Susan Smith will speak, at the meeting of the Shenandoah Valley Civil War Round Table, on the amazing life of Jessie Rupert of New Market.  The Round Table meets at the Rockingham County Administration Center, 20 East Gay Street, in Harrisonburg at 7:30 pm.  Admission is free and all are welcome.

Jessie Park Hainning was born in Scotland but moved with her family to America in the 1830s.  She attended private academies in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania and eventually moved to Lexington ,Virginia where she was principal of the Ann Smith  Academy.  A firm opponent of  slavery, she, along with Professor Thomas J. Jackson of VMI, taught a group of African-American children how to read at the Presbyterian Church using texts from the Bible.

Jessie moved to New Market in 1858 where she was principal of the New Market Female Seminary.  She met Solomon Rupert whom she eventually married.  When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Jessie, a  known Union supporter, burned a Confederate flag that some town folk had hung on the porch of the seminary.  Shouts of “seize her” and “kill her”  followed and, two weeks later,  she was taken to a nearby Confederate camp where her fate would be decided.  Fortunately for her,  the commander was her old friend, now General Thomas J. Jackson, who not only released her but sent her home with an armed guard for her protection.

During the war, Jesse and Solomon did all they could to help both soldiers and civilians from both North and South by providing food, shelter, and medical care.  After the war, Jessie taught both black and white students.  When she died in 1909, she was remembered for her courage, her determination to stand up for her beliefs, and her service to all.

Susan Smith  is the Liberian for the North Fork Middle School in Shenandoah County and conducts part-time public relations.  She is a graduate of Broadway HS in 1968 and Madison College in 1972.  She earned a Masters in Education from James Madison University in 1986.  She is the author of children’s books The Night Light, No One Should Have Six Cats, and The Booford Summer. She assists with walking tours of New Market from May -October.