Paul Cameron to Thomas Ruffin, January 28, 1860

The most important quotation from this letter is the following: "I have a very great wish to show you the 'best [end quotation marks missing] stables ever built in Orange (at Stagville) 135 feet long covered with cypress shingles at a cost of $6 per thousand." This quotation appears frequently across books about Stagville and even on Stagville's website. Despite the date accompanying the quotation being wrong everywhere I have seen it, the main point is the pride with which Cameron describes the Great Barn. While he does not give credit to the enslaved people who built the barn, he still calls them the "best stables ever built," demonstrating that he sees the tremendous skill that went into the construction of the barn, skill that directly went into the construction of the Horton Grove home at Stagville, as well.