Colonial Founders Memorial
Colonial Founders Memorial
Dedicated on June 10, 1913, by the Colonial Dames of America, this memorial honors the early principals and founding trustees of Liberty Hall Academy, predecessors of Washington and Lee University.
Erected: June 10, 1913
Removed: Summer 2021
Originally Located In: Lee Chapel
Current Status: Unknown
Commissioned By: The Colonial Dames of America, with support from the Washington and Lee Board of Trustees
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Washington and Lee University has traditionally traced its origins to Augusta Academy, said to have been founded in 1749 under the leadership of the Rev. Robert Alexander. The school was formally organized by the Presbytery of Hanover in 1774 and took the name Liberty Hall Academy two years later, with William Graham serving as its first rector. Its founding Board of Trustees included several veterans of the American Revolution. In May 1911, Graham's remains were reinterred on campus, adjacent to Lee Chapel.
During Commencement Week, on June 10, 1913, the Colonial Dames of America unveiled a memorial tablet in Lee Chapel honoring these early principals and trustees. Former West Virginia Governor William A. MacCorkle delivered an address tracing the University's colonial origins and the influence of the Scotch-Irish settlers of the region. Just eleven days earlier, on May 30, the remains of Henry Lee III — a classmate of William Graham, Revolutionary War hero, and father of Robert E. Lee — had been reinterred in the Lee family crypt beneath the Chapel.
President Henry Louis Smith welcomed the new memorial, describing Lee Chapel as the “treasure house of the South.” His remarks reflected the Chapel's growing significance as a repository of the University's physical heritage, strengthened by the recent reinterments and the installation of memorials honoring generations of its founders and alumni. The tablet bore the University's motto, Non Incautus Futuri, drawn from the Lee family crest.
University officials removed the plaque alongside other memorials from the Chapel sanctuary in 2021.
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NON INCAUTUS FUTURI
1749 — 1782
IN HONOR OF
ROBERT ALEXANDER AND JOHN BROWN, D.D.
PRINCIPALS OF AUGUSTA ACADEMY, OF
WILLIAM GRAHAM, PRINCIPAL OF AUGUSTA
ACADEMY AND FIRST RECTOR OF LIBERTY
HALL ACADEMY, AND OF THE FOLLOWING
WHO AS THE FIRST BOARD OF TRUSTEES
OF SAID ACADEMY WERE THE COLONIAL
FOUNDERS OF THIS UNIVERSITY.
JAMES WADDELL, D.D. SAMPSON MATTHEWS
REV. CHARLES CUMMINGS COL. JOHN BOWYER
REV. WILLIAM IRVIN MAJ. SAMUEL MCDOWELL
THOMAS LEWIS WILLIAM MCPHEETERS
GEN. ANDREW LEWIS CAPT. ALEXANDER STUART
COL. EILLIAM CHRISTIAN CAPT. WILLIAM MCKEE
COL. WILLIAM FLEMING JOHN HOUSTON
THOMAS STUART CHARLES CAMPBELL
SAMUEL LYLE CAPT. GEORGE MOFFETT
JOHN CHATTAN WILLIAM WARD
COL. WILLIAM PRESTON JOHN LEWIS
ERECTED BY THE COLONIAL DAMES OF AMERICA
IN THE STATE OF VIRGINIA JUNE 10, 1913. -
On June 4, 2021, the Washington and Lee University Board of Trustees announced plans to rename Lee Chapel and restore its auditorium to an “unadorned design,” physically separating it from the Lee family crypt and memorial sculpture. As part of these changes, university officials removed twenty historical plaques and memorials from the chapel sanctuary.
In a July 21, 2022, update, the university explained that the removed plaques and artifacts had been relocated to other exhibits or placed in temporary storage pending renovations. It further announced that “most of the other plaques will be moved to the galleries in the building or to the new institutional history museum, where they can be displayed with more historical context.” The university has not publicly announced plans for the reinstallation or exhibition of this particular memorial.
The university has not responded to recent TGR inquiries concerning the whereabouts and future exhibition of removed plaques. However, in September 2026 correspondence with The W&L Spectator, Museum Director Matt Davis stated: “Our storage facility is not open to the public, nor do we make a list of our collections inventory available to the public.” He further explained that “the size and weight of some of these artifacts are not conducive to public viewing.” Regarding their future exhibition, Davis wrote: “It is possible that some or all of these artifacts will eventually be incorporated into temporary or permanent exhibits once the new museum is open, and we hope to have online databases and viewing rooms in the future.”
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