After the murder of William Letcher in 1780, the fifteen-hundred-acre farm along the Ararat River passed through uncertain ownership. Elizabeth Letcher and her daughter Bethenia left soon after his death in the presence of George Hairston, whom Elizabeth later married, and they never returned. By 1785 John Dawson held title to the land, and in 1790 he sold 2816 acres, including the Letcher site, to John Marr of Henry County. Marr, who was apparently acquainted with William Letcher and whose wife was related to Letcher’s wife, had been involved in the family’s financial affairs after Letcher’s death. In 1792 Marr conveyed 550 acres, including the former home site and William Letcher’s grave, to Bethenia Letcher, likely with George Hairston purchasing it in his stepdaughter’s name and paying the taxes. Bethenia married David Pannill on Oct. 29, 1798, settled in Pittsylvania County, and a few years later David bought 1000 more acres adjoining her land. After David died in poor health in Nov. 1803, ownership of the 1550 acres passed through family transactions until their daughter Elizabeth Letcher Pannill became sole owner. Born on Jan.4, 1801, Elizabeth married Archibald Stuart at sixteen. He had served in the artillery in the War of 1812 and went on to a career in law and politics, while Elizabeth was remembered as strictly religious and no-nonsense. Because of marriage law, the land she inherited through William Letcher was listed in Archibald Stuart’s name. After living in Pittsylvania and Campbell County, Virginia, and then near Alexander Stuart in St. Louis, Missouri, Archibald was practicing law in Patrick County by the fall of 1823 and most likely living in the William Letcher cabin. He brought three slaves, and Elizabeth and the children probably arrived about 1825; by then no descendant of William Letcher had lived there for forty-five years. Seven of the eleven children of Archibald and Elizabeth were born on the farm in Patrick County, and two children who died young were buried there in unmarked graves. During the Stuart family’s occupancy, the number of slaves ranged from three to twenty-five, and the farm produced corn, wheat, oats, and other foodstuffs, while also raising cattle, sheep, hogs, horses, and draft animals. About 1830 the Stuarts completed a new home called Laurel Hill across the Ararat River on a hill with views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. J.E.B. Stuart was born there on Feb. 6, 1833. In the winter of 1847-48 Laurel Hill burned and was never rebuilt, a loss from which the family never fully recovered. Some family members stayed with relatives, Archibald and a son lived for a time in the detached kitchen, and the family may later have returned to the old William Letcher home. Archibald Stuart died in declining health on Sept. 20, 1855, and was buried east of the burned home site. In 1859 J.E.B. Stuart made a final visit to his birthplace, and that summer Elizabeth sold the Laurel Hill farm to Robert R. Galloway and Dr. Joseph Hollingsworth of Mt. Airy, North Carolina. Elizabeth spent her remaining years with friends and family, died on Aug. 20, 1884, at the home of her son William Alexander Stuart, and was buried in Saltville, Virginia. In 1952 Archibald Stuart’s grave was moved there to lie beside her.