Surry County Connections From Stuart’s Birthplace: The History of The Laurel Hill Farm by Thomas D. Perry American Revolution During the American Revolution Perry sheds light on William Letcher, the maternal great-grandfather of J. E. B. Stuart, who was killed by pro-British Tories during the American Revolution, specifically led by a Surry County man named William Hall. Letcher was killed by William Nichols of North Carolina in August 1780 at the Laurel Hill Farm. How Mount Airy Got It’s Name Mount Airy, North Carolina, received its name from the Perkins Farm in the Bannertown area near the Ararat River. The Perkins Family named their home Mount Airy, possibly from the Pittsylvania County, Virginia, area near their original home. J. E. B. Stuart’s great-grandmother Elizabeth Perkins was a member of this same family and also connected through other families such as the Marrs. The Perkins Family also constructed the original Blue Ridge Hotel/Inn, which sat the corner of Main and Oak streets in Mount Airy. Jonathan Hanby Carter Perry’s new book points out the friendship between J. E. B. Stuart and Jonathan Hanby Carter of Surry County, North Carolina. Carter visited Stuart while the former was at West Point. Carter sailed the world in the United States Navy before the Civil War and was one of the first graduates of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. Carter joined the Confederate Navy and built ironclads on the Red River in Louisiana during the war. Chapter on Connections With Surry County Chapter Nine of the new book is all about the Stuart Family connections with Surry County beginning with J. E. B. Stuart just graduated from West Point in 1854 camping on Pilot Mountain, where he is awoke by a thunderstorm that inspires him to write a poem about it. The chapter covers the Stuarts traveling from the Laurel Hill Farm in Ararat, Virginia, to Mount Airy with all the history along the way. The chapter contains information on the Stuart’s shopping, attending church and getting their mail in Mount Airy along with the two men Richard Galloway and Dr. Joseph Hollingsworth, who purchased the Laurel Hill Farm from Mrs. Stuart in 1859. Information about local educator and historian Ruth Minick is included as well. Tom Perry Will Be Speaking Twice Locally on J. E. B. Stuart and New Book Meeting of the Surry County Civil War Round Table, which meets the first Tuesday of each month at the Mount Airy Public Library on Rockford Street in Mount Airy at 6:30 p.m. Meetings are free and open to the public. February 6, Tom Perry will give his slide show on J. E. B. Stuart March 6, Tom Perry on his new book Stuart's Birthplace, The History of the Laurel Hill Farm The book may be ordered at http://www.freestateofpatrick.com/book.htm .