Notes
The recipient of this letter, Spencer Roane, married Patrick Henry’s second daughter Anne (1767–1799) in 1786. Like his father-in-law, Roane (1762–1822) had an active political career. He became a lawyer starting at age twenty, then served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates for six years and as a judge in the Virginia Court of Appeals, the highest court in the state, for twenty-seven years. While Roane and Henry took a similar stance on some issues—both were in opposition to the Constitution without a bill of rights—they clashed for others, such as the role of religion in government.
Patrick Henry wrote this letter to Spencer Roane on August 23, 1797, from Red Hill. The first sentence of the letter, in which Henry describes mailing the “Certificate of my Oath” that Roane had requested, has been valuable to historians for its evidence that Henry remained active in law later in life and during his time at Red Hill. In a law which continues today, before an attorney may practice in any court in the Commonwealth, they must have taken an oath of fidelity, stating that he will honestly demean himself in the practice of law and execute his office of attorney-at-law to the best of his ability.
Henry also wrote that there was "nothing of importance to communicate," but notes that living in close proximity to the Staunton River was causing sickness among Red Hill's inhabitants. He closes the letter by expressing a desire to see Roane’s family and sending his regards to them.
Ray. R. Currier purchased the letter from Goodspeeds Book Shop (Boston, Massachusetts) and owned it for at least five years before selling it to the PHMF on June 28, 1994.