeb Stuart Scales standing in his yard. I pulled in, introduced Jeb Stuart to Zeb Stuart and within moments these two veterans of Vietnam Conflict had transposed themselves into South Vietnam. Colonel Stuart serving as a transportation officer moving men and supplies and Sergeant Major Scales as a military police officer. They spoke of names and places that I could not pronounce as only two men who shared the common experience of war can.

Zeb never spoke much to me about his military career as like most men who see war they do not want to relive it, but he was a decorated with a Silver Star and a purple heart, which he received for saving an officer and being shot for his valor. When he retired with the highest rank a non-commissioned soldier that of sergeant major, Zeb, became a deputy sheriff in Patrick County putting his life on the line for the people of this county. I never got a ticket from Deputy Scales and I am sure there are many who might have a different opinion of him. Later, Zeb drove the van for the Meals on Wheels program serving his community.

Someone once told me that the only things important in life are the memories you leave your family after you are gone. Zeb and Polly have four children, seven grandchildren and one great-grandchildren and I am sure there are too many good times to bring him up at this time. I was grateful thirty years ago when he saved me from hypothermia while waiting for that school bus and I still am.

What can you say about a man’s life? I could tell you about a man who could wiggle his ears while pinching the blood out of your leg with his toes as he beat you at a hand of cards. I could tell you about a man who showed me how to make molasses from scratch, taught me how to use a chain saw and who made stacking wood an art form. But what I really want to share is that I am a better man for having known Zeb Stuart Scales and that Patrick County and the United States of America is a better place for his having served it.

Martinsville, January 28, 2005: The Colonel George Waller Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), which serves Patrick and Henry counties in Virginia, presented Thomas David Perry the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution’s Bronze Good Citizenship Medal in recognition of notable services in the behalf of our American principles.

Left, Tom Perry with his college professor Dr . James I. Robertson, Jr. donating materials to the Virginia Center For Civil War Studies.

VIRGINIA TECH SPECIAL COLLECTIONS RECEIVES
CONFEDERATE CAVALRYMAN "JEB" STUART MATERIALS

BLACKSBURG, Jan. 30, 2003 -- Virginia Tech is the designated beneficiary of a comprehensive collection of research and reference materials relating to the life of the Civil War's most illustrious cavalry officer, Gen. James Ewell Brown "Jeb" Stuart.

The Special Collections department of University Libraries, in concert with the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies (VCCWS), has taken custody of an initial contribution of 13 boxes of documents, photographs, and other items focused on the personal and professional life of Stuart and the preservation of his "Laurel Hill" birthplace, which is located in the Patrick County community of Ararat, Va.

The Thomas D. Perry/Jeb Stuart Collection is the gift of Thomas D. Perry, a 1984 graduate of Virginia Tech with a bachelor's degree in history, and founder of the J. E. B. . Stuart Birthplace Preservation Trust, based in Ararat.

Perry's initial contribution contains a photo album, scrapbooks, papers, and electronic images relating to Stuart's Laurel Hill birthplace; notes pertaining to the Stuart genealogy; materials about the history of Patrick County, and Perry's notes and other materials assembled in the course of tours and speaking engagements from 1990 to 2002, among numerous other items. Perry will add material to the collection as he completes continuing research projects or expands on those previously undertaken.

William C. Davis, director of programs at VCCWS, said "The Thomas Perry Collection will open important windows on the life of 'Jeb' Stuart and will become a valuable resource for those wanting to study the Confederacy's premier cavalryman and his family. Its placement in Special Collections at Virginia Tech, affiliated as they are with the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies, is certain to enhance the growing importance of the university and the Center as a recognized knowledge base for Civil War historians, scholars, students, and the interested community at large."

"Thomas Perry has managed to combine his deep personal interest and commitment with a sense of duty and obligation to give something back to the field of Civil War history and American education," Davis said.

James I. Robertson Jr., executive director of VCCWS, noted that "Gen. 'Jeb' Stuart was one of the Confederacy's most capable and dedicated leaders. Tom Perry's fine gift to the university and the Center will contribute to our understanding of Stuart's personal life and will help to cast new light on influences--both personal and professional--that inspired and guided his career."

Perry said there were several reasons for selecting Virginia Tech as the repository for his material. "Obviously, Tech being my alma mater was a large consideration, along with my tremendous respect for "Bud" Robertson (VCCWS executive director) and Jack Davis, and their work at the Virginia Center For Civil War Studies. But the fact that so many men who fought with Stuart during the Civil War came to influence the university was another. A third reason was the university's proximity to Laurel Hill and Patrick County--close enough so all locations will be conveniently accessible to future researchers."

A veteran of some of the Civil War's most famous campaigns, including 1st and 2nd Bull Run, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, "Jeb" Stuart is generally regarded as the war's most distinguished and capable cavalry leader, North or South. Nicknamed "Beauty" by his West Point classmates for his copious flowing beard, Stuart was a close confidant of Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, and a trusted and respected subordinate of Gen. Robert E. Lee. Stuart was mortally wounded at the Yellow Tavern skirmish in the spring of 1864. - Allan Miller

On Saturday, October 8, 2005, Thomas D. Perry received the D. T. Smithwick Newspaper/Magazine Award presented by the North Carolina Society of Historians at the annual meeting in Asheville, North Carolina. The award-winning article entitled J. E. B. Stuart’s North Carolina Connections was published in Yadkin Valley Living in 2004. http://www.yadkinvalleyliving.com/

The D.T. Smithwick Newspaper/ Magazine Article Awards are given to encourage the writing and publication of historical or biographical newspaper articles. Articles entered in this category must be regarding some phase of local, regional or state history, or the biography of a native North Carolinian. The entrant does not have to be a resident of the State of North Carolina.

The Judges Comments, “This is a marvelous, concise history of J. E. B. Stuart and his military background, education and family information. It provides the reader with just enough tantalizing points of interest about this man that they develop a hunger to learn more…hence propelling them toward additional research. Mr. Perry has demonstrated his ability to take vast amounts of information about a prominent person in history and condense it down to eight paragraphs. It takes great skill to do this. It is as hard to write an article when one has too much information as it is to write one when one has too little. This situation was conquered by this author in a superior way!”

The North Carolina Society of Historians is a non-profit organization dedicated to the purpose of discovering and presenting information about the history of North Carolina or any of it's subdivisions; to promote the teaching of North Carolina history at all levels; to encourage the writing of North Carolina history and biography by the presentation of awards for excellence in the writing of books and articles on these subjects; to present awards to those preserving and perpetuating the history of North Carolina through any unique means; to tour historic sites and places of North Carolina; and to encourage and strengthen county and local historical, genealogical and preservation societies. http://www.cccdesigns.biz/ncsh/

Tom Perry at the Kansas City KS Civil War Round Table in 2007 with Debra Coalson Goodrich of Ararat, now Topeka where she, husband Tom and daughter Noel now reside. Debbie is working on a dual biography of first ladies Mary Lincoln and Varina Davis, the wives of U. S. President Abraham Lincoln and Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

The painting depicts the most famous event in the early life in the life of General James Ewell Brown “Jeb” Stuart at his birthplace and boyhood home, Laurel Hill, in the Ararat community of Patrick County, Virginia. Henry B. McClellan, Stuart’s chief of staff during the Civil War, tells the story in Stuart’s first biography about how at age nine Stuart attacked and brought down a nest of hornets while his older brother William Alexander Stuart retreats to safety.

Using Perry’s research on the Stuart family including oral interviews with G. E. “Shug” and Icy Bowman Brown who owned Laurel Hill before the J. E. B. Stuart Birthplace purchased it in 1990 and writings about “Jeb” Stuart, Woltz developed the painting of Laurel Hill. The artwork shows a large white frame house with a separate kitchen along with the oak trees, flower gardens and the locust trees recently cut down by the Stuart Birthplace. The actual home used in the painting is the home of Judge James Ewell Brown on Pepper’s Ferry Road in Wythe County. Brown was the paternal uncle for whom “Jeb” Stuart is named was married to Archibald Stuart’s sister.

The Stuart brothers are shown in the foreground while Dr. Joseph Hollingsworth of Mount Airy, North Carolina, the family physician and one of the men who bought the property from Mrs. Elizabeth Letcher Pannill Stuart in 1859, is arriving in a horse drawn carriage. On the left of the painting the grave of William Letcher, Mrs. Stuart’ grandfather killed during the American Revolution, who rests today at Laurel Hill in Patrick County’s oldest marked grave.

Pat Woltz said, “I was so flattered to receive the commission and to feel that Tom and the Birthplace had enough faith in me to complete the painting. John thought it was my best work and it allowed me to form lasting connections with the Stuart family especially J. E. B. Stuart IV.” Woltz was married to the late John Woltz, owner of Quality Mills in Mount Airy. The Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce recognized Pat Woltz in 2003 as Citizen of the Year.

Woltz painted two watercolors depicting the scene in 1842. The first she gave to Tom Perry for his work in preserving Laurel Hill. That painting incorporates an image of Perry’s dog, a red chow named Jeb Stuart. As chows would not be historically accurate, Woltz painted a second watercolor with a different dog that the Stuart Birthplace sells.

Thomas D. "Tom" Perry, Founder of the J. E. B. Stuart Birthplace is pleased to announce a recent donation of his writings to various libraries and historical organizations across our region.

Copies are of the complete collection are available at the following locations:

Special Collections Department of the Carol M. Newman Library at Virginia Tech

As part of this donation the following organizations involved in tourism and history received The Dear Old Hill of Patrick: The Laurel Hill Reference Book.

Perry holds a Bachelor’s Degree in history from Virginia Tech where he studied under renowned Civil War historian James I. Robertson, Jr. Perry began researching the Stuart property, Laurel Hill, in the mid-1980s, which led to the formation of the J. E. B. Stuart Birthplace Preservation Trust, Inc. in 1990. The non-profit organization now owns seventy acres of the 1,500 acres owned by the Stuart family. Eight new interpretive signs, a new Virginia Highway Historical Marker and a Virginia Civil War Trails sign, all written by Perry, now interpret the property.

Perry comments: "It began with the Virginia Highway Historical Marker possibly written by Douglas Southall Freeman placed at the site in 1932 to mark Stuart’s one hundredth birthday. An article in the Mount Airy News from that year stated, ‘The marker which is beautiful in its simple way marks a spot near Mount Airy that should be of universal interest to residents of this section. The effort to commemorate the birth of Stuart in this section is one worthy of commendation.’ It is my hope that by sharing this research those involved with the birthplace, heritage tourism and regional history that more will be shared with visitors and those involved in the future preservation of the many faceted history represents. Whether it is training docents, tour guides or exhibit planning these writings should give those involved a starting point. By sharing this history across the region, I hope that man made boundaries of state of county will not impede what Laurel Hill’s history can be a great magnet for visitors and those in the region who love history."

Thomas D. "Tom" Perry Founder of the J. E. B. Stuart Birthplace is pleased to announce a recent donation of a 110-page Teacher’s Guide For Laurel Hill that covers the many histories relating to Stuart’s Birthplace to the teachers and students of Patrick County, Virginia. Perry purchased and acquired all materials at his own expense. The J. E. B. Stuart Birthplace did not participate in the project.

Each of the six elementary schools and the high school in Patrick County received copies of the materials listed below. The Patrick County Supervisors, School Board and School System Administration received complimentary copies of the guide on compact disc.

A compact disc containing the Laurel Hill Teacher’s Guide and Reference Guide

A compact disc containing lesson plans from the Civil War Preservation Trust along with two brochures about Education Programs and the Teacher Institute.

"Virginia Tech’s motto Ut Prosim, ‘That I May Serve,’ signifies a commitment to service that epitomizes this university and its alumni. My education began in Patrick County, Virginia, at Blue Ridge Elementary School and Patrick County High School as did Jeb Stuart’s nearly one hundred and seventy-five years ago. It is easy to criticize teachers, but I wanted to help them by giving them a resource to encourage more interest in the many histories that the Laurel Hill farm, Stuart’s Birthplace represents. It is my hope that this Teacher’s Guide will encourage educators to visit the site and use the site on the National and Virginia Registers of Historic Places as an outdoor classroom."

"Laurel Hill’s history begins in pre-historic times including Native-American experiences, American Revolution, antebellum farm life including slavery and the African-American experience and Stuart’s role in the Civil War. Laurel Hill was preserved not as a place for reenactors to visit once a year, but as a park for people to visit year round to learn about Patrick County’s most famous son. We should view human beings not of our time with empathy and we should face difficult times in our nation’s history with eyes wide open. History forgotten is often history repeated. This guide is my way to serve the community and relay this history to future generations. My father, Erie Meredith Perry, educated the children of Patrick County for twenty-eight years and to him this book is dedicated."

Perry worked with the Virginia Center For Civil War Studies at Virginia Tech under the direction of Dr. James I. Robertson, Jr. and William C. Davis on preparing the guide and materials for the schools. "Considering Virginia's integral role in every aspect of the Civil War, the ongoing effects of that conflict yet today, and the unfaltering interest in this period throughout the nation, several people, most notably Virginia Tech Board of Visitors member Donald Huffman, recognized the need to establish a formal entity for studying and sharing knowledge about this period of American history. Mr. Huffman also believed that the university should take advantage of its nationally noted Civil War historian, author, and Alumni Distinguished Professor of History James I. Robertson Jr., as well as the impressive Civil War collection of books, manuscripts, and memorabilia housed in Special Collections, Virginia Tech University Libraries. With a chief goal of educating the young, the projects of the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies concentrate on the actions that led to the war, on the factors that help explain it and its aftermath, and on the people who suffered through it. The center provides an ideal setting to shed new light on the war--not merely on the political and military aspects, but also on the more subtle social, cultural, and human implications of this pivotal episode in United States history."

Jennifer Rosenberry, Education Coordinator of the Civil War Preservation Trust worked with Perry to supply supplemental materials to assist teachers in the study of the Civil War. "The Civil War Preservation Trust is America's largest non-profit organization devoted to the preservation of our nation's endangered Civil War battlefields. The Trust also promotes educational programs to inform the public of the war’s history and the fundamental conflicts that sparked it. Some of its programs include a free annual teacher institute, poster & essay contest, weekly newsletter, free 2-week curriculum CD, classroom memberships, the adopt a battlefield program, and Civil War Explorer."

In 2007, The Free State Of Patrick sponsored a tent at the Rolling Thunder Raceway in Ararat, Virginia, for groups wishing to raise money for their various causes every Friday night. The tent includes an historical display from Tom Perry's photo collection such as "Just Racin With Anthony Terry," which chronicles the racing career of Ararat native Anthony Terry. On October 5, Perry working with Gary and Alesia Nester, owners of the racetrack offered the open table to the J. E. B. Stuart Birthplace the night before their Civil War encampment. Perry set up his display "Stuart of Laurel Hill," an exhibit of every known photo of James Ewell Brown "Jeb" Stuart.

ARARAT, Va. — In the days before the Civil War, the streets of Mount Airy were home to one of the men who would later play a key role in its battles. Jeb Stuart, an instrumental general in the Confederate Army, was born five miles from the Mount Airy city limits. Every October, during the first weekend of the month, a Civil War reenactment is held at Stuart’s birthplace. This year it will be Oct. 6 and 7. While few know of James Ewell Brown “Jeb” Stuart and his proximity to Mount Airy, 150 years ago, he could have been seen strolling down Main Street. “This was his hometown,” historian Tom Perry said last week. “This is where he came to church, where his family shopped and picked up their mail. I can’t find any record of any time his family went to Stuart except for court stuff because his father was a lawyer.” Perry said there were many stories of women who say their mothers or grandmothers danced with Stuart at the Mount Airy Hotel. Even during the Civil War, Stuart desired to return to neighboring Patrick County and live out the rest of his days in quiet. “I try to tell people, he is the most important historical figure that walked these streets. Jeb is a historical figure. He almost changed the course of history, not necessarily for the best, but that’s history. It’s not up to me to say who is bad or good,” Perry said. “Good, bad, or indifferent, Jeb was important.” Stuart was born on Feb. 6, 1833. His parents were Archibald Stuart and Elizabeth Letcher Pannill Stuart. His father was a lawyer who loved to have a good time, loved to drink, and was the life of a party. His mother, on the other hand, was “a very refined woman, intellectual, and well spoken,” Perry explained. Jeb was one of 11 children, one child perished as an infant, and another died before reaching age 10. The e Stuart family had a 1,500-acre farm, called Laurel Hill, one mile from the Carolina-Virginia state line, where they grew wheat, hay and tobacco and raised cattle. The farm was Elizabeth’s inheritance and was where the Stuarts moved after Archibald lost his. Archibald was the fifth richest man in the county, surpassed only by the Reynolds and the Hairstons. “They were very prominent,” said Perry. “There’s not a lot known about Jeb as a child,” Perry said. Stuart grew up on the farm until he entered Emory and Henry College in 1848. At school, Stuart joined the Methodist church and became a devout Christian. He also joined the temperance movement. “He gave speeches on temperance,” said Perry. “During the war he bought his men copies of scripture. He was deeply religious.” Stuart was the eighth child and the youngest son. His career options were lawyer, preacher or military and he pursued the latter. Stuart went to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point where he graduated in 1854. Stuart wrote to his acquaintances after graduating from West Point, “Write me at Mount Airy, North Carolina,” according to Perry. “It’s like people today in Ararat, they drive to Mount Airy. They don’t drive to Stuart.” In 1855, Stuart was appointed to the 1st US Calvary and married. “He spent seven years total in the U.S. Army,” said Perry. “He rose up to be captain and was a really promising young officer. He was stationed in Wyoming, Kansas and Texas.” During that time, the “very political” Stuart, met Robert E. Lee and became friends with him. In 1861, Virginia seceded from the union. “Stuart resigned from the U.S. Army and offered his sword to Virginia,” Perry said. He became commander of Lee’s cavalry and a major general. “There were 10,000 men on horseback under.” Stuart was a highly competent soldier whose skills in raiding and reconnaissance were unsurpassed in the Confederate army. He was instrumental in the successes of Lee’s forces in the eastern theater, Perry explained. Stuart fought the largest cavalry battle in the history of the western hemisphere at Brandy Station in 1863. “Stuart was 31 when he died May 12, 1864,” Perry said. He was wounded at the battle of Yellow Tavern and died in Richmond where he was buried. “I’ve read every letter ever

written by Stuart and he keeps saying things like, ‘I wonder if we could buy the old farm in Patrick County.’ He obviously loved this place and that’s why I think it’s important to preserve it. He wasn’t a perfect human being, but he was an important one,” Perry said. “He was Lee’s cavalry commander in the Civil War. If the Confederates had won, he could’ve been President Stuart. But if he was going to die, he died at probably the best time—before they started sieging Richmond.” Stuart is most notorious for the Gettysburg battle. “He went on a raid under orders from Lee and he arrived one day late. Many said that if Stuart had been there it would’ve ended differently. Jeb was called ‘Lee’s eyes’ and without Jeb there, Lee was blind,” Perry said. “He fought Custer in a cavalry battle and they fought back and forth for the next year.” It was Custer’s men who gave Stuart his fatal stomach wound. “He lived from 4:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. the next day,” Perry said. “He just became progressively weaker. He was conscious and very much aware of what was going on. The president came to see him and there were five doctors and five ministers there. Shows how important he was.” Supposedly, Stuart’s last word were, “God’s will be done.” Perry said that the last owners of the birthplace were the couple who sparked his interest interested in Jeb Stuart. George and Icy Brown sold the 70 acres to the birthplace group. “Icy got me interested,” said Perry. “They had a picture of Jeb on the end table and had always wanted the place preserved.” The Browns shared with Perry the stories they knew of the Stuarts and the times in which Jeb grew up in. Twenty years ago, Perry began trying to preserve the old farm where Stuart was born and raised. The birthplace now owns 70 acres of Laurel Hill and has five acres across the river where Stuart’s grandfather was buried. The birthplace is on the Virginia Civil War Trail as well as being in the National Registry of Historic Places. It has been preserved through private money and fundraisers. The birthplace has only markers and signs to remember what was once an antebellum farmstead. However, it is a preserved park that is open for people to visit from dawn to dusk. Perry said many come to picnic and walk around or explore the trails. Couples have even been married at the birthplace. “It’s set up to be a park and we just have the reenactment once a year to highlight its ties to Jeb,” Perry said.

The Dinky Railroad Page 3 on http://www.surrymessenger.com/Archives/8-30-07.pdf

Article on Dinky Railroad From The Surry Messenger

ARARAT, Va. — While hundreds of cars travel on Riverside Drive between Cross Creek and Patrick County, few realize that they are following the bed of a long-dead railroad. Right before the turn of the 20th Century, there was a railroad chartered that would haul freight to and from Mount Airy up the mountain into Patrick County and into Kibler Valley. It was a narrow-gauge railroad, one that few people know existed and which enthusiasts are having a hard time finding. Tom Perry spends a lot of his time looking for pieces and clues about the railroad, nicknamed "the Dinky.” “It’s main purpose was hauling lumber, Perry said last week. “It was a narrow-gauge — only three feet wide — and it ran about 19.5 miles.” Perry, a native of Ararat, and his friend Kenney Kirkman, from Collinsville, like to spend weekends over the winter exploring trails where they believe the railroad used to run, looking for tracks and spikes. “Kenney discovered some rails and that’s what got us started looking for more,” Perry said. “It’s hard to track in developed areas because buildings and roads have been put where the railroad used to be. We’re doing a lot of research to find where it was. In a couple of cases we’ve actually found 90-year-olds who rode it.” Perry believes that the railroad started with a wye — a triangle shaped section of track where a train can complete a turnaround — that paralleled the standard gauge railroad next to what is now Cross Creek Apparel on Riverside Drive in Mount Airy. Since it was parallel to the standard, which runs to this day, it was easy to move cargo from one

train to another, car to car. Between 1870 and 1885, “narrow gauge fever” swept the country under the belief that the equipment was cheaper, construction was faster, and it was easier to finance. - the Dinky was built as part of that epidemic sweeping the transportation industry. “Various owners operated the track along the Ararat River, Clark’s Creek, Fall Creek and the Dan River, into the Kibler Valley,” Perry said. “I think it kept getting into financial trouble and kept being sold. Eventually, just financially they couldn’t make it and they ended up shutting down. Occasionally on the train, there would be Sunday excursions where the train actually carried people on it. - the rest of the time it hauled lumber and wasn’t terribly interesting.” Because it was a steam train, the Dinky’s path kept it close to water. Staying near rivers and creeks also made the going a little easier for the engine and for the workers who laid tracks. However, it was the close proximity to floodplains that also spelled the train’s doom after less than 30 years of operation. “It wouldn’t have been able to go up some of the hills that our roads do,” said Perry. “So it would have followed the water and taken the easier route.” One major stop for the Dinky was the White Sulphur Springs. “In the 1900s, people went to water rehabilitation clinics,” Perry said. “Back then there was a massive hotel and from after the Civil War until the 1950s, people would come to Mount Airy and ride the railroad out to the hotel for their hydrotherapy.” -the grounds around the hotel were also the popular spot for young couples to come for picnics while they were courting. Following the Ararat River, the railroad continued up from Mount Airy into Patrick County from the springs. It was in front of the Sparger House, built in 1865, just north of Mount Airy, that rails were recently found. Craig and Jane Tesh, owners, found 30-foot sections of the rails on their property while a field was being cleared. “- the Ararat River flooded in 1979 and we think it washed several pieces out from along the river banks and made it easier for people to find them,” Perry said. From the Sparger House, the Dinky continued to follow rivers up into Patrick County. While Anthony Terry, of Ararat, was clearing land for a fence line near his creek, he found a lengthy stretch of track from the Dinky and called Perry and Kirkman to come and check it out. Some of that stretch was excavated and moved to the Hollow History Center to be rebuilt and preserved for visitors.-the railroad ran down into Kibler Valley to serve the lumber mill operated by Kibler and Kay. “- the lumber company cut all the trees for the Dinky to haul them out. We think that Kibler came from West Virginia and before the lumber company moved on they had probably clear-cut all the hills surrounding the valley,” Perry said. - the lumber cut there was the lumber that made the ride down to Mount Airy and from there was put onto the standard gauge railroad or used in local lumber mills. In Kibler Valley, where the railroad ended its route, there is a church that was built out of materials given by the railroad. - the Danube Presbyterian Church was built to provide for those who visited the area on the train. “We think they built a splash dam on the Dan River and pushed the logs down hills into the river and they floated down to the meadow,” he said. “One hundred years ago this hay field would have been bustling with activity.” - the best stories that Perry has found have been passed on from those who once rode the train themselves. “They would bring Sunday excursions on trains up from Mount Airy,” he said. “And one day they brought the circus to Kibler Valley on the Dinky.” Laughing, Perry told of the tall tales locals would tell about the elephant that escaped from the circus and killed people. “Some people can exaggerate, but I believe that an elephant was brought and that the circus did come. It was probably just a baby though, and I don’t think it killed anyone.” On another occasion, Perry said there was a Romeo and Juliet story that took place on the Dinky. A young girl ran away with a boy who worked on the train and the two moved up North to start a family, despite her family’s disapproval. Also, two 16-year-old boys in Ararat once hijacked a couple of cars that were parked full of lumber. - the boys released the brake and after the train picked up speed, they bailed out because they couldn’t stop it. “I can just imagine the whole valley filled with lumber, because apparently the cars jumped the track and dumped all their lumber in the bottom,” said Perry. Although later history of the railroad becomes obscure, Perry said that operations of the Dinky stopped around 1925. “In 1916, the Dan River flooded,” Perry said. “Flood control wasn’t even a dream then and it kind of wiped out the Dinky railroad at this end. But they didn’t quit. - the idea was going to be to connect it to the railroad in Stuart and then they built the second version of the Dinky and got away from the river some.” Perry learned most of the Dinky’s history from interviewing locals and through the oral traditions that have been handed down in Patrick County. He said that while many areas near the train’s stops were once thriving economic centers, now there are only collapsing buildings and empty fields. “When the railroad goes, everything goes,” he said. One day, Perry hopes to have an exhibit set up in the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History. He has built 12 webpages about the train, including www.freestateofpatrick.com. “I’ve tried to show people that Surry County and Patrick are connected,” Perry said. “- There’s a lot of history along the Ararat

River and I think too many times the state line is sort of a Berlin Wall, and people don’t think about the areas being connected. -The Dinky connected Patrick County and Mount Airy and the people in them.”

--Courtesy of the Surry Messenger. http://www.surrymessenger.com

The exhibit entitled "Stuart of Laurel Hill" picture above won a ribbon for educational exhibits at the Patrick County Agricultural Fair in Stuart during September. The exhibit showed every known photograph of James Ewell Brown "Jeb" Stuart. Next year I plan to take "Seven Who Gave All: Patrick County In The Vietnam Conflict on shown below on display now at the Patrick County Library.

Above and below show exhibit on Covered Bridges and the Dinky Railroad at the Covered Bridge Festival in Woolwine, Virginia in 2007.

Above the new signs installed in 2007 along Highway 58 has an image of Patrick County's most famous son, James Ewell Brown "Jeb" Stuart. I always find it amusing considering that there is no evidence that J. E. B. Stuart ever set foot in the town that bears his name today. G. E. "Shug" Brown, the last owner of Stuart's Birthplace, always said, "If you don't have any history of your own steal someone else's." Interestingly the town that is today Stuart, Virginia, was officially called Taylorsville named for American Revolutionary figure George Taylor. I have never found once instance of the Stuart Family ever mentioning Taylorsville. The few times it was discussed the town they called it Patrick Court House. One instance was in 1858 when one of the Stuart daughters mentions that her mother Elizabeth Letcher Pannill Stuart was going to sell the Laurel Hill property to a man from "Patrick Court House." The sale did not take place and Mrs. Stuart sold the inheritance from her family to Dr. Joseph Hollingsworth and Mr. Robert Galloway of Mount Airy, North Carolina. In 1884 Taylorsville became Stuart in the glory days of the "Lost Cause" after the War Between The States trying no doubt to capitalize on "Jeb" in the pantheon of Confederate heroes. In another interesting sidelight J. E. B. Stuart spent the next to the last night of his life in Taylorsville, Virginia, but this one was north of Richmond along the Telegraph Road. The next day May 11, 1864, "Jeb" Stuart was mortally wounded by one of George Custer's men at the Battle of Yellow Tavern. Carried to his brother in law's home on Grace Street, Stuart the man died on May 12, 1864, around 7:30 p.m. after breathing his last words, "God's Will Be Done." Over the years I have received many negative comments such as "I would support the birthplace if it was in Stuart" or "I think they ought to move the Birthplace to the town of Stuart." People wonder why I use "darnbunchinStuart" as one word. I think the image of J. E. B. Stuart on the new signs looks pretty good. Don't tell anyone in Ararat, but in spite of all the negative I gave it to them.