Patrick Henry Letters, 1777-1780

Location of collection:

Library of Virginia

The Library of Virginia

800 East Broad Street

Richmond, VA 23219

Contact for questions and access:

POC: Archives Reference Services

Email: archdesk@lva.virginia.gov

Phone: (804) 692-3888

Web: www.lva.virginia.gov

Restrictions:

Collection is open to research.

Terms of access:

There are no restrictions.

Preferred citation:

Patrick Henry Letters, 1777-1780. Accession 20745. Personal Papers Collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Summary

Creator:

Patrick Henry

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Patrick Henry Letters, 1777-1780. Accession 20745. Personal Papers Collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Background

Scope and content:

Letters, 1777-1780, of Patrick Henry (1736-1799), Governor of Virginia, to Colonel William Preston (1729-1783) of Montgomery County, Virginia, and to Colonel John Smith (1750-1836) of Frederick County, Virginia, concerning the protection of Virginia's frontiers, including Kentucky; supplies and horses for the Virginia militia; the murder of Shawnee Indians, possibly by tories and concerns of reprisals; and efforts to coordinate frontier defense with the Continental Army. Also includes letter, 1 January 1779 [1780] erroneously attributed to Henry, but written by his successor as governor, Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) to Colonel George Rogers Clark (1752-1818) containing instructions for military plans against the British at Detroit and the Indians in the Northwest Territory. There are two copies of this last letter.

Biographical / historical:

Patrick Henry was born 29 May 1736 in Hanover County, Virginia, to John and Sara Winston Henry. He served as a delegate to the Continental Congress and Virginia Convention, governor of Virginia 1776-1779, 1784- 1786, and delegate to the Virginia Constitution Ratification Convention, 1788. He was married to Sarah Shelton and Dorothea Dandridge. He died 6 June 1799 at his home on Red Hill Plantation, Charlotte County, Virginia.

Acquisition information:

Loaned for copying by Ellen Bagby, Richmond, Virginia, May 1934.

Physical description:

10 leaves

Related

Alternative form available:

All letters except 28 May 1778 are published in Official Letters of the Governors of the State of Virginia, vol. I, pp. 117-118, 131-132, 168, 243-245, 303, 350; letters dated 10 March 1777, 29 March 1777, and 19 February 1778 are in William Wirt's Patrick Henry, vol. III, pp. 44, 53, 544; letter dated 1 January 1779 [1780] is in the Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Vol. 3, pp 258-259.

Location of originals:

Originals of letters dated 10 March 1777, 29 March 1777, 28 May 1778, 6 August 1778, and 1 January 1779 [1780] are owned by the Virginia Historical Society. The location of letters dated 3 July 1777 and 19 February 1778 is not known.