J.E.B. Stuart

Childhood

James Ewell Brown Stuart was born at Laurel Hill, a plantation in Patrick County, Virginia on the dividing line between the piedmont and the mountains and within sight of the boundary line of North Carolina and Virginia. His father, Archibald Stuart, was a prominent politician and attorney and represented Patrick County in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly and served one term in the United States House of Representatives. Elizabeth Stuart, his mother, was known as a strict religious woman with a great love of nature. Both traits could be seen in the personality of their most famous offspring. He was the 7th of 10 children, and the youngest son. James Stuart passed a happy boyhood. He loved the old homestead with all the enthusiasm of his nature; and one of the fondest dreams of his manhood was that he might own the place of his birth, and there end his days in quiet retirement. An encounter with hornets when he was 10 years old gave an indication of the courage he later showed as a general. While an older brother fled, young Jeb narrowed his eyes against the angry insects and with a stick dashed the hornets' nest to the ground.

Related Topics:
Patrick County - Virginia - Archibald Stuart - Virginia General Assembly - United States House of Representatives

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