William Edmondson "Grumble" Jones was born nearby on 9 May 1824. Educated at Emory and Henry College and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, he served on the frontier from 1848 until resigning in 1857. When Virginia seceded in 1861, he organized the Washington Mounted Rifles as its captain, became colonel of the 1st and then the 7th Virginia Cavalry, and was promoted to brigadier general in Sept. 1862. He later served under Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, with whom he disagreed. While commanding the Dept. of Southwest Virginia, he was killed at the Battle of Piedmont on 5 June 1864 and buried here in Old Glade Spring Presbyterian Cemetery.