By
J.E.B. STUART IV
Great-Grandson of Major General J.E.B. Stuart C.S.A.

August 14, 2008

It is with great pleasure that I communicate with you my knowledge of the administration of Laurel Hill, the birthplace and boyhood home of my great- grandfather, General Stuart, as conducted by the Board of Directors of the J.E.B. Stuart Birthplace Preservation Trust Inc.

The task undertaken by this organization to transform what essentially had become a subsistence farm over the many years that have passed since my great-grandmother sold the property in 1859. into what is today an historic site, open to the public, was truly a monumental one. Over the past nearly two decades, the men and women of this organization have by their unceasing dedication wrought a minor miracle. With no public funding, the Trust has managed year by year to improve the physical appearance of Laurel Hill. With such milestones as the archaeological survey of the property by the College of William and Mary, the placement of the property on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places, the construction of the Stuart Pavilion with its exquisite series of interpretive signs by the renowned Stuart author Robert J. Trout, to the more mundane paving of its interior roads, the Trust has consistently striven with but one goal in mind to transform Laurel Hill into a permanent memorial to a great American soldier.

I welcome this opportunity to express my gratitude, on behalf of the Stuart family, to these men and women of the Trust who have given so much of their time and talents to this great quest. The integrity of this organization is of the highest caliber, its devotion to its mission is unquestioned, and as a result the day is not far off when Laurel Hill will take its rightful place as one of America's finest landmarks.

Signed:
Colonel J.E.B. Stuart IV (USA Ret.)