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WITH ANCESTORS who lived at Westmore- land County's historic Stratford Hall and with ties to the family of Robert E. Lee, it's not unusual that Betsy Stuart Valentine grew up interested in her heritage.
This weekend, she and about 100 members of the Stuart family from several different countries will do something about meeting their living relatives.
"We realized that many of us knew quite a bit about the history of the Stuart family in Westmoreland County and elsewhere, but we didn't know each other," said Valentine, who grew up in Montross and now is in the real estate business in Alexandria. "This Stuart family reunion and a group formed called The Stuart Society will hopefully help us pool knowledge of our family and its history."
The reunion will be held tomorrow through Sunday at Stratford.
The gathering, expected to draw Stuart relatives from Bermuda to Ireland, will kick off Friday night with dinner at the historic manor, complete with a bagpiper.
Presentations on Saturday will include a presentation on the Stuart connections at Stratford and on David Stuart and his wife, Jane Gibbons Stuart, the first Stuarts to settle in Virginia.
David Stuart was born in Inverness, Scotland around 1690, and was a direct descendant of the Royal House of Stuart. As a supporter of the uprising under James Stuart, he was forced to leave Scotland and arrived in Virginia about 1716.
He eventually settled in King George County, serving as rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church from 1722 until his death in 1748.
After festivities and tours of the grounds on Saturday, those attending the Stuart family gathering will travel to St. Paul's on Sunday to attend a worship service at the church once served by their common ancestor.
Valentine, president of The Stuart Society, is a granddaughter of the last private owners of Stratford, and has served on the board of the Robert E. Lee Memorial Association for nearly 20 years.
I chatted with her and her sister, Ann Stuart of Fredericksburg, at Stratford recently as they made plans for the gathering.
Valentine said there's a great deal of excitement about this first big gathering of Stuarts.
"It's critical to the continued prosperity of our nation that families learn, cherish and preserve their legacies," she said.
Valentine noted that The Stuart Society was formed to research, compile and preserve the history of the Stuart family; to preserve and restore historic sites of family interest; and to bring together the descendants for reunions like the one this weekend.
"We all know bits and pieces, or have stories that have been handed down through the years," said Ann Stuart. "It will be exciting to hear the stories from other branches of the family."
Stratford had been owned by three generations of Stuarts from approximately 1828 to 1932, when Charles Edward Stuart and his wife, Clara Delph Stuart, sold the home and land to the Robert E. Lee Memorial Association Inc., an event that made headlines nationwide.
The home is best known as the birthplace of Gen. Robert E. Lee, and home of other members of the Lee family of Virginia.
It was also one of the homes of the Stuart family.
Henry Lee, Robert E. Lee's half brother, sold the property in 1822. Elizabeth McCarty Storke, Henry Lee's sister-in-law and stepdaughter of Richard Henry Stuart of Cedar Grove in King George County, purchased the property in 1828.
Upon her death, Mrs. Storke left the property to her nephews, Dr. Richard Henry Stuart, a doctor, and his brother, Judge Charles Edward Stuart, who also served as speaker of the House in Virginia's General Assembly.
Judge Stuart took some of the land as his share, as his home was in Alexandria, while Dr. Stuart lived and practiced medicine at Stratford until his death in 1924. Dr. Stuart left the property to his son, Charles Edward Stuart, an attorney, businessman and a four-term Delegate to the Virginia General Assembly in the 1930s.
All told, the house remained in the Stuart family for more than 100 years.
It's exciting that a group with historic and local ties is working to uncover more about a history that will be shared and appreciated by all who visit the magnificent Westmoreland County home.
More information on the group is available online at www.stuart society.org.
ROB HEDELT can be reached at The Free Lance-Star, 616 Amelia St., Fredericksburg, Va. 22401; by fax at 373-8455; by phone at 374-5415; or by e-mail at rhedelt@freelance star.com.