The White House of the Confederacy

EARLY HISTORY OF THE J.E.B. STUART CHAPTER #156,

UNITED DAUGHTERS OF THE CONFEDERACY

The J.E.B. Stuart Chapter #156 of the United Daughters of the Confederacy [UDC] was organized on 23 October 1895, along with ten other chapters which founded the Virginia Division of what was then called the “National Society of Daughters of the Confederacy.”

Our chapter’s original membership was 25 members and serving as the first president of the Chapter was Mrs. J.E.B. Stuart, widow of the esteemed War Between the States general, J.E.B. Stuart.  Mrs. Stuart was the Head Mistress of today's Stuart Hall boarding school in Staunton.  She served as UDC President for four years until she resigned in October 1899, following the death of her daughter which resulted in Mrs. Stuart's subsequent move to Norfolk, Virginia, to be near her grandchildren.

The original patriotic work of the Chapter included furnishing a Confederate Room at the local hospital and placing monuments over the graves of Confederate soldiers who had died of smallpox and were buried in a lot on Burwell Road. The women also participated annually in a lovely Memorial Day celebration.

On 11 February 1896, the J.E.B. Stuart Chapter hosted a reception in honor of Confederate veterans and their families. We were honored to have the famous Stonewall Brigade Band https://www.stonewallbrigadeband.com/] play at our reception. The band, begun in 1855, is the oldest-continuous band which began as a brass band, but evolved over years to now presenting free summer community concerts with woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments from the Bandstand at Gypsy Hill Park.

Later that same year in 1896, the ladies held a “Field Day” event to raise money for uniforms and travel expenses in order for veterans to attend a reunion in Nashville.

By 1906, membership in the J.E.B. Stuart Chapter had grown to 100, and the ladies were involved in more benevolent and historical work.  The Chapter presented their first crosses of honor, as well as made contributions to the J.E.B. Stuart Monument Fund in Richmond, honoring our chapter’s namesake. Contributions were also collected towards the purchase of General Stonewall Jackson’s home in Lexington, Virginia, which was to be used as a hospital.

Over the next few years, the Chapter organized the Bath and McDowell Chapters, sponsored the CofC, Children of the Confederacy, which had a membership of 500 children, and the Chapter ladies made an appeal to local government officials to name Staunton schools for Southern heroes which resulted in the naming of three schools: Robert E. Lee High School (now Staunton High School, renamed in 2019), Stonewall Jackson Primary School (now home to several artists and businesses),  and Thomas Jefferson Grammar School (now the Staunton Public Library).  In addition, the early UDC ladies sponsored scholarships to Mary Baldwin College to local graduates of Robert E. Lee High School who had Confederate ancestors. The ladies, always concerned about promoting youth, also were generous benefactors to many local organizations, such as the Y.M.C.A..