Snuff Box

Object/Artifact

-

Patrick Henry's Red Hill

Name/Title

Snuff Box

Entry/Object ID

96.15

Description

Dark wood, possibly dogwood. Looks like a small book. Sliding lid.

Collection

Patrick & Dorothea Henry Collection

Made/Created

Date made

1775 - 1800

Time Period

18th Century

Dimensions

Width

2 in

Depth

3/4 in

Length

2-1/2 in

Material

dogwood

Provenance

Notes

This snuffbox is purported to have belonged to Patrick Henry and was crafted in the last quarter of the 18th century. According to Virgilia Pollard Duggins, the donor, who learned this from family tradition, the box was given to her husband, Samuel Whitfield Duggins, by his uncle, Victor Thompson, whose home, Mt. Harmon, was located near Montpelier in Hanover County, Virginia. After Mr. Duggins's death on August 2, 1971 in Orange, Virginia, the snuffbox was passed to the donor. Mr. Duggins said that his uncle, Victor Thompson, received the snuffbox from Patrick Henry, Jr. (1783–1804), a son of Patrick and Dorothea Dandridge Henry. The donor erroneously states Patrick, Jr. was born at Scotchtown; he was in fact born at Leatherwood. Mr. Thompson claimed he was a friend of Patrick, Jr.'s and attended the Episcopal Church of Our Savior in Montpelier and several dances together. The snuffbox was donated to the PHMF on July 15, 1996.