By Tom Perry
Last year, I wrote about James Ewell Brown “Jeb” Stuart and his influence on the university that became Virginia Tech, but he also visited the University of Virginia in 1850. He wrote to his cousin, Alexander Stuart Brown, the son of Judge James Ewell Brown, for whom he was named
Stuart was headed to West Point, New York, after being appointed to the United States Military Academy in 1850. He spent several days in and around Charlottesville. He wrote his cousin, Alexander Stuart Brown, from the Irving House in Washington, D. C., on June 3, 1850. “I left there for Charlottesville, where I stayed one day. I went all over the University [of Virginia] and became acquainted with General Cabell and his two sons, from whom I received a letter of introduction to Cadet W. Lewis Cabell and Captain Witcher. Dick Sanders and I went over to Monticello, which is truly a romantic place. I have a small piece of the marble slab over his grave with this inscription: “Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, the statute of Virginia for religious freedom, and father of the University of Virginia.” I pulled also two roses from near the walk leading through his yard. There is a statue of him in front of the President’s house here. It is made of bronze with the Declaration in his hand cut into bronze. The statue was presented during Tyler’s Administration to the President by the owner of Mr. Jefferson’s residence, Captain Levy, United States Navy. I went from Charlottesville to the junction where I left my overcoat and then came immediately on here.”
Uriah P. Levi (1792-1862) was a Commodore in the U.S. Navy and owner of Monticello when Stuart visited the plantation. Levi is buried along Mulberry Row, on the north side of the house, leading to Jefferson’s grave.
Upon arriving at Camp Gaines at the United States Military Academy, at West Point, New York, on July 8, 1850, Stuart wrote to his cousin Alexander Stuart Brown about his recent visit to the University of Virginia.
“So you expect to go to the University of Virginia this fall. I must say something about that place and vicinity, as I am afraid you will be disappointed. I refer to the ladies of Charlottesville, for collectively or individually they merit the rank of the ugliest of the ugly; I could mention illustrations of the truth of this remark, but I know that you will have an opportunity of judging for yourself soon enough to your sorrow, but without a joke Charlottesville is a sweet place… it would surpass any town in the United States so far as beauty is concerned. It may be however, the striking contrast, which exists between the ugly women and the pretty gardens and yards clothed in roses, that robes the place in apparent loveliness.”
Stuart’s last mention of the University of Virginia came on October 21, 1850, when he wrote Alexander Stuart Brown from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. “I was glad to hear you were so well pleased with the university and we so admirably situated for study and improvement. The university is indeed a lovely spot, and so is its vicinity. I know I shall never regret my taking that in on my way to this place. I became acquainted with several students whose names I have forgotten with the exception of young Fulton, an intimate friend of Richard Sanders. I was also introduced to the Misses Omohundro of the Monticello House.”
John R. “Texas Jack” Omohundro (1846-1880) grew up south of Charlottesville near Palmyra. He scouted for Stuart in the Civil War in 1864. One of his sisters, Elizabeth, was eight when Stuart visited Charlottesville, and another, Arabella, was one and might be the Misses that Stuart refers to.
Many people confuse the University of Virginia Cavalier mascot with J. E. B. Stuart, The Last Cavalier, but the mascot is a historical figure representing the Royalist supporters of King Charles I, with two main forms: the costumed Cavman, a stern, sword-wielding figure with a feathered hat, and the iconic Mounted Cavalier, a real person on horseback. The English Civil War was a battle of Cavaliers and Roundheads, the supporters of Oliver Cromwell, who executed King Charles and ruled England as the Commonwealth from 1649 to 1660.
