William Letcher was born to Giles and Hannah Letcher around 1750, this author believes, in Goochland County. William, the second son, was described as a man of fine appearance and greatly beloved and esteemed. On November 20, 1778, William Letcher married Elizabeth Perkins and moved to Henry County, present day Patrick County. Elizabeth, born on May 13, 1759, to Nicholas and Bethenia Hardin Perkins, grew up at Perkins Ferry in Halifax, now Pittsylvania County. On August 2, 1856, John Letcher, future Governor of Virginia wrote of William Letcher, “He chose for his residence a spot in the southwest corner of Patrick County, Virginia, called The Hollow. It derives its name from the circular bend, which the mountains make around it. The Blue Ridge makes a semi-circular sweep half way around it on the west and the Slate Mountain and Little Mountain on the east and south. The Ararat with its waters, as clear as crystal, and as swift as the arrow shot from the bow, traverse this whole valley from north to south and then empties into the Yadkin. On one of the gentle swelling hills, that lifts its head on the banks of this stream Mr. Letcher established his home.” On July 25, 1779, Letcher appears on the payroll list of Captain David Carlin’s Henry County Militia. In telling the story of William Letcher, each generation and biographer of General Stuart promotes him one grade in rank. He begins as Captain in J. E. B. Stuart’s first biography and is a colonel by the last one in 1986. The highest rank found in official papers from Carlin’s Militia lists him as corporal. In August 1779, Henry County recommended William Letcher to the Governor of Virginia as a Commissioner of the Peace. No evidence exists that the Letchers owned land along both sides of the Ararat River. Elizabeth and William Letcher left little documentation except for a list of possessions and the major events in their lives. They grew corn and tobacco in the bottomland along the river. They held livestock including twenty head of cattle, ten hogs, and five horses. There were nine slaves named David, Ben, Witt, Abraham, Dick, Look, Nunn, Randolph, and Craft. William Letcher’s estate inventory located in the Henry County courthouse includes many of the household and farm items that you would expect. Among these items were saddlebags, rifles, three feather beds, and a looking glass. On March 21, 1780, Elizabeth gave birth to her first child, Bethenia. This small child became the connection that led her famous grandson’s birth at Laurel Hill over fifty years later. Bethenia’s daughter wrote of William Letcher at this time that, “He had the promise of long years of happiness and usefulness and domestic felicity, but a serpent lurked in his path, for whom he felt too great a contempt to take any precautions.” The clouds of war reached the home of William and Elizabeth Letcher that summer with tragic results in the form of Tories, those loyal to the British. John Adams said of the Tories, “A Tory here is the most despicable animal in the creation. Spiders, toads, snakes are their only proper emblems.” The same day Bethenia was born, Virginia Governor Thomas Jefferson wrote to Colonel William Preston in Montgomery County stating, “I am sorry to hear that there are persons in your quarters so far discontented with the present government as to combine with its enemies to destroy it.” It was four years since this famous Virginian had penned the words of The Declaration of Independence. Tradition holds that William Letcher was a leader among the local people in support of the patriot cause and separation from Great Britain. Letcher left no doubt about his feelings and this made him a target. As a member of the local militia, he may have been involved in several small battles against the pro-British sympathizers in the region. Oral tradition abounds today in Patrick County about the death of William Letcher. The most romantic and accepted story tells that Letcher was in his fields on August 2, 1780, when a stranger came to the house and asked Elizabeth Letcher about her husband’s whereabouts. She replied that he would be back shortly and invited the visitor to stay. When Letcher entered, the man identified himself as Nichols, a local Tory leader, and said, “I demand you in the name of His Majesty.” Letcher replied, “What do you mean?” Nichols shot Letcher. The Tory fled the home leaving the dying Patriot in the arms of his wife, his last words reportedly being, “Hall is responsible for this.” Hall reportedly fled towards Kentucky, but Indians along the Holston River killed his entire family. William Nichols born in Granville County, present day Orange County, North Carolina, about 1750, married Sarah Riddle in 1770 the daughter of Colonel James Riddle, a prominent Surry County Tory. Nichols is listed in 1771 tax list of Surry County and reportedly served in the local militia for the Patriot cause, but received harsh treatment for “bad conduct” and swore to seek revenge after he was discharged. Letcher was his first victim. Today, William Letcher rests in the bottomlands along the Ararat River in Patrick County’s oldest marked grave. His tombstone placed by his daughter before her death in 1845 states the following. “In memory of William Letcher, who was assassinated in his own house in the bosom of his family by a Tory of the Revolution, on the 2nd day of August, 1780, age about 30 years. May the tear of sympathy fall upon the couch of the brave.” If his great-grandson J. E. B. Stuart returned to his birthplace today the only site he would recognize would be this grave of his ancestor who died fighting at age 30, one year less than Stuart himself would perish.
