Halifax County Historical Society

In 1884, local businessman Edwin B. Jeffress requested a post office for the area. A request was made for the name to be Boston; however, there was already a community in Virginia named Boston and as a result, the town we know today was named South Boston. The Virginia Assembly approved the town’s incorporation February 19, 1884 and the following men were appointed as the first town council: Wiley W. Ward (elected as mayor), Robert E. Jordan, James Traver, William H. Shepherd, J. Mettaper Carrington, Samuel E. Webster, and Joseph Stebbins Sr.

By 1900 South Boston had become the second largest bright leaf tobacco market in the world. In 1920 the first service station opened in town. In 1923 Main Street was paved. Home mail delivery began in 1929. The first talking picture show (movie) was shown in 1929, at the Princess Theatre.

Medal given to Society

Richard and Rebecca Leake, members of the Halifax County Historical Society, are shown beside a framed Medal of Honor and Certificate belonging to Colonel Henry Eaton Coleman, which the couple presented to the Society at the annual meeting held October 17. Now housed at the Chaffin House (the Society’s headquarters), the medal, certificate and likeness of Colonel Coleman, acknowledge the important contribution made by the Colonel who drew the strategic battle plan for the June 25, 1864 Battle of Staunton River Bridge. The only battle fought on Halifax County land featured a greatly outnumbered band of Confederates who held the crossing during four Union charges before the approximately 5,000 Union troops retreated. The strategic military maneuver is now studied at several military schools. Mrs. Leake, a descendant of Colonel Coleman, and her husband also hosted a reception at the Chaffin House following the annual meeting.

Douglas Waller, author of the best-seller Lincoln’s Spies, was the guest speaker Sunday, October 17, 2021 at the annual Halifax County Historical Society meeting. Waller, who lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, was formerly a correspondent for Newsweek and Time, and covered the CIA, Pentagon, State Department, White House, and Congress. He is also the author of the bestsellers Wild Bill Donovan, Big Red, and The Commandos, as well as critically acclaimed works such as Disciples, the story of four CIA directors who fought for Bill Donovan in World War II, and A Question of Loyalty, a biography of General Billy Mitchell.

 During his presentation, Waller talked about four Union agents, three men and one women, who informed Lincoln’s generals of secretive Rebel networks and enemy positions prior to crucial battles. According to The Wall Street Journal, this major addition to the history of the Civil War is a “fast-paced, fact-rich account” of Lincoln’s use of clandestine approaches to win the war.

 The veteran CIA correspondent gave an eye-opening account of the heroes and not-so-heroic bumblers who carried out what the author writes is a “shadow war” of espionage and covert operations. One of the most successful spies, Elizabeth Van Lew, was a Virginia heiress and socialite who hated slavery and disapproved of secession. From her own Richmond home, she ran a successful Union spy ring, working with dozens of agents who fed her military and political secrets that she funneled to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant as his army neared the Confederate capital.

A large group of members and those interested in becoming members attended the program held at the Halifax Masonic Lodge on Mountain Road in Halifax.