Chatham is a town in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, United States. It is the county seat of Pittsylvania County. Chatham's population was 1,232 at the 2020 census. It is included in the Danville, Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town was originally called Competition, but the name was changed to Chatham by the Virginia General Assembly on May 1, 1852.
George Washington Custis Lee, also known as Custis Lee, was the eldest son of Robert E. Lee and Mary Anna Custis Lee. His grandfather George Washington Custis was the step-grandson and adopted son of George Washington and grandson of Martha Custis Washington. He served as a Confederate general in the American Civil War, primarily as an aide-de-camp to President Jefferson Davis, and succeeded his father as president of Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia.
Algernon Sidney Buford was a Virginian businessman, politician, and lawyer best known for his 22-year presidency of the Richmond and Danville Railroad, during which he was responsible for growing the line from 140 miles in length to 3,000 miles in length. Born in North Carolina to parents of Virginia stock, Buford grew up in Pittsylvania County, Virginia and attended the University of Virginia from 1846 to 1848, graduating with a Bachelor of Law. For the next decade, he practiced law in Pittsylvania and Danville and became the owner and editor of the Danville Register. These occupations were interrupted by a year's service in the Virginia House of Delegates in 1853.
James Lorraine Geddes was a soldier in India, a brigade commander in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, college administrator and professor, and military songwriter.
Thomas Taylor Munford was an American farmer, iron, steel and mining company executive and Confederate colonel and acting brigadier general during the American Civil War.
Fork Union Military Academy is a private, all-male, college preparatory military boarding school located in Fork Union, Virginia. Founded in 1898, Fork Union is considered one of the premier military boarding academies in the United States.
Staunton Military Academy was a private all-male military school located in Staunton, Virginia. Founded in 1884, the academy closed in 1976. The school was highly regarded for its academic and military programs, and many notable American political and military leaders are graduates, including Sen. Barry Goldwater, the 1964 Republican presidential candidate, and his son, Rep. Barry Goldwater Jr., 1960's folk singer Phil Ochs, and John Dean, a White House Counsel who was a central figure in the Watergate scandal of the early 1970s.
Hargrave Military Academy (HMA) is a private, all-male, military boarding school located in the town of Chatham, Virginia. Hargrave is affiliated with the Baptist General Association of Virginia emphasizing Christian values that focuses on a college and military preparatory program. The school serves boys from around the world for grade 7 through post-graduate (PG). Hargrave was named a National School of Character in 2016. Hargrave is accredited by the Virginia Association of Independent Schools and nationally by AdvancEd, and is a member of the Association of Military Colleges and Schools of the United States and the National Association of Independent Schools. The school's campus is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Missouri Military Academy (MMA) is a private preparatory school established on November 22, 1889, in Mexico, Missouri. The academy is a selective, all male, boarding school, grades 7 to 12. As a U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) Honor Unit With Distinction, it has the privilege of nominating cadets to the U.S. Military Academy, Naval Academy, Air Force Academy, and Coast Guard Academy.
Camden Military Academy (CMA) is a private, all-male, military boarding school located in Camden, South Carolina, United States. The State of South Carolina has recognized the institution as the official state military academy of South Carolina. Camden Military Academy accepts male students in grades 7 through 12, also offering a post-graduate year.
The Association of Military Colleges and Schools of the United States (AMCSUS) is a nonprofit service organization of schools with military programs approved by the Department of Defense and which maintain good standing in their regional accrediting organizations. The purpose, as put forth in the AMCSUS Constitution, is "to promote the common interest of all members and to advance their welfare; promote and maintain high scholastic, military and ethical standards in member schools; represent the mutual interests of the member schools before the Department of Defense as well as the general public; foster and extend patriotism and respect for duly constituted authority; and cultivate citizens who love peace and who strive to maintain it."
John Pegram was a career soldier from Virginia who served as an officer in the United States Army and then as a brigadier general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. He became the first former U.S. Army officer to be captured in Confederate service in 1861 and was killed in action near the end of the war.
The Warren Training School was a boys-only day school in Chatham, Virginia founded in 1906 by Charles R. Warren. It closed in 1909, after operating for three years.
Wheeler L. Baker is a retired U.S. Marine who served as the ninth President of Hargrave Military Academy from 1999 to 2011, and again from 2017 to 2018.
Thomas Ryland Sanford was the first President of the Chatham Training School, known since 1925 as Hargrave Military Academy.
Joseph Hathaway Cosby was an American pastor, US Army chaplain, and the third President of Hargrave Military Academy.
Charles R. Warren was the founder of the Warren Training School and the first and only headmaster of the Chatham Training School.
Virginia Association of Independent Schools (VAIS) is a non-profit, voluntary membership association of schools within the state of Virginia. The VAIS is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools. Prior to its establishment in Charlottesville, Virginia on April 30, 1973, a small number of independent schools’ headmasters known as “The Baker’s Dozen” met informally, teachers at their independent schools held conferences, and development coordinators hosted their own meetings to discuss commonly held educational issues. While the Virginia State Department of Education accredits independent and other nonpublic pre-school, elementary and secondary schools via the Virginia Council for Private Education (VCPE), the VAIS is a service organization that promotes educational, ethical and professional excellence.
