When you drive down the main streets of small towns like Floyd and Chatham, you see stately, ancient, beautiful homes from the 19th century. Did Stuart once have any grand, old homes? I decided to do a little research on the subject and discovered there was once a historical landmark at the top of Main Street in Stuart; it was called the Stonewall House.
The Stonewall House was the brainchild of Colonel Samuel Staples, who would later become the county’s first Circuit Court Clerk. At the time the construction began in 1775, Stuart was known as Taylorsville and was still part of Pittsylvania County.
Stone was quarried from the foot of Stuart Mountain and hauled by ox wagon to the building site, at a pace of one load per day. After a year’s time, enough stone had been gathered to build the foundation for what would become the Stonewall House.
The ox wagons hauled again-this time for a period of ten years-until by 1785, there was enough stone to build the walls that were 24 inches thick. Yes, that is not a typo, the stone walls were two feet thick! When the Stonewall House was completed in 1793, George Washington was the President of the United States.
According to a Roanoke Times article written by Susan Lewis in 1964, the Stonewall House changed hands twice during the 19th century. The Staples family sold it to bachelor Edgar Handy, who added a brick wing and kitchen to the east and north ends of the house. Handy sold it to Malvern Vance Stedman (Enterprise publisher) a short time later.
My dear friend, Nancy Lindsey wrote a wonderful article in 1973 about the Stonewall House and other Stuart landmarks that were torn down in the name of “progress.” Nancy reminisced, “If the Stonewall House were still standing, it would be a monument to 180 years of Patrick County history. It would speak silently of the long-ago peaceful years when the 19th century was young; of the desolate but stirring years of the War Between the States; of the hard times when the Stonewall House was later turned into a private schoolhouse, and of the happy times when Mal Stedman’s daughters were young and parties were held by candlelight on the wide lawn.”
Stedman sold the house to merchant and First National Bank president, John R. Clark in 1928. Clark never resided in the Stonewall House, but his mother-in-law, Wilmouth Lewis Massey lived there until her death in 1943. Massey’s daughter, Pearl lived in the house until its demise in 1964.
In an April 9, 1964, Roanoke Times interview with Clark about the upcoming demolition of the Stonewall House, Clark stated, “I can’t get sentimental over it when I think that the bank will go there. I’ve been trying for seven years to get the bank moved uptown. This will make such a good spot for the bank-at the head of Main Street.” Clark, age 90, said he had “no intention of dying until I get the house down and the bank up.” Clark succeeded, passing away in August of 1965.
Woody may be reached at rockcastlecreek1@gmail.com
