University of Virginia Library

Andrew Brooks attended Washington College (present day Washington and Lee University) which was located in Lexington, Virginia. During the antebellum period, the typical student at Washington College studied the classics, mathematics, physical sciences, and rhetoric (Crenshaw 80-81). In the months leading up to the war, the issue of Virginia's secession was hotly debated amongst the students and faculty (Bean, 3-9).

The Graham Philanthropic Society, which was founded in 1809, was a literary and debating society that held weekly debates, hosted notable speakers, and maintained a library. Each January, the Society observed its anniversary with a special celebration (Crenshaw 106-110).

Andrew Brooks may be referring to James G. Paxton, editor of the Lexington Valley Star and a Democratic delegate to the General Assembly (Crenshaw 67-68). "Mr. Paxton" could also refer to Col. Frank Paxton, an alumnus of Washington College (Turner, 124).

Verifying Andrew Brooks' comments, James White wrote on January 23 that "a convention of conservatives" from Rockbridge County had nominated Samuel McDowell Moore and James Dorman as delegates to the State Convention that met to decide whether to secede. On February 5, White reported that Moore and Dornan had won those seats (Turner 34-35). At the Virgina Convention, Dornan supported and Moore opposed secession; the secessionists won with a vote of 85 to 45 (Turner 38). Both and Moore and Dorman were members of the Virginia legislature; Dorman was also an alumnus of Washington College. (Crenshaw 63-4; 67).

Rev. George Junkin, the president of Washington College, was born in Pennsylvania and supported the Union, even though he owned slaves. Junkin, a Whig, argued that the introduction of slavery into the territories was a non-issue and that secession could be avoided by regarding it as such. According to Junkin, Virginia initiated "a rebellion without cause" when it joined the Confederacy (quoted by Bean, 5). Junkin preached actively and passionately against secession and silenced students who delivered oratories in support of it. His actions and attitudes caused students to rebel, as they scribbled graffiti calling Junkin "a Pennsylvania abolitionist" on the columns of a building and flew flags celebrating the Confederacy over a statue of George Washington. When, after Virginia seceded, the faculty overruled Junkin's efforts to remove a Southern flag, he resigned and returned to Pennsylvania (Bean 6-7). Not all of his family left with him; Stonewall Jackson was his son-in-law.

On Janury 17, 1861, Andrew Stuart (the brother of Andrew Brooks' mother Eleanor Tate Stuart Brooks) married Sarah McClure near Greenville, Augusta County (The Republican Vindicator, February 1, 1861, p. 3). According to the 1860 census, Sarah McClure was 36 in 1860; her father was a fairly wealthy farmer.