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Patrick Henry:
The Voice of the Revolution
By Susan Olling
Patrick Henry’s favorite home was Red Hill, in Charlotte County,
Virginia. Red Hill got its name from the color of the soil in the
area and its location on a hill overlooking the Staunton (pronounced
Stanton, the locals don’t like it when the word’s pronounced like it
looks) River Valley. Red Hill was designated as the Patrick Henry
National Memorial by Congress in 1986. It's a place that people
have to make an a bit of an effort to visit. It’s tucked away
about forty miles from Lynchburg and about thirty miles from
Appomattox. Off the main roads, it’s well worth the drive.
One of the first things you see when you get out of your car, besides
the visitor center, is the Commonwealth Courtyard. A bronze bust
of Mr. Henry, modeled after one on display at the Virginia State
Capitol, is surrounded with flags of the United States, Virginia and
the Grand Union Flag . There are other flags that represent the
seven states admitted to the country from the territory that made up
Virginia in 1776: Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan,
Wisconsin and West Virginia.
After you leave the visitor center, with a handy visitor guide in hand,
you’re on your own to explore. There are benches scattered
around so you can enjoy the scenery and the quiet.
For historic tree lovers, the Maclura pomifera tree (Osage
orange or hedge apple) is the largest of its species in the
country. Estimated to be over three hundred years old, this
ancient tree stands over sixty feet tall and is over 350 inches in
circumference. Its branches have a more than eighty foot span.
The tree was almost a century old when Patrick Henry lived at Red
Hill.
Descendants of Patrick Henry can choose to have their ashes scattered
in the Scatter Garden in a corner of the property. A many times
great-grandson of Mr. Henry appears at special events portraying his
famous ancestor. There are also Patrick Henry family reunions
every few years.
Mr. Henry moved to Red Hill in 1794. He was married twice:
his first wife, Sarah Shelton, died in February, 1775. He married
Dorothea Dandridge (a cousin of Martha Dandridge Custis Washington) in
1777. He was the father of seventeen children. The house at
Red Hill, which was built in the 1770’s by Richard Marot Brooker,
accommodated between nine and eleven members of the family. Unlike
Mount Vernon or Monticello, it was a modest frame home: one-and
one-half stories (rebuilt on the original foundation in 1957).
There are dependency buildings that include an overseer’s cottage, the
only original building on the property. This was Mr. Henry’s law
office. You’ll see a copy of his law license that was
signed in 1760 by George Wythe and John Randolph. He didn’t go to
Williamsburg, the colonial capital of Virginia, to learn law. He
was self-taught.
Known as the “Voice of Revolution”, his fiery oratory helped move
Virginia, and later the other colonies, to break with Great
Britain. His speech in 1765 attacking the Stamp Act, “If
this is treason, make the most of it.” made some of his fellow
Burgesses in Williamsburg cringe. During the First Continental
Congress in 1774, he said there were no distinctions between the
colonists. He was not a Virginian, he was an
American. And of course, there was his “…give me liberty or
give me death.” speech in 1775 during the Second Virginia
Convention. He was the first elected governor of Virginia
in 1776 and served three one-year terms. After the capital
moved from Williamsburg to Richmond in 1780, he was governor again for
two more years. He was offered, and refused, several government
offices: Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Secretary of State,
Minister to Spain and Minister to France. He declined a sixth
term as governor of Virginia.
Patrick Henry died on 06 June 1799 after what those of us living in the
twenty-first century might consider questionable medical care.
Not questionable for the time, however. His physician gave him
liquid mercury to try to try to clear what was thought to have been an
intestinal blockage. Mr. Henry died shortly after ingesting the
liquid heavy metal. He was buried at the foot of his
garden. Dorothea, his second wife, is buried next to him.
He described Red Hill as “one of the garden spots of
Virginia”. No argument here.
Can’t leave you down there without some place for sustenance. The
closest town to Red Hill is Brookneal, home of the Drug Store
Grill. One of the menu items is the Spontaneous Combustion
Burger. Seems harmless enough: Angus beef mixed with nuclear
fusion and topped with jack cheese, onion ring, jalapeño, ranch or blue
cheese dressing, lettuce, tomato and red onion. The menu
describes this gastronomic bomb as ”Awesome!” It certainly
was. It’s just the second time in all these years that I saw Mr.
History turn bright pink while eating a meal. The waitresses were
watching him and no doubt, reported to the kitchen staff the he cleaned
his plate. And survived.
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