We had an excellent presentation by Norman S. Stevens who is currently executive director of the Kankakee County Historical Museum and is author of ten books.
He said that Lexington, Virginia is the Val halla of the Confederacy. Lee, one of his sons, Jackson, and other Confederate officers are buried there. He said that there was a fire in the Presbyterian church in Lexington, but Jackson's pew was not hurt. Stevens graduated from Virginia Military Institute and he said that no classes are held on Lee's birthday.
Lee's greatest moment came not on a battlefield, but happened when he received a letter from Washington University to accept its presidency. Lee had received lots of other offers and was under pressure to write his memoirs, but yet, rode, unescorted to Lexington where he found a nearly bankrupt and broken down college. He said that for the last 4 and a half years, he had overseen the death of the youth of the south and would now spend the rest of his life seeing to their education.
Later, when the Federal government required Southern officers to take a second oath of allegiance, many former soldiers were thinking about refusing, but Lee took his second oath and then it was ok.
INTEREST IN HISTORY
Mr. Stevens said his father got him interested in history. On road trips, he made it a point to stop at all roadside markers.
Went, Stevens first went to VMI, he stayed in room 425 which was made out of Jackson's former lecture hall. Then, he lived in Room 324, which was Jackson's room from 1851 to 1852. Jackson spent 1851 to 1861 in Lexington.
Continued. --Old B-Runner
The Battle of Fort Fisher, N.C.
