Livingston Waddell Houston Memorial

Livingston Waddell Houston (1867–1886), son of Dr. William Wilson Houston, attended Washington and Lee University from 1879 to 1884. An exceptional scholar, he earned an Honorary Scholarship in his final year. After two years working in Cincinnati, Ohio, Houston returned to Lexington in the summer of 1886, intending to enter the University's Law School that fall. On August 2, he drowned while bathing at Leyburn Dam on the North River. He was buried in Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery (now Oak Grove Cemetery).

In 1887, Houston's classmates erected a memorial tablet in Lee Chapel. A contemporary account described him as a “pure young man,” reflecting the affection with which his classmates remembered him. The polished brass shield, mounted on antique oak, commemorated Houston's intellectual gifts, character, and Christian faith. A full transcription of its inscription appears below.

In 1948, Houston's close friend and former classmate Leslie Lyle Campbell donated the Westminster chimes and clock in Lee Chapel's tower in his memory. Houston was also mentioned in R. T. Smith's 2003 short story Docent, in which a fictional Chapel guide dismisses the circumstances of his death as unimportant. The passage illustrates how the histories of once-beloved alumni could fade from institutional memory.

University officials removed the plaque alongside other memorials from the Chapel sanctuary in 2021.

LIVINGSTON WADDELL HOUSTON
A STUDENT OF W. AND L. UNIVERSITY 1879–84
DROWNED AUGUST 2ND 1886
WHILE BATHING IN NORTH RIVER
THIS TABLET ERECTED BY HIS FRIENDS
IS A MEMORIAL OF THE LOVE AND ADMIRATION
OF THOSE WHO KNEW HIM BEST
ENDOWED WITH UNUSUAL GIFTS OF MIND AND
SOUL, HE EXHIBITED A PURITY OF LIFE THAT
REVEALED THE GRACE OF GOD IN HIS HEART
NATURA IPSA VALERE ET MENTIS VERIBUS EXCITARI
ET QUASI QUODAM DIVINO SPIRITU AFFLARI

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.”

1. https://ia800608.us.archive.org/9/items/houstonfamilyinv00camp/houstonfamilyinv00camp.pdf

2. https://www.virginiachronicle.com/?a=d&d=LG18870929.1.3

3. https://www.virginiachronicle.com/?a=d&d=AAC18871201.1.2

4. https://missourireview.com/article/docent/

5. https://www.wlu.edu/about-w-l/leadership/board-of-trustees/messages-from-the-board-of-trustees/message-archive-2020-2023/the-future-of-washington-and-lee-university

6. https://columns.wlu.edu/update-on-university-chapel-renovations/