by Tom Perry
One hundred years after Archibald Stuart left Northern Ireland for Amer-ica, another immigrant made his way to the shores of North America. Five-year-old Christian Delenbach left Le Havre, France, arriving on December 8, 1826, in New York. He eventual-ly moved to Baltimore. He came to North Carolina and married Ceaselia G. Mason. Four children came before Christian’s death. Among them was John Edward Dellenback (May 1, 1871-October 16, 1938).
John came to Patrick County in the late 1800s. He worked at Pedigo’s Mill on Clark’s Creek and for the Mount Airy and Eastern Railroad, “The Dinky.” John married Serelda Mary Wilson (July 1, 1879-May 8, 1951) on October 25, 1898. The marriage pro-duced six children, among them Char-lie Melton Dellenback, born on Octo-ber 15, 1908.
Charlie married Thelma Roseleaf Dennis on October 4, 1943. This hap-py union began at a church social in Albemarle County, North Caro-lina. Charlie served as a cook in the U. S. Army during World War II in the Philippines. Thelma gave birth to nine children in thirteen years. Charlie Melton Dellenback, Jr. (1944-1974), who served two tours of duty in Vietnam. Walter Lee, born in 1945, also served in Vietnam and married Virginia Surratt. Leonard George, born on George Washington’s birth-day (February 21) in 1947, also served in Vietnam and married Frances Mc-millian.
Mary Martha Dellenback, born in 1948, served in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War, the Army Reserves, and the Army during the Persian Gulf War. Mary writes of the bond between her parents, with the special way her mother would yell, “Charlie, dinner is ready!” The chil-dren received a treat bag every Christ-mas, while farm work and afternoon swims in the nearby river consumed their summers. In the fall, school re-sumed, and Mary recounts having to walk across a log over the river to reach the school bus, as no bridge yet existed. The bridge was built in 1962, and today the road crossing it is called Letcher Lane in honor of the Patriot buried at its end. Mary serves on the Board of Directors of the J. E. B. Stu-art Birthplace Preservation Trust, Inc.
On March 14, 1949, Charlie and Thelma purchased one hundred and sixty-nine acres from John Mitchell. The Dellenback family farmed the bottomlands along the Ararat Riv-er, growing corn, oats, a vegetable garden, livestock, and the main cash crop, tobacco. This land included the farmhouse built in 1895 by William A. Mitchell and his son, John. The farm contained structures dating back to the Stuart occupation, and possibly William Letcher’s time.
The latter children included Ruby Kay Dellenback, born in 1950, who married Earl Stevens. Dennis Jacob was born in 1951 and married Pau-la Francis. Thelma Jean was born in 1953 and married Roger L. Hill. Elmer Dean Dellenback was born on April 4, 1955, but sadly died within ten months. Edward Banks, born in 1957, married Wanda Sue Payne.
The Dellenback family realized the historic value of their property and took great pride in their ownership of the Laurel Hill Farm. The family protected the boxwoods present to-day. Most importantly, in 1952, the Dellenbacks refused to allow William Letcher’s remains to be removed from the place where he lost his life during the American Revolution. On June 25, 1952, Archibald Stuart’s remains were moved to Saltville to lie beside his wife, Elizabeth Letcher Pannill Stuart. Charlie Dellenback stated, “that the grave on the farm, when he bought it, and it would remain there,” and so it has.
was tobacco; other crops included corn, oats, and other hay crops. A large vegetable garden was always planted and harvested to provide for the fam-ily. Hogs, chickens, and dairy cattle were part of this farming operation. The old Volunteer Gap Road and an-other farm road intersected the prop-erty and were used extensively by the family and others to move goods out of the area. Today, the Dellenback fam-ily continues to farm this fertile bot-tomland along the Ararat River. As a teenager, this author worked for the Dellenbacks in their tobacco fields. L. George is a good friend who has sup-ported the Perry Family Scholarship started by this author to honor his parents.
In 1995, Leonard George and Fran-ces Dellenback optioned and sold a three-acre tract that included William Letcher’s grave, the Mitchell/Dellen-back home, and the probable site of William Letcher’s cabin. It is believed that the foundation of Letcher’s cabin was discovered in 2009 by archaeolog-ical work conducted by Radford Uni-versity. Frances and George celebrat-ed their 55th wedding anniversary this week.
Thelma Dellenback died on Jan-uary 12, 2001, and Charlie Melton Dellenback, “the finest man we ever knew will live forever in our hearts” died on September 12, 1998. They rest today in the cemetery of Hunter’s Chapel Church.
This land, along with the site of J. E. B. Stuart’s birth, totals 75 acres and is a small part of the original 1,500-acre Laurel Hill Farm, which is now owned, maintained, and interpreted by the J. E. B. Stuart Birthplace Pres-ervation Trust, Inc.
Tom Perry can be reached at frees-tateofpatrick@yahoo.com, and the J. E. B. Stuart Birthplace website is www.jebstuart.org.
