We had 200 people show up for the kickoff of the Patrick County 250 Celebration at William Letcher’s grave at Laurel Hill, the birthplace of J. E. B. Stuart, in Ararat, Virginia. We had Revolutionary War reenactors and a cannon, along with food and fireworks to kick off the 250th birthday of our democratic republic.
William Letcher was killed on August 2, 1780, at Laurel Hill. His grave is the oldest marked grave in Patrick County. He was Jeb Stuart’s great-grandfather. Thanks to the Mitchell and especially the Dellenback families for preserving William Letcher’s grave or we would not have it.
Thanks to the Ararat Ruritan Club for supplying the BBQ and Eric Bolt for cooking it.
Thanks to the ladies of the Daughters of the American Revolution for the lemonade.
Thanks to the Jeb Stuart Birthplace for serving the food, especially Chip Bondurant and Amy Brown Sawyers. The cake was delicious. Special thanks to President of the Jeb Stuart Birthplace, Ronnie Haynes, for everything he does.
Thanks to Andrew Doss, Mark Leviner, Gene Reamey, B. J. Nolan, Arlen Doss, the members of the Colonel George Waller Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution, the other Revolutionary War reenactors, and the big brass cannon.
Thanks to Chris Corbett and the Ararat Fire Department for the fireworks.
Thanks to Sue Kolljeski of Patrick County Tourism for promoting this event.
Thanks to Mike Ward of the Surry County Genealogical Society for the sound system and Esther Johnson for the support of our local history.
Thanks to Debbie Hall and Taylor Boyd of The Enterprise, WHEO, WSYD/WPAQ, The Mount Airy News, Cardinal News, Bill Wyatt of the Martinsville Bulletin, and everyone on social media who helped promote this event. As Andy Griffith would say, “I appreciate it.”
I was particularly thrilled to see multiple of my teachers from Patrick County High School. We sit on the shoulders of those who came before us. I was grateful to see Bobby Clement, who helped me enormously with photos when I first started trying to preserve local history. I dedicated my remarks to my mentor, Ophus Eugene “O. E.” Pilson.
Prayers for Vice-President of the Jeb Stuart Birthplace, David Lusk.
My speech is available on YouTube and as a book on Amazon: “A Tale of Two Great-Grandfathers,” about William Letcher and Alexander Stuart, who fought in the American Revolution, in paperback, Kindle, and Audible formats.
You can watch my talk on William Letcher on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIqvhbAzIAu4
See photos (photo credits to Andrew Doss, Mark Leviner, Mike Ward, Pamela Smith, and Amy Snyder), and videos from this event at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=tom.perry.12532&set=a.27570519959211458
A related story is inside this newspaper.
