Laurel Hill Publishing announced the release of” Laurel Hill’s Many Histories Volume One: J. E. B. Stuart’s Birthplace From Prehistoric To Today” by Thomas D. Perry.
The 314-page book will be available at the Civil War Encampment at Laurel Hill for $20 at the Birthplace tent on October 4 at the J. E. B. Stuart Birthplace at 1091 Ararat Highway, Ararat, Virginia. All proceeds will go to the preservation efforts at Laurel Hill. Tom Perry will sign and number the books.
The book holds the recent articles published on the back page of The Enterprise, the weekly newspaper of Patrick County, Virginia. Tom Perry would like to thank Editor Debbie Hall and reporter Taylor Boyd for their support in covering history in The Free State Of Patrick. The book has the articles and more articles beginning with the Native American history at the site through the preservation of the 75-acre site, including articles on Virginia Tech Professor James I. Robertson, Jr, author Burke Davis, previous owners Icy and Sug Brown, who wanted the site preserved, and the lives of enslaved peoples on the 1,500-acre farm.
This is the first of a proposed series of books about the history of the farm where Civil War General James Ewell Brown “Jeb” Stuart was born on February 6, 1833. Stuart graduated from West Point, served in the U.S. Army for seven years, and became the commander of Robert E. Lee’s Cavalry Division in the Army of Northern Virginia during the War Between the States until one of George Custer’s men mortally wounded Stuart at the Battle of Yellow Tavern on May 11, 1864. Stuart died the next day and is buried in Richmond’s Hollywood Cemetery.
The J. E. B. Stuart Birthplace Preservation Trust was formed in 1990 and has preserved 75 acres with interpretive signs and walking trails. It is open dawn to dusk every day except for the first weekend in October when the Civil War Encampment occurs starting in 1991. Gates open at 9 am with admission at $10. Children 12 and under get in FREE.
Tom Perry can be reached at freestateofpatrick@yahoo.com.
J.E. B. Stuart Birthplace at www.jebstuart.org or https://www.facebook.com/JEB.Stuart.Trust.
