Stuart's Birthplace
N 36° 35.681 W 080° 30.950
17S E 543307 N 4050019
Laurel Hill is the birthplace of Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart. It is located on Route 773 in the Ararat Community of Patrick County Virginia. This historic marker is located near the entrance to the Laurel Hill Historic Site.
Waymark Code: WM16JY
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 02/01/2007
Views: 37
This historic marker stands near the entrance to the Laurel Hill Historic Site on Route 773 in the Ararat Community of Patrick County, Virginia. The text of the marker reads:
STUART'S BIRTHPLACE
"To the west stood Laurel Hill (built about 1830), where Confederate Maj. General James Ewell Brown “Jeb” Stuart was born on 6 Feb. 1833 to Archibald Stuart, a lawyer and politician and Elizabeth Letcher Pannill Stuart. The house burned in the winter of 1847-48. After graduation from the U. S. Military Academy at West Point in 1854, Stuart served as a U. S. Army Officer until May 1861 when he joined the Confederate Army. In 1862, he became cavalry commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, and his fame is a part of the history of that army. Wounded while defending Richmond on 11 May 1864, Stuart died there the next day. He is buried at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond."
In 1817, Elizabeth Pannill at the age of 16 married Archibald Stuart. Archibald, age 22 was just then beginning a career in politics and in law. After the marriage the family lived in Campbell County Virginia where Archibald was elected to the state legislature for the first time. In the ensuing four years, the Stuarts had produced three daughters and a son, none of whom were born on the Patrick County property. By October of 1823, Archibald had journeyed to Patrick County where he was granted a license to practice law, and may have begun arrangements to bring his family to Patrick County.
It is not certain just when construction started on the home that was to be called Laurel Hill, however most agree that it was completed by 1830. It was in this home that the first child of Laurel Hill was born, William Alexander Stuart. Six more children were to see the first light of day at Laurel Hill including the seventh child and youngest surviving son, James Ewell Brown Stuart, who was born at eleven a.m. on the 6th of February 1833.
The Laurel Hill home has been described as a comfortable, unpretentious farmhouse Unfortunately the home was completely destroyed by fire in the winter of 1847-48, and no contemporary detailed descriptions of the house have survived. James himself in a later letter described the fire as a "sad disaster". After the fire, Archibald along with his son Dr. John Dabney continued to live in the outbuilding that had served as the family kitchen for several years thereafter. Archibald passed away in 1855 and was buried at Laurel Hill, and remained there until 1952 when he was moved to the Elizabeth Cemetery in Saltville, Virginia to lie beside his wife.
Today, the site of Laurel Hill is preserved in a park like setting with only the two cemeteries remaining. Concrete pylons outline the site of the original house and kitchen. The original Stuart Family Cemetery remains near the home site, as does the servant’s cemetery.
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