Hello Mr. Chapla,

Yep, have a few Henry County roots. My gr-gr grandfather was the older brother of Elkanah and William Hurd/Heard. He was married to the Lavinder brother’s sister.

I am always skeptical about postwar biographies. However, the story about the Lavinders and Stonewall Jackson is not as far fetched as some. This anecdote, as you are aware, appears in the History of Henry County, Virginia by Judith Parks America Hill. She was the sister-in-law of another of the Lavinder brothers, Samuel Henry, a member of the 24th Va. Infantry. For those interested:

“They [John P. and Jesse B. Lavinder] were with Jackson at Chancellorsville. The reins of “Old Sorrel” were tossed to John Lavinder as Jackson was brought in mortally wounded. Only a few years before his death Mr. Lavinder paid a visit to the Old Soldiers’ Home in Richmond, and there stood Old Sorrel saddled and bridled just as he had last seen him when he turned him over to the stable boy at Chancellorsville.”

Since the Lavinders were assigned to Field and Staff it is quite probable that they were at Jackson’s headquarters on May 2, 1863. When John Lavinder saw Little Sorrel at the Soldier’s Home in Richmond, the horse was undoubtedly stuffed and mounted, since the animal died in 1886.

See: http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/133873

As for William Hurd, Jr.—the only place I have ever seen the middle initial “H” is on your roster in 42nd Virginia Infantry. I figured that you got the info from Pat Ross at the Bassett Historical Library. I have been to William Hurd, Jr.’s grave in Henry County and have a photo of the stone. Let me know if you want a copy.