Some Descendants of Alexander Henry
Third Generation
5. Judge James Henry (John , Alexander
) was born in 1731 in Studley, Hanover Co., VA. He died on 9 Dec 1804.
James married Sarah Scarborough in 1734.
They had the following children:
7. Maj. William Alexander Henry (John , Alexander
) was born in 1734 in Studley, Hanover Co., VA. He died in Jan 1785 in Fluvanna Co., VA.
His father gave him 723 acres in Fluvanna May 1777.
Indicted for bribery 7 Aug 1777.
Appointed one of first Justices of the Peace 4 Sep 1777.
Appointed Lieutenant of Fluvanna 9 Nov 1779.
Acquired of Bribery charges
William Henry was a rowdy boy. His father exiled him to a patch of unoccupied land 50 miles west on Fluvanna Creek in Fluvanna County. There he
became a farmer, married and ultimately turned into a prosperous, solid citizen. "The Bulletin of the Fluvanna County Historical Society"
No. 1-12, September 1965 - April 1971, LH 975.5 BUL Page 14 "William Henry, brother of the Governor, Patrick Henry, had lands on the Hardware
(River)." No. 9, October 1969 Page 6 "The list of petitioners for Flubanna County to be separated from Albermarle County includes . . . W.
Henry . . ." No. 16, April 1973 Page 24 Upper James River Seven Islands Post Office Seven Islands was important -- Fluvanna's first river port.
It's most famous resident was William Henry, who represented Fluvanna in the General Assembly during the same period his brother, Patrick, was
Governor. Perhaps William Henry was instrumental in the formation of Seven Isles Church. Page 26 Hardware -- Vallena Post Office. So named because
"It was a hard way to go." A Post Office named Hardware opened in July 1838. Closed in 1840 and then 2 years later an office opened at Seven
Islands. William Henry's father gave him a large tract of land on the Hardware river and the James Rivers. The first minutes of the County note that
"Wm. Henry, Gentleman," applied for permission to dam the Hardware to erect a water grist mill. late, Hardware became one of the important
river ports for the trans-shipment of farm produce. No. 22, Page 4 The first Justices of the Peace of Fluvanna County, appointed by Governor Patrick
Henry, took oath of office on August 7, 1777: . . . William Henry . . . Page 78 The first man to sign the petition to form Fluvanna was William Henry,
brother of new Governor, Patrick Henry. Page 10 In 1767, John Henry of Hanover gave his son William Henry 723 acres of land on the Hardware and James
Rivers. He was the first lieutenant of the county militia in 1777 and became sheriff in 1781. He was active in county government until his death in
December 1784. Page 12 In May of 1778, three of the original justices (who were passed over and given no special office) banded with a small group of
citizens to have Roger Thompson, William Henry and Jesse Burton indicted for bribery. They stated that they were guilty of injustice, partiality, and
bribery as justices of the peace when they appointed John Cobbs clerk of Fluvanna County in August 1777. In their counter-petition, R. Thompson,
William Henry and Jesse Burton claimed that one of their delegates had set the petition for their indictment into motion and fomented the differences
that produced it, and that they had testified against them at the House hearing. This delegate, they said, had personal contests and misunderstandings
with several of the accused, and the three justices were sorry the House should be troubled with their private differences. A notation by the House on
November 9, 1779 states they were acquitted with "the greatest honor," and the three men recouped their losses. No. 23, Page 14 William
Henry, Esq. appointed Lieutenant of the County of Fluvanna by Commission from the Governor and was sworn into his office accordingly on September 4,
1777. No. 24, Page 8
Henry's Track was a road between Fluvanna and Louisa named for Patrick and William Henry. They used the road frequently during the years that
Patrick lived in Louisa. You can still follow sections of this road through the woods of Fluvanna. It crossed Kent's Brach of the Byrd Creek near
Holland's Mill, near the junction of Routes 608 & 629. Byrd Ordinary was located on Henry's Track, North east of Palmyra, very close to the Louisa
County Line. The Hardware & James Rivers are located at the southern end of Fluvanna County, near Buckingham County Line. No. 30, Pages 17-19
Methodist circuit ride came to organize the Fluvanna Circuit in 1777 -- Philip Gatch. Upon returning from the Green Mountains, Gatch stopped to preach
on the Hardware River and then spent the night with William Henry. William Henry's Seven Islands estate was later owned by John Pettus and then in
1832 by Adam and Appolonia Harrision.
1790 Census -- Heads of Families -- Virginia 1782 Page 12 Henry, William 3 whites 19 blacks.
We are still having trouble tracking down William Henry's son. In the Marriage bonds of Fluvanna County, Virginia, complied by the Misses Curry:
Henry, William & Polly Burton were married on May 6, 1779 Consent: Polly Burton Bond: John Thompson Could this be William Henry's son who later
moved to Pennsylvania? This needs to be investigated further. Mary McNair was Col. William Henry's second wife.
William married (1) Mary McNair in VA. Mary was born in 1736 in SCO. She died in 1828 in Mercer Co., KY.
They had the following children:
| + |
15 |
M |
i |
William Henry was born on 30 Sep 1754. |
| |
16 |
M |
ii |
Joseph Henry was born in 1774. He died in 1834. |
| |
|
|
|
Joseph married Polly White in 1804.
|
William married (2) Alice Taylor. Alice was born about 1735.
They had the following children:
8. Mary Jane Henry (John , Alexander
) was born in 1735 in Studley, Hanover Co., VA. She died in 1819 in Amherst Co., VA.
Mary married (1) Col. John McDowell about 1760. John was born in 1729 in Studley, Hanover Co., VA. He died in 1767 in
Hanover Co., VA.
They had the following children:
| + |
19 |
M |
i |
William McDowell was born in 1761. He died on 24 Aug 1835. |
| |
20 |
M |
ii |
James McDowell was born in 1763 in Studley, Hanover Co., VA.
|
Mary married (2) Luke Bowyer. Luke was born in Augusta Co., VA.
Mary married (3) Col. Samuel Meridith Jr. son of Samuel Meredith and Margaret. Samuel was born in 1732 in Hanover Co.,
VA. He died on 22 Dec 1808 in "Winton" near New Glasgow, Amherst Co., VA.
They had the following children:
| |
21 |
F |
iii |
Sarah Meredith. |
| |
|
|
|
Sarah married Col. William Armistead.
|
| + |
22 |
F |
iv |
Jane Meredith. |
| |
23 |
M |
v |
Samuel Meredith. |
| |
|
|
|
Samuel married Elizabeth Breckenridge daughter of Gen. John Breckenridge.
|
9. Gov. Patrick Henry [scrapbook]
1, 2, 3 (John , Alexander
) was born on 29 May 1736 in Studley, Hanover Co., VA. He died on 6 Jun 1799 in "Red Hill", Charlotte Co., VA. He was buried in "Red
Hill", Charlotte Co., VA. Patrick resided in Jun 1779 in Henry Co., VA.
Patrick Henry was the most celebrated orator of the American Revolution. He originally tried being both a storekeeper and a farmer, but failing at
both he became a lawyer and was admitted to the Va. bar in 1760. He was twice governor of Va., was a member of the House of Burgesses, champion of
independence, and is remembered mainly for his famous speech before a meeting of the Va. assembly in Richmond on March 23, 1775. He called on the
colonists to arm themselves with the words: "Give me liberty, or give me death". He was a strong advocate of states rights.
1736 - May 29 - Born at Studley in Hanover County.
1754 - Married Sarah Shelton at Rural Plains.
1760 - Admitted to the bar and started his practice.
1763 - Gave the famous "Parson's Cause" speech.
1765 - May 20 - First seated in the House of Burgesses. Continued to serve until 1774.
1765 - May 29 - Famous "Stamp Act" speech in the House of Burgesses in Williamsburg.
1774 - 1775 - Virginia's representative to Continental Congress in Philadelphia.
1775 - Death of Sarah Shelton at Scotchtown.
1775 - March 23 - "Give me Liberty or Give me Death" speech at St. John's Church in Richmond.
1776 - 1779 - First governor of Virginia for 3 one year terms.
1777 - October 9 - Married Dorothea Dandridge, grand-daughter of Governor Alexander Spotswood.
1780 - 1784 - Member of the House of Delegates representing Hanover County.
1784 - 1786 - Governor of Virginia for two one year terms.
1794 - Moved to Red Hill in Charlotte County.
1795 - Refused offer from President Washington to serve as Secretary of State.
1796 - Refused an offer from President Washington to serve as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
1796 - Refused an offer from the General Assembly to serve as Governor.
1799 - Refused an offer from President Adams to serve on the Misson to France.
1799 - March 4 - Patrick Henry's last public appearance.
1799 - Elected to the House of Delegates.
1799 - June 6 - Died and was buried at Red Hill, Charlotte County.
An Historical Sketch of Scotchtown, Home of Patrick Henry 1771-1777
"Patrick Henry was born in 1736 at Studley in the eastern end of Hanover County. At age eighteen he married Sarah Shelton of nearby Rural
Plains, Va. She was the daughter of John and Eleanor Parks Shelton, owner of Hanover Tavern which was, and still is, located across the road from
Hanover Courthouse."
The pamphlet then writes about their home in Scotchtown and says:
"There are a number of portraits in the mansion. Among the most interesting are four primitives, done by unknown artists, of relatives of
Patrick Henry's first wife, Sarah Shelton. They are likenesses of Major Thomas Shelton, a first cousin of Sarah Shelton, who served with Lafayette in
the Revolution; Sarah Miller Shelton, Major Shelton's third wife; Marry Massie Shelton, daughter of Major Shelton and his first wife, Cecelia Dabney;
and Joseph Shelton, who served as a scout with Lafayette, a bachelor brother of Major Shelton."
History of the American Nation by William J. Jackman (9 Volumes), Volume 8, The Builders of the Republic
Who in contemplating a chrysalis can descry beneath its uncouth exterior, the matchless beauty of the butterfly, or who seeing an idle poet,
dreamer and musician, can conceive of his evolving into one of the great orators and statesmen of the world? The mysteries of physical life are
insignificant beside those which belong to the development of the human soul. The dreamer who became a statesman, the idle fiddler who made himself
the peer of Demosthenes, was Patrick Henry, a Virginian of Scotch and English ancestry.
His parents were fairly well to do. His home was marked by comfort, intelligence and affection. Early in boyhood he went to school, where he
learned the three R's and displayed a rare talent for indolence and geniality. At the age of ten he entered the grammar school kept by his own father,
and began the classical education of that time. Despite parental advice, entreaty and punishment, the youth was incorrigibly idle. He was an
affectionate and lovable boy, who had no faults excepting that he would not study. In the morning, he was the soul of courtesy, and did everything a
boy could do to make himself useful to father, mother, brothers and sisters, but when the school-hour arrived, he had invariably vanished. Sometimes
it was shooting, sometimes fishing, and sometimes wild flowers, which engrossed his day. Mischief had no charm for him, neither did he desire the
companionship of playmates. According to his own family, he simply loved idleness for its own sake. Up to the attainment of manhood's estate he was an
insignificant member of the community, if not a nonentity. His features, though good, were coarse and sunburned; his manners awkward; his conversation
plain and uninteresting. To all who knew him, he seemed a creature whom nature intended for a solitary denizen of the wilderness, scarcely any higher
than the wild animals among which he loved to live rather than a leader among men.
Parental love is very patient, but has its limits. When his son was fifteen, the father gave him up as hopeless, so far as mentality was concerned,
and put him to work as an errand boy in a country store. Here he displayed a dull slowness worthy of the proverbial district telegraph messenger.
Nevertheless, though apathetic and lazy to the last degree, he was honest, truthful and courteous.
His slowness must have been phenomenal, because it disgusted the easy going country store-keeper. There was no other store to go to, and so his
father started him and his brother William in business on a very small scale. The young firm must have been a source of infinite merriment to the
neighbors in Studley, Va. William was not quite so indolent as Patrick, but on the other hand he was wild and dissipated. The store experiment lasted
one year. Its chief use to Henry was that it gave him leisure, which he devoted to his violin and to reading. The young man's moral sense prevented
his leaving the counter to go fishing and shooting, and to kill time he began the use of books. This at the beginning was a lazy man's dernier resort.
To his surprise he found that he enjoyed reading and ere long he had become more or legs of a bookworm.
While head over heels in debt, and with no means of livelihood, he fell in love with Miss Sarah Shelton, the pretty daughter of a poor farmer in
the neighborhood. With utter disregard of all prudence, the young woman, who appeared to be as improvident as himself, was married to him when he was
eighteen. The families of the happy pair united in settling them on a small farm. Here the future orator digged and delved in ragged clothes,
depending at times upon the kitchen of either mother or mother-in-law for his next meal. But it never disturbed the serenity of his soul or his
wife's. When they had only corn meal and smoked bacon at their house, the wife would cook while Henry read poetry to her or played the violin. When
the meal was insufficient, he would eke it out with a kiss and an embrace. His sunny nature made his poor hovel a little heaven for its inmates. Two
years he devoted to husbandry, and its only reward were a very sunburned face and calloused hands as hard as the shovel-handle which they daily plied.
Again he tried shop-keeping, and again ruin was the result of his efforts. He had no brother as partner to worry him, and so had more time for
himself. He now added the flute to the violin, and when he was too poor to afford a candle in the night time would play in the dark, making believe
that he was serenading his wife. Another new joy was to lock up the store and take her out with him to the river and teach her how to fish. But
through his playfulness and nonsense, a serious strain was making itself manifest. Knowledge began to appeal to him. Realizing his utter ignorance, he
began to study the great master works of antiquity. Incidentally he became a graceful and accomplished dancer. Jefferson, who met him at this period,
speaks of him pleasantly, and sums him up by saying that "his passion was music, dancing and pleasantry."
Having failed in every calling he had tried, Henry now determined to take up one which is supposed to demand the hardest study of all. He announced
his determination to study law. It made no difference to him that he was penniless, and that several years of hard reading ought to precede admission
to the bar. To him life was a royal comedy, and the legal profession a delightful joke. He borrowed a copy of Coke upon Littleton, and a few volumes
of statutes, which he read assiduously for six weeks. With smiling imperturbability, he presented himself for examination. But for his delightful
personality, he would have been rejected forthwith. But even then he seems to have possessed a personal magnetism that won men's hearts. With two of
the examiners he had no trouble. They signed his certificate, which under the court rule of that day admitted him to the bar, but this did not satisfy
him. He wanted that of the gravest and severest of the examiners, a Mr. Randolph. The latter was a courtly advocate, whose manners, wig, costume,
buckled shoes and silk stockings were models of the highest elegance. His feelings may be imagined, when Henry appeared before him. The would-be
lawyer's hair was a mere shock; his hands and face were red like those of a farm laborer; his clothes seedy and even soiled, and his manners were to
put it mildly breezy in the extreme.
The legal examination passed into a discussion, where, to the elder man's surprise, Henry proved himself a brilliant thinker and fascinating
talker. So far as it is known this was the first exhibition of that intellectual and passionate eloquence which were to make their owner immortal.
Randolph signed the certificate, and from that time on was an admirer of the extraordinary young lawyer. He was thus launched at the bar, knowing
probably less of law and practice than any office boy in Virginia. But something within the man had changed. His constitutional indolence had
vanished. He studied, attended to what business he had, and in the evening aided his father-in-law in the conduct of the tavern, which the latter
owned. In the tap room of the establishment he soon was conspicuous for two reasons, the one was his abstemiousness from drinking, and the other his
fascination as a conversationalist.
In 1763, Henry, who was unknown outside of Hanover, where he was practicing law, was retained in what is known as, "The Parson Cause" or
the "Tobacco Tithing Case." Far back in the seventeenth century a law had been passed imposing a tax upon the community whereby the
taxpayers of each parish were obliged to supply the parish minister with an annual stipend of sixteen thousand pounds of tobacco. The law was passed
at the time when tobacco was a currency and money was exceedingly scarce. With the progress of the colony, the tax had been scaled and converted into
a pecuniary impost upon the basis of two pence a pound. When in 1755, there was a very bad harvest and tobacco advanced in price, the legislature
passed a law whereby a planter had the legal option between delivering the leaf or paying cash at two pence a pound. In 1758 a similar law was passed,
but this one did not receive the royal assent. The price of the tobacco soon rose thereafter more than three hundred percent. The clergy, desirous of
getting the full benefit of the rise in prices, brought suit, aid Henry was retained in a small case upon the opposite side. When he began the defense
he was an obscure and even unknown solicitor; yet the astonishing brilliancy of his work, and the wonderful eloquence of his speech, not alone won
what was considered a hopeless case, but also made him famous throughout the Commonwealth. In the morning he had been a poor man burdened with debt.
When the case was closed he received enough retainers to pay off most of his debts and support him for a year. Before the month had gone by he had
been engaged in all the tobacco-tax cases throughout Virginia.
His eloquence was and even is today a mystery. His education had amounted to almost nothing, and his little reading had been legal and historical.
Prior to that time his voice had been poor, his gesture awkward, and his carriage ungraceful. No one had ever trained him in speaking, nor had he ever
had an opportunity to study the art of the debater or the elocutionist. Yet in this old court house, without a warning, he had suddenly displayed the
best qualities of a dozen schools of speaking, using humor, sentiment, pathos, satire, dramatic climax, logic, antithesis, simile, metaphor,
apostrophe, involved and terrific parallels and diamond-cut epigrams. The lazy fiddler, the jocular good-fellow, the serene shopkeeper and the poor
practitioner, had fallen away from the man, like so many invisible garments, and there had appeared the greatest orator Virginia had ever known. It
was more than a seven days' wonder. It seemed almost a miracle. There was an element too in his speech which appealed to all hearts. The necessities
of the suit brought out a defense of the people against the Throne, and an advocacy of popular against feudal, royal and special rights and
privileges.
Virginia had at that time a caste system based upon primogeniture and entail, which had already brought about social inequality and unpleasant
distinctions. There was a landed aristocracy and an ecclesiastical aristocracy, both small and exclusive, and monopolizing largely the offices and
honors of the colony. Below these were various classes who numerically were nine-tenths of the population. Probably Henry did not have these facts in
his mind when he spoke, but they must have colored his thought and increased the earnestness and intensity with which he defended what he was pleased
to term the "majesty of the people." His strong language touched the hearts of the hearers in more ways than one. Directly it referred
merely to the case at issue; indirectly it applied to nine out of every ten men in that opulent colony.
Now that fortune had begun to favor him he avoided the goddess as before. His prosperity enabled him to buy better guns and fishing rods, to own a
horse and to spend two or three days in the woods, where before he had spent an afternoon. In May, 1765, Henry was elected to the House of Burgesses.
This body contained many men of the highest distinction, including John Robinson, Attorney-General Peyton Randolph, Richard Bland, Edmund Pendleton,
George Wythe and Richard Henry Lee. His entrance into political life was not cordially received by the aristocratic leaders of the time. His dress was
plain almost to poverty; he despised the wigs, powder, patches and luxurious raiment so common in those days, and either from deliberate purpose or
from old habit, employed both the slang and the vulgar pronunciation of his district. These incurred the ridicule and contempt of the aristocracy.
Yet they admired his superb brain power and eloquence. Admiration was succeeded by fear. They realized that he represented the common people, who
were a great majority, and that he possessed the ability to weld them into a compact body and wrest from the old time leaders the reins of government.
On the other hand the people who had always admired him were beginning to love him. They realized in a vague way that his faults were their faults;
his improvidence their improvidence; his shiftless habits their shiftless habits, and his folly their folly. They saw clearly that he owned what they
did not, an intellect so powerful, and an eloquence so potent, as to make all other leaders seem small beside him in the arena.
Between these antagonistic forces a conflict was inevitable, and it came soon after his election and when he was just twenty-nine years of age. The
Stamp Act had been passed and the English Colonies were excitedly discussing the measure. In Virginia the aristocratic leaders refused to commit
themselves, many of them favoring it, but all of them preserving a discreet silence. Henry waited to see if some older member would introduce the
matter, and finding that none had either the ability or courage to take up the task, became himself the leader of the people. He drew a set of five
resolutions, in which he took strong ground for freedom, holding that the settlers of Virginia had brought to the New World the privileges, franchises
and immunities they had enjoyed at home; that the Charters of King James had practically made invested rights; that only the people could tax
themselves; that Parliament had no right to tax the people; that only the Assembly of the Colony had the right to tax, and that any attempt by the
British Crown to usurp this right was a blow at freedom.
The resolutions fairly startled the staid House of Burgesses. The old leaders could hardly trust their ears. They had believed up to that time that
they held the initiative in the legislature, and that beyond this the body was loyal and obedient to the king. The resolutions themselves were
revolutionary; they came from the youngest member of the House, with whom they were not on speaking terms, and more monstrous still, they emanated
from a man who represented the mob. The reception accorded the reading showed them that there was danger in the air. With gallantry and trained skill
they took up the gauntlet which Henry had thrown down, fought him in a debate whose dignity and force had never been surpassed in the history of the
Commonwealth. Randolph, Bland, Pendleton, Wythe, and all the aristocrats opposed the resolutions to the best of their ability. But their argument
proved unsuccessful against Henry's impetuous eloquence. When it came to a vote all five resolutions were carried, the last by a majority of ono.
Henry's speech and the action of the legislature were soon known to every patriot in the Thirteen Colonies. The news strengthened the weak and
timid and revived those of fainting hearts. It discouraged the Tories everywhere, and alarmed the aristocratic leaders, more especially of Virginia.
Above all it made Patrick Henry the idol of the common people, who from that time on for thirty years viewed him as their own personal representative.
Law and politics saw Henry's sphere enlarge steadily. He became the great criminal lawyer of the State, and the popular leader of the House of
Burgesses. The increasing tyranny of the British government was slowly antagonizing the old aristocratic leaders and driving them into the arms of
Henry's party. New men were coming into power and they belonged to the latter's school of thought This is illustrated by an incident in the
legislature of 1773, when Dabney Carr, a correspondent of Samuel Adams, moved the appointment of a committee of correspondence with the other Colonies
for the protection and welfare of the people. It consisted of eleven persons, Randolph, Bland, Lee, Pendleton, Henry, Carr, Jefferson, Cary, Digges,
Harrison, and Nicholas. The motion was carried, and as if to show how times had changed the two great voices raised in favor were those of Patrick
Henry and Richard Henry Lee.
Events began to move swiftly. On May 24, 1774, the House of Burgesses passed an order setting aside the first day of June as a day of fasting,
humiliation and prayer on account of the hostile invasion of the City of Boston by an armed force. The next day Governor Dunmore dissolved the House,
whereupon the members withdrew to the Raleigh Tavern, where they organized an association and passed resolutions denouncing the port bill and other
acts of Parliament, declaring that an attack upon one Colony was an attack upon all, and recommending the calling of a "general Congress to meet
annually and to deliberate on those general measures which the united interests of America may from time to time require."
Political machinery was set moving in all the counties which elected delegates to meet in Williamsburg the first of August and there appoint
deputies to the General Congress. The Williamsburg meeting came off enthusiastically, and the delegates appointed as deputies to Congress, Peyton
Randolph, Richard Henry Lee, George Washington, Patrick Henry, Richard Bland, Benjamin Harrison, and Edmund Pendleton.
At the First Continental Congress Henry pronounced one of the great orations of the world. It was in this body that his limitations became
painfully manifest. He was by all odds the great speaker of that assemblage, but he was one of its poorest writers and most inefficient committeemen.
Congress adjourned in October, and Henry returned to Virginia. The following March the convention of delegates from the Virginia counties and
corporations met for the second time. Everybody was conscious of the struggle going on, and all had come prepared to play his part in the political
drama now unfolding The proceedings began very mildly as had been desired, and perhaps planned by the Royalists and the peace-at-any-price advocates.
Things seemed to be going in a laissez-faire way when Henry rose and moved the famous resolutions, recommending militia to take the place of the
British standing army and garrisons for the securing of American rights and liberties, and urging that the Colony be put into a state of defense and a
committee appointed to carry this into action. The proposition was almost tantamount to a declaration of war. It was the boldest act which had yet
been taken on the American Continent. It was a bugle blast to the bold and a menace to the Crown. It aroused the antagonism of the Tories, and through
what they regarded as impolicy the opposition of such patriots as Bland, Harrison and Pendleton. There was a fierce debate in which every argument was
employed against the resolutions, and when the opponents of the measure had finished it looked as if Virginia would continue to bear the ills she had,
rather than fly to others that she knew not of. All eyes were now turned to Henry, who rose, calm, collected, but so intensely earnest that the
suspense manifested by all present became painful. As he drew himself back to begin speaking, the voices of children playing in the street could be
heard, and the notes of birds in the eaves of the building. Then from his lips came one of the greatest speeches he had ever delivered, and one of the
most masterly the world has ever heard. At last he reached the peroration.
"It is vain, Sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry peace, peace -- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun. The next gale
that sweeps from the North will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms. Our brethren are already in the field. Why stand we here idle? What is
it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it,
Almighty God -- I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death."
As he closed there was a sigh, a gasp, but no applause. The speech was the mausoleum of the opposition. The resolutions were adopted, and the
Committee of twelve appointed, the Chairman being Patrick Henry, and his lieutenants, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Richard Henry Lee, Benjamin
Harrison and Edmund Pendleton. The plan for arming the colony was drawn and adopted.
Governor Dunmore of Virginia now followed the example of Governor Gage of
MA, seizing twenty barrels of gunpowder in the city of Williamsburg, which he placed on board of an armed schooner. Everybody was at sea and knew not
what to do, everybody excepting Patrick Henry. At his own expense, he sent men on horseback to the members of the Hanover Independent Company, asking
them to meet him in arms at Newcastle on May 2nd, on business of the highest importance to American liberty. He also invited the County Committee and
every patriot he knew within twenty-five miles. They met him and he spoke as only Henry could speak. The meeting went wild. Captain Meredith of the
Company resigned his commission in Henry's favor, who was immediately and unanimously elected commander of the Volunteers. Captain Henry, for such he
was now, immediately marched upon Williamsburg. As he and his soldiers advanced armed men from every quarter on foot and on horseback joined the
ranks. Ere the destination was reached at least five thousand riflemen were together. Many patriots frightened at Henry's boldness begged him to
desist, but in vain. The Governor fumed and fulminated, but at the last hour his courage weakened and he caused a messenger to meet Captain Henry with
a bill of exchange for the amount of the powder at Henry's own valuation. Henry accepted the bill and gave the following extraordinary receipt:
"Received from the Hon. Richard Corbin, Esq., his Majesty's Receiver General 3301 as a compensation for his gunpowder lately taken out of the
public magazine by the governor's order; which money I promise to convey to the Virginia delegates at the General Congress to be under their
direction, laid out in gunpowder for the Colony's use, and to be stored as they shall direct, until the next Colony convention, or General Assembly,
unless it shall be necessary, in the meantime to use the same in defense of the Colony. It is agreed that in case the next convention shall determine
that any part of the said money ought to be returned to His Majesty's said Receiver General that the same shall be done accordingly."
In July, 1775, the Colonial convention met at Richmond and began the organization of its army. To Henry, they paid the graceful compliment of
electing him Colonel of the First regiment and Commander of all the forces raised and to be raised for the Colony.
In 1776, Virginia elected Henry its first Governor. There was but one ballot, he receiving sixty out of one hundred and six votes. In 1778, he was
reelected unanimously. In 1779 he was again elected, and although he might have held the office on excellent technical grounds, he refused to serve,
as in his belief the Constitution made him ineligible for another term.
1780 saw him back in the Assembly hard at work for the cause of the Colonies. After the Revolution he again became Governor of his State for two
terms, and was elected for a third, but declined to serve.
In 1794, he was made United States Senator, where he served with his usual distinction. Honors were offered to him lavishly, but were not accepted
on account of the conscientious scruples in regard to all political measures. Washington proffered to him the Secretaryship of State, and afterwards
the Chief Justiceship, and Adams nominated him as Special Minister to France.
In middle life, after the death of his first wife, he married Dorothea Spotswood Dandridge. By the former there were six and by the latter nine
children.
Patrick Henry's place in American history is that of a personality of transcendent influence. Of the individuals who brought about the war of the
Revolution, he and Samuel Adams may be regarded as the leaders. In fiery patriotism, and absolute disregard for consequences, he was a Prince Rupert
among the Builders of the Republic. No statesman, politician nor executive was he, but a poet, a hero, and an orator. The United States, through its
system of representative government, has developed oratory to a greater degree than any country of the world, and has produced probably more men of
eloquence than any other nation. In the long roll of eminent American speakers, two tower over all the rest, Patrick Henry in the eighteenth and
Daniel Webster in the nineteenth century. So long as eloquence moves the human heart, and patriotism appeals to the nobler qualities of the human
character, just that long will Patrick Henry wear the laurels of immortality.
Patrick married (1) Sarah Shelton "Sallie" 1,
2, 3 daughter of John Shelton and Eleanor Parks in Oct 1754 in Studley, Hanover, VA. Sarah was
born in 1738 in Rural Plains, Hanover Co., VA. She died in Apr 1775 in Scotchtown, Hanover Co., VA.
They had the following children:
| + |
24 |
F |
i |
Martha Henry was born in Jun 1755. She died in 1818. |
| + |
25 |
M |
ii |
Col. John D. Henry was born in 1757. He died in 1791/1792. |
| |
26 |
M |
iii |
William Henry 1, 2 was born
3, 4, 5, 6,
7, 8 in 1763 in Fork, Hanover Co., VA. He died in 1765/1854.
|
| + |
27 |
F |
iv |
Anne Henry was born in 1767. She died before 1799. |
| + |
28 |
F |
v |
Elizabeth Henry was born on 23 Apr 1769. She died on 24 Sep 1842. |
| |
29 |
M |
vi |
Edward Henry was born in 1771 in Scotchtown, Hanover Co., VA. He died in 1794.
|
Patrick married (2) Dorothea Spotswood Dandridge daughter of Col. Nathaniel West Dandridge and Dorothea Spotswood on 9
Oct 1777 in Fork Church, Hanover Co., VA. Dorothea was born on 25 Sep 1757 in Hanover Co., VA. She died on 14 Feb 1831 in "Red Hill",
Charlotte Co., VA. She was buried in "Red Hill", Charlotte Co., VA.
They had the following children:
| + |
30 |
F |
vii |
Dorothea Spotswood Henry was born on 2 Aug 1778. She died on 17 Jun 1854. |
| + |
31 |
F |
viii |
Sarah Butler Henry was born on 4 Jan 1780. She died after 1846. |
| + |
32 |
F |
ix |
Martha Catharine Henry was born on 3 Nov 1781. She died in 1801. |
| + |
33 |
M |
x |
Patrick Henry Jr. was born on 15 Aug 1783. He died in 1804/1873. |
| |
34 |
M |
xi |
George Lafayette Henry was born on 9 Oct 1785. He died in 1802/1875. |
| |
|
|
|
George married Elcan in 1802/1835. Elcan was born in 1781/1801. She died in 1802/1885.
|
| + |
35 |
M |
xii |
Alexander Spotswood Henry was born on 2 Jun 1788. He died on 6 Jan 1854. |
| + |
36 |
M |
xiii |
Nathaniel West Henry was born on 7 Apr 1790. He died in 1851. |
| |
37 |
M |
xiv |
Richard Henry was born in 1792. He died as a infant.
|
| + |
38 |
M |
xv |
Edward Winston Henry was born in 1794. He died in 1795/1884. |
| + |
39 |
M |
xvi |
John Henry was born on 16 Feb 1796. He died on 7 Jan 1868. |
| |
40 |
F |
xvii |
Jane Robertson Henry was born in 1798. She died as a infant.
|
12. Lucy Henry 1 (John
, Alexander ) was born on 29 Mar 1743 in Studley, Hanover Co., VA. She died on 14 Jul 1826 in Fluvanna Co., VA.
Lucy married Col. Valentine Wood 1 son of Henry Wood and Martha Cocke
on 3 Jan 1764 in "Retreat", Hanover Co., VA. Valentine was born on 2 Sep 1724 in Goochland Co., VA. He was christened on 23 Oct 1724. He
died in Sep 1781 in "Woodland", Goochland Co., VA. Valentine was employed as County Clerk 1757 - 1781 in Goochland Co., VA.
They had the following children:
| |
41 |
F |
i |
Jane Wood 1.
|
| |
42 |
M |
ii |
William Wood 1.
|
| + |
43 |
M |
iii |
Henry Wood was born in 1765. He died in 1814. |
| |
44 |
F |
iv |
Sarah Wood 1 was born 2
on 1 Mar 1767 in Goochland Co., VA.
|
| + |
45 |
F |
v |
Martha Wood was born in 1768. She died in 1834. |
| + |
46 |
F |
vi |
Mary Wood was born on 8 May 1769. |
| |
47 |
M |
vii |
Valentine Wood Jr. 1 was born in 1772 in Goochland Co., VA. |
| |
|
|
|
Valentine married Martha Cocke. Martha was born about 1766.
|
| + |
48 |
F |
viii |
Lucy Wood was born on 7 Jan 1774. She died in May 1837. |
| + |
49 |
M |
ix |
John Henry Wood was born on 18 Jan 1776. |
13. Elizabeth Henry "Betsy" (John , Alexander
) was born about 1746 in Studley, Hanover Co., VA. She died on 10 Oct 1804.
Elizabeth married (1) Gen. William Campbell 1 on 2 Apr 1776 in Studley,
Hanover Co., VA. William was born in 1744 in near Stanton, VA. He died in 1781.
Served in Colonial and Continental Armies
Captain in Lord Dunmore's War in May 1774. Commander of American forces at the Battle of King's Mountain.
They had the following children:
Elizabeth married (2) Gen. William Russell Jr. in 1783. William was born in 1735. He died about Jan 1793 in Shenendoah
Co., VA.
Historical Sketches of the Campbell, Pilcher, and Kindred Families
General Russell's wife, Tabitha Adams, daughter of Samuel Adams and Charity Courts, his wife, died in 1776, leaving him with nine children; his
eldest daughter, Mary Henley, taking charge of the household at her mother's death; the father being away from home in the service of his country, and
bravely did this young daughter fulfill the trust imposed upon her, in caring for her young brothers and sisters, until her marriage to Capt. William
Bowen.
Upon General Russell's return home from the war, in 1783, he was married to Mrs. Elizabeth Henry Campbell, the widow of Gen. William Campbell, the
famous leader of the American forces at the Battle of Kings Mountain, who died a few weeks before the surrender at Yorktown in 1781. She was a
daughter of John Henry, a native of Aberdeen, Scotland, and his wife, Sarah Winston; her grandfather, Isaac Winston, married Jane Robertson, a sister
of Dr. William Robertson, the historian. They were related to the family of Lord Brougham, the great English orator. Mrs. E. Campbell Russell was a
sister of Patrick Henry. She was a woman gifted with great intelligence and rare conversational powers. Her daughter by General Campbell, Sarah B.,
afterwards married Gen. Francis Preston.
General Russell had nine children when he was married to Mrs. Campbell. Their life was perfectly happy and harmonious. He was remarkable for his
devotional nature, and as a husband and father was fond and indulgent. Their daughter, Jane B. Russell, married Col. William P. Thompson, and they
left two daughters, who, after the death of their parents, lived with their grandmother, Mrs. Russell, near Abingdon, Va. Mary Henley, General
Russell's eldest daughter, was married in 1777 to Capt. Wm. Bowen, an officer in the Virginia Colonial and Continental Armies.
William and Elizabeth had the following children:
| |
51 |
F |
ii |
Jane B. Russell. |
| |
|
|
|
Jane married Col. William P. Thompson.
|
 
 
Surname List | Name Index
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