Laurel Hill Farm is a private park and historic home located in Ararat, Virginia. The birthplace of

James Ewell Brown "Jeb" Stuart James Ewell Brown "Jeb" Stuart (February 6, 1833May 12, 1864) was a United States Army officer from Virginia who became a Confederate States Army general during the American Civil War. He was known to his friends as "Jeb,” from the initials of ...

, seventy-five acres of the owned by the Stuart Family was saved in 1992 by the J. E. B. Stuart Birthplace Preservation Trust with assistance from the

Civil War Trust The American Battlefield Trust is a charitable organization ( 501(c)(3)) whose primary focus is in the preservation of battlefields of the American Civil War, the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 through acquisition of battlefield land. Th ...

, a division of the

American Battlefield Trust The American Battlefield Trust is a charitable organization ( 501(c)(3)) whose primary focus is in the preservation of battlefields of the American Civil War, the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 through acquisition of battlefield land. Th ...

. The J. E. B. Stuart Birthplace Preservation Trust, founded by Historian and Author Thomas D. "Tom" Perry, is a non-profit corporation that has interpreted the site and holds events on the property.

J. E. B. Stuart

James Ewell Brown Stuart was born on February 6, 1833, as the eighth of eleven children to Archibald and Elizabeth Letcher Pannill Stuart. He attended Emory and Henry College in Southwest Virginia before receiving an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. Stuart graduated 13 of 46 in 1854 and spent seven years in the United States Army, mainly in Kansas in the First U. S. Cavalry. Stuart was present at John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry in 1859 before resigning in May 1861 to fight for the Confederate States of America. Stuart rose in rank to Major General commanding the cavalry of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. He died on May 12, 1864, after receiving wounds at the Battle of Yellow Tavern. He is buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.

Annual Events

The first weekend of October a Civil War encampment is held at the site. Beginning in 1990, this event raises money for the upkeep of the site.

History of the Laurel Hill Farm

The Laurel Hill Farm has a varied history told from archaeology completed by the

College of William and Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III a ...

, which found the house site along with Native-American artifacts. Peter Jefferson, father of Thomas Jefferson, surveyed the southern boundary of the property. The first member of J. E. B. Stuart's family to live on the property was William Letcher (1750–1780), who was killed on the farm in August 1780 by a

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

during the American Revolution. Letcher's grave on the property is the oldest marked grave site in Patrick County. J. E. B. Stuart's family came to the property in 1825 and lived there until 1859 when Elizabeth Stuart sold the property to two men from nearby Mount Airy, North Carolina.

References

External links

Laurel Hill
– official site {{Authority control Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Houses completed in 1833 Parks in Patrick County, Virginia Houses in Patrick County, Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Patrick County, Virginia