The Westmoreland Club

Nine Gentlemen Establish a Club

The Westmoreland Club was established on January 29, 1877, when nine gentlemen gathered at the St. James Hotel in Richmond, Virginia, to formalize an improvised club that had been meeting at Jonah White’s saloon on Broad Street. The group was comprised partly of former Confederate officers who had gathered regularly to enjoy each other’s company and discuss the battles they had been a part of. Those present at the initial meeting were Gen. Henry Heth, Maj. Philip Wellford, Mr. N. Bowditch Clapp, Mr. John Dunlop, Mr. John A. Elder, Mr. Philip Haxall, Gen. Dabney H. Maury, Mr. John Enders Robinson, and Mr. William R. Smith. On February 12, 1877 the club was officially named The Westmoreland Club – as suggested by Mr. Clapp – for the county where George Washington and Robert E. Lee were born, and on March 20, 1877 the club was incorporated by the General Assembly of Virginia. Henry Heth, who had served as a Confederate division commander with the Army of Northern Virginia, was elected the club’s first president. William H. Palmer was elected vice-president, John Enders Robinson, treasurer, and William R. Smith, secretary. At the time of its inception, there were several private men’s clubs in Richmond, but The Westmoreland Club was considered soon thereafter to be the city’s most exclusive and prestigious.

Clubhouse of The Westmoreland Club

The Westmoreland Club held several meetings at the Young Men’s Christian Association  before moving to a home at 707 East Franklin Street, the former residence of Gen. Robert E. Lee. By June 1877 the club had 77 resident members and 6 nonresident members (the first of whom was Robert E. Lee, Jr.). Gen. Fitzhugh Lee later became a member too. At a special meeting held on June 2, 1879 the club voted to purchase for $15,000 the house owned by Mrs. James Lyons on the southeast corner of Sixth and Grace Streets. The formal opening of the building transformed into a clubhouse took place on October 11, 1879; that month the club    had 132 members. The house, built for James Gray in 1837-1838 in the Greek Revival style, had passed through a series of distinguished owners before being sold to the club. Before its completion, Mr. Gray sold it in 1839 to Judge Robert Stanard, former Speaker of the House of Delegates and thereafter on the Virginia Court of Appeals. Judge Stanard left it to his son, Robert C. Stanard, childhood friend of Edgar Allen Poe. The house was sold by the widow of the younger Stanard to William H. MacFarland, who was a prominent lawyer and businessman; he also served as a delegate in the Provisional Confederate Congress. Mr. MacFarland sold it to Alfred Penn of New Orleans, who presented it to his daughter, Mrs. Lyons. While a private residence it hosted many distinguished people, including in 1853 William Thackeray, who later in that decade published his novel The Virginians. As a clubhouse, it included a restaurant, bar, athletic facilities, an impressive library, barber shop, and lodging for out-of-town members and guests. The clubhouse had a home-like atmosphere, and it served as a residence for many bachelors who rented rooms by the month or year. The club subscribed to the best magazines and newspapers of the time for the benefit of the members. Complementing the elegant furnishings of the clubhouse were two wartime Confederate scenes – “The Battle of the Crater” and “Scout’s Prize” – painted by one of the club’s founders, John A. Elder, and portraits of numerous Southern leaders commissioned or purchased by the club. Confederate portraits of the club are displayed here in the B. Randolph Wellford Gallery, including two of the founding members, Gen. Henry Heth and Gen. Dabney H. Maury.

Hospitality

Even before its purchase by the club, the stately home had been known for hospitality. That tradition continued and was evident in the parties and dinners that were given by the club. Christmas was celebrated with parties on Christmas Eve, when the entertainment included the telling of stories by one or more ministers from the denominations that were represented in the club, often punctuated by its famous and unique eggnog. By way of illustration, famous visitors to the club in 1907 included J. P. Morgan, William Jennings Bryan, and the Duke of Newcastle. On January 29, 1927 an “Old Virginia Supper” was held to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the club. By that time the club had 746 members and its clubhouse had been remodeled and enlarged twice (in 1902 and 1925). The club was also a gathering place for politicians and a setting where leaders of banks, businesses, and law firms had warm relationships with younger members, some of whom were associates in their establishments.

According to its bylaws, the club was established for “the promotion of social intercourse, and for the purpose of maintaining a library and reading-room.” Club rules forbade whistling, singing, and loud conversations. Dogs were not allowed, and members were required to wear a coat when appearing on the first floor of the house.

Change

The Westmoreland Club was one of the oldest and most renowned in the South, but the area  of Richmond where the club was located had changed over time from a stately residential area to a commercial district with department stores and other businesses, and years of Depression-era factors had a major impact on the viability of the club. Strenuous efforts were made by the club to cope with the changing dynamics, but without success. For example, on April 15, 1936, President Robert E. Henley hosted at the club what was billed as a President’s Party Night jointly held with the Hermitage Club for food, fun and fellowship, at which the presidents of the two clubs outlined their respective plans for a larger and more active membership, as well as for improved facilities, resulting in better clubs and finer prestige.

However, on June 1, 1937, the club yielded to the unfavorable conditions and prospects by suspending its activities. Most of the club’s members had moved to Richmond’s West End, and members were given the opportunity to transfer their Westmoreland Club membership to the Commonwealth Club, which proved more convenient to their homes and had ample parking and other attractive amenities. The clubhouse was sold and replaced by a parking lot due to the expansion of the Richmond Garage on East Franklin Street. The club’s library was sold to the city of Richmond, many furnishings were given to the Valentine Museum, and the impressive art collection under the control of trustees – initially appointed by the club, but thereafter self-perpetuating – was loaned to the Commonwealth Club. However, the then- current board members did not resign; they kept the charter and paid the required State fees in hope of reviving the club at some point.

Preserving Heritage and Tradition

Mr. Henley reached out in 1961 to his eldest grandson, Bobby Lamb, who was a first-year student at the University of Virginia, and asked him to look into reviving the club. Bobby discussed this with two University classmates, Ranny Wellford and Ben Warthen, whose families had also been active in The Westmoreland Club. After graduation and military service as officers, the three, while at their law schools, set out to reestablish the club as an active social organization. The trio enlisted the lawyering and social connections services of Bobby’s father, Brockenbrough Lamb, Jr., to facilitate an understanding with the elderly club members—most notably Joe Hall, Tom Gay, and Tom Boushall—to reactivate the club by election of new members. At a special meeting of the six known surviving resident members of the club—in person Joe Hall (president), Tom Gay (secretary), Tom Boushall, and Norman Jones, and by proxy Norton Mason and C. H. Morrissett—held at the law office of Tom Gay, twelve new members of the club were elected, among whom were Bobby, Ben, and Ranny, as well as Bobby’s father, Ben’s younger brother, and Ranny’s older brother and father. Mr. Henley unfortunately died in 1965, but would have been gratified to see his dream fulfilled, and satisfied that among subsequent presidents of the club were his son-in-law, his three grandsons, and one of his great-grandsons; his other four great-grandsons became members too. Ben Warthen served as a board member, secretary, and trustee; his father, his son, as well as his younger brother became members. Ranny also became president, and many in his  family joined the club, including his father, uncle, both brothers, two of his nephews, and two cousins; Ranny’s kinsman, Major Philip Wellford, had been one of the founders of the club. The gallery is named in honor of Ranny, who died in 2022. Ranny had been pleased to learn of the intention to loan the club’s Confederate portraits to the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation. Tenny Wellford, Ranny’s younger brother, in his capacity as executor of Ranny’s estate, to memorialize his brother offered a generous matching gift for the new gallery to  display the portraits. The Westmoreland Club Board of Management also authorized a monetary gift to help defray the costs of the gallery.

The Westmoreland Club is purely a social club with a little over 100 members as of June 2023. The club has no facilities or regular ongoing activities. Many of the members also belong to the Commonwealth Club and/or the Country Club of Virginia. A perfunctory business meeting is held once a year before the annual party, which normally takes place in springtime at a venue in the Richmond area. The club’s board and trustees of its artwork meet periodically, but separately. The Westmoreland Club is one of the last remnants of old Virginia society. The board manages the club, chooses the time and place for meetings and social events, handles finances, and elects new members. The trustees have independent fiduciary authority with respect to the club’s art collection. Members, many of whom have historical relationships to   the original Westmoreland Club membership, strive to preserve the club’s heritage and traditions.

Trustees

There are five trustees—Bobby Lamb, Roger Kirby, Ben Warthen, Penn Siegel, and Tenny Wellford—entrusted with responsibility for the art collection, much of which remains at the Commonwealth Club in Richmond. Roger was a stalwart guardian of the Confederate portraits during exigent circumstances. Penn was one of the twelve new members elected to the club in 1972. Bobby, Penn and Ben were original trustees elected shortly after the club’s reactivation. The trustees wanted to ensure that the club’s Confederate Portraits were displayed where they would be appreciated and seen by the general public. So in 2022 they unanimously agreed to lend indefinitely that portion of the collection comprising Confederate portraiture to a newly acquired museum of the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation, located in New Market, Virginia. Bobby was the representative of the trustees who interfaced with the foundation and formulated the loan agreement with it. The portraits are displayed in the B. Randolph Wellford Gallery, along with information about the portrait subjects, the artists, The Westmoreland Club, Mr. Henley, and Ranny.