Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

Local News

Related Photos

  • Father Russell Hatfield, pastor of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Bluefield, Va., is shown here standing at the pulpit from the former Grace Episcopal Church in Lexington, Va., that was used by Robert E Lee when he served as a lay reader at Grace Church after the Civil War. Staff photo by Jon Bolt

    History from the pulpit...

  • The Robert E. Lee Memorial Church gave the pulpit to St. Mary’s in 1910 when St. Mary’s completed its new building — the same structure that houses the church today. Staff photo by Jon Bolt

    Historic plaque..

Discussion

February 20, 2012

Robert E. Lee pulpit attracts historians to St. Mary’s Episcopal Church since 1910

By BILL ARCHER Bluefield Daily Telegraph

BLUEFIELD, Va. — Each year, Graham Historical Society members take fourth-grade students on a tour of Bluefield, Va., with stops at various places where history was made. The stops include the New Deal era Post Office building with its tempera mural painting, “Coal Mining” (1942) by Richard Kenah, as well as the Linkous House.

Through the years, one of the favorite stops along the way has been the sanctuary of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church on Logan Street. In recent years, Father Russell Hatfield, pastor of St. Mary’s, has had the honor of telling the story of the Robert E. Lee pulpit and explaining to the students how the town of Bluefield, Va., came to possess such an interesting artifact.

“The church was built in 1910 by Italian stone masons who came to the area to build bridges for the railroad,” Hatfield said. “Somebody who was associated with this church knew someone at Robert E. Lee Memorial Church in Lexington, Va.

“At that time, Robert E. Lee Memorial Church was involved in a major renovation project and installed many brass fixtures and modernized the church,” Hatfield said. “The person who was associated with St. Mary’s Church asked his friend for something ... anything to help get our church started. Robert E. Lee Memorial Church gave the congregation the Lee pulpit. After the fourth graders hear the story, they all want to stand where Robert E. Lee stood.”

Lee was born on Jan. 19, 1807 at Stratford, Va., the son of Henry (“Light-horse Harry”) Lee of Revolutionary War and Whiskey Rebellion fame. In 1829, Robert E. Lee graduated from West Point second in his class, served in the Mexican War, served as superintendent of West Point from 1852-’55, suppressed the John Brown rebellion at Harpers Ferry in 1859, was offered command of U.S. Armies on April 16, 1861, but declined, and resigned his commission as a colonel on April 20, 1861, and accepted command of Virginia’s military forces three days later. In March of 1862, he became military advisor to Confederate President Jefferson Davis and on June 1, 1862, he assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia.

The American Civil War took a terrible toll on families of the South and the North. While Lee proved his strength as a military leader by emerging victorious from a series of battles where his soldiers were outnumbered and not as well equipped as their Yankee adversaries, the Union effectively cut off the Confederate supply lines and General Ulysses S. Grant received General Lee’s unconditional surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia on April 9, 1865.

After gaining fair treatment for the soldiers in his command and applying for a pardon, Lee was elected to serve as president of (then) Washington College (now Washington & Lee University) in Lexington, Va. While living in Lexington, Lee became senior warden of (then) Grace Episcopal Church, and often served as a lay reader when the church pastor was not available.

Lee suffered a stroke on Sept. 28, 1870 after attending a vestry meeting at Grace Church, and died two weeks later on Oct. 12, 1870. Before the end of October 1870, the Washington College trustees voted to change the name of the school to Washington & Lee University.

“I’ve been a senior warden myself, and I know how vestry meetings can be,” Hatfield said. He said he is proud of the church’s “claim to fame,” and is also proud that Lee was an Episcopalian.

“He was a leader during a very difficult time, but I think everyone knew he was a fair person,” Hatfield said.

— Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com

Text Only
Local News