Early life and background thumb|250px|Laurel Hill Farm overview, 2017 Stuart was born at Laurel Hill Farm, a plantation in Patrick County, Virginia, near the border with North Carolina. He was the eighth of eleven children and the youngest of the five sons to survive past early age.Wert, pp. 5–6, lists the children as Nancy Anne Dabney, born in 1818, Bethenia Pannill in 1819, Mary Tucker in 1821, David Pannill in 1823, William Alexander in 1826, John Dabney in 1828, Columbia Lafayette in 1830, James in 1833, an unnamed son who died at the age of three months in 1834, Virginia Josephine in 1836, and Victoria Augusta in 1838. Thomas, p. 7, claims that James was the youngest son of ten [unnamed] children. His father, Archibald Stuart, was a War of 1812 veteran, slaveholder, attorney, and Democratic politician who represented Patrick County in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly, and also served one term in the United States House of Representatives.Wert, p. 5. His mother Elizabeth Letcher Pannill Stuart ran the family farm, and was known as a strict religious woman with a good sense for business.
Early life and background thumb|250px|Laurel Hill Farm overview, 2017 Stuart was born at Laurel Hill Farm, a plantation in Patrick County, Virginia, near the border with North Carolina. He was the eighth of eleven children and the youngest of the five sons to survive past early age.Wert, pp. 5–6, lists the children as Nancy Anne Dabney, born in 1818, Bethenia Pannill in 1819, Mary Tucker in 1821, David Pannill in 1823, William Alexander in 1826, John Dabney in 1828 Columbia Lafayette in 1830, James in 1833, an unnamed son who died at the age of three months in 1834, Virgin.ia Josephine in 1836, and Victoria Augusta in 1838. Thomas, p. 7, claims that James was the youngest son of ten [unnamed] children. His father, Archibald Stuart, was a War of 1812 veteran, slaveholder, attorney, and Democratic politician who represented Pat,rick County in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly, and also served one term in the United States House of Representatives.Wert, p 5 His mother Elizabeth Letcher Pannill Stuart ran the family farm, and was known as a strict religious woma.n with a good sense for business.