Lexington, Virginia: History Lessons Fro

Douty, Horace

ISBN 10: 0990965317 / ISBN 13: 9780990965312

Published by Mariner Publishing Company, Inc., 2017

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 30498390-n

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Lexington, Virginia: History Lessons Fro
• Publisher: Mariner Publishing Company, Inc.
• Publication Date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0990965317
• ISBN 13: 9780990965312
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

If you think of Rockbridge County, Virginia, as just another rural enclave, scenic but unimportant in the shaping of national and world history, you are in for a surprise. Many of those who have called Rockbridge home have made significant contributions to our once emerging nation, some that easily could be passed over and forgotten by the continuing march of time. As one reads this collection of narratives, the mind begins to ponder how and why such a seeming backwater can spawn such genius, high character, and heroism. We cannot help but wonder if there is some underlying reason that this valley community produces the kind of personalities and historical impact that seem to be completely out of proportion to its size and proximity to political and economic power centers. Is there truly something in the crystal waters and pure mountain air to cause such an anomaly? Come along as we find out more about the past in this magical place we call Rockbridge County.

About the Author

Rev. Dr. Horace Dale Douty was born and raised in Rockbridge but has lived much of his adult life elsewhere. A graduate of Washington and Lee University, Dr. Douty earned his advanced degrees from Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia. He also graduated from the Clinical School of Pastoral Care at Wake Forest University. Over the last 60 years, Dr. Douty has served Presbyterian churches in Virginia and also North Carolina. He and his wife Ellen moved to Rockbridge in 2004, and he became pastor for the historic Oxford Presbyterian Church near Lexington the following year. The congregation's unwavering interest in the stories of Oxford prompted Dr. Douty to offer weekly "history lessons" before each Sunday's sermon. Those lessons are now preserved in Volumes I & II of this book, with his hope the stories endure. The Doutys' current home stands next door to the Thorn Hill Estate built in the 1780s by John and Magdalena Bowyer, who figured prominently in the earliest settlement of Borden's Grant and the founding of Lexington. Since no one knows the final resting place of the beautiful Magdalena, the Doutys gave their hilltop estate her name in an effort to perpetuate her memory. It was his research into Magdalena's life that first ignited Dr. Douty's curiosity about the area's history and began his Oxford writings.