"Stonewall" Jackson |
The Latest Camp News:
We Continue to Honor with Pride!
On Sunday, November 18, 2001, nearly a dozen camp members rallied at the Food Lion parking lot in Stanley to begin the trek to the Summers-Strole Family Cemetery near Grove Hill. Once we got underway, it was a site to see - I think we had as many as seven trucks in all headed down Route 340. We stopped briefly at the Page County High School where the Virginia Department of Historic Resources marker for the Summers-Koontz Incident stands. There, we met with Mrs. Violet Mitchell - a distant cousin of Captain Summers, and she showed us the way. Down along Strole Farm Road we headed, our column kicking up dust along the way until we reached the farm of Mrs. Alice Foltz. Mrs. Foltz was very kind in granting us permission to go forth through her fields to the cemetery.
To make a long story short - we set the two headstones - one for Capt. George W. Summers of Co. D, 7th Va. Cav. and one for Pvt. Hiram P. Strole of Co. H, 33rd Va. Inf. - both taken down in the prime of their lives standing bravely for the cause that they defended. However, we didn't stop there. We cleared the cemetery, re-set the footstones and laid the headstones in line with them, removed a huge cedar tree that had taken down a part of the fence, removed the accompanying cedar tree stump (after much determination), and fixed the fence - ALL IN UNDER TWO HOURS!!!!
Congratulations to all that made it possible and showed a great amount of teamwork and camp comradery! We will return and do some follow-up trimming and re-erect the other headstones in the near future.
We receive a very kind gift from the descendant of a Medal of Honor awardee -
Earlier this year we received a $6,240 grant from the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation for the purpose of erecting three Virginia Civil War Trails markers in Page County - one for the action at Yager's Mill in Sept. 1864, another for the Brick Church where essentially the Gettysburg Campaign was wrapped up for many of the 2nd Corps (before marching off across the Blue Ridge for the opening of the the Bristoe Campaign) and the last marker for the May 1862 action at Somerville Heights. While the Battlefields Foundation gave us 80% of the funds necessary, we are required to raise the other 20% which comes down to $1,560.
As good fortune and kindness would have it, this past year, Mr. Peter Baybutt, was surfing the web and ran across a Page News & Courier article from the Heritage & Heraldry column that had been written about his grandfather - Pvt. Philip Baybutt of Co. A, 2nd Mass. Cavalry - the only person to be awarded the Medal of Honor for meritorious service in action on Page County soil. Ultimately, because we would like to include a sidebar about his grandfather (in addition to text that will cover the military action at Yager's Mill), he and his wife were very generous in giving $470 toward our efforts and to help complete the funding needs for the Yager's Mill marker. Additionally, friends of Mr. Baybutt's - the Conroy family - was very kind in giving $50 for the same, which completed funding needs for the one marker.
Because of the generosity of the Baybutt and Conroy families we are very fortunate to have completed 1/3 of our fundraising efforts. However, everyone must appreciate the interaction between the descendant of a Union veteran and an organization of Confederate veteran descendants. What a great country we live in today!
Looking after the Summers-Koontz Monument at Rude's Hill - Will our camp have a greater opportunity to watch over this marker? Stay-tuned and hope for good news at the beginning of 2002!
On a Similar Note - Will there be a grave vigil for Summers & Koontz in 2002 - the 137th anniversary of their execution? Discussion forthcoming!
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