Name/Title
Patrick Henry to Thomas ReadEntry/Object ID
2021.14Description
Letter from Patrick Henry to Colonel Thomas Read. Dated May 10, 1799.
Transcription:
[Addressed]
To
Colo. Thomas Reade [sic]
Charlotte
[In the hand of Thomas Read]
P. Henry
to letter
Thomas Read
10. May 1799
Confirming Bargain
for Land & approving
of Deed for Conveyance
without [strikethrough]
General Warranty
[Page 1]
Dear Sir - Red-hill May 10th 1799
Your Favor concerning the patent for the disputed Land, my copy formerly sent by Colo. Watkins & the proposed Deed to me for the Land I have recd. This Deed I now send herewith agreeing to accept it on the Terms you mention to me, viz. 637 Dollars for that number of acres, equal to ₤191.2 - payable 25th Day of June 1800. I would have sent my Bond herewith, but I can't get stamped paper. In the Interim, this Letter shall oblige me, my Heirs exct. [executors] the [sic] to execute such Bond soon as proper paper is to be got & to pay the money as above. Please to dismiss my suit ag. you on my cost.
At my late season of Life Litigation is indeed painfull [sic]. And if you suppose any other motive actuates me in accommodating this suit, I assure you it is a Mistake; for I say it on my Honor on my Opinion, on the paper filed, I could recover the Land. But I must own my self subject to those prejudices which blind the Judgement where self interest is concerned. I should not have said any thing on this part of the subject but for yr. Observation respecting my view in
[Page 2]
in bringing the suit. I wish however to bury the whole Affair in oblivion, & to pay for it as above according to your Terms handed me; & in accepting of this Accomodation [sic], I wish to be considered as if no suit had ever existed between us, & to remain
Dr Sir yr. Friend & Servant
P. HenryCollection
Patrick & Dorothea Henry CollectionMade/Created
Date made
1799Time Period
18th CenturyDimensions
Width
15-1/2 inLength
9-1/2 inProvenance
Notes
Patrick Henry wrote this letter to Colonel Thomas Read (1742-1817) at "Charlotte" from Red Hill on May 10, 1799. Note that Henry misspelled Read's name by erroneously adding an "E" to the end of his name. This is believed to be the last letter Henry ever wrote and refers to the same land transaction between Henry and Read in an earlier letter in the PHMF collection (2023.31).
Henry notes that he received Read's patent for land and shared his plan to pay for his portion. Henry expressed his desire to settle the dispute, saying, "At my late season of Life Litigation is indeed painfull [sic].... I wish however to bury the whole Affair in oblivion." Henry died less than a month later on June 6.
The recipient is Col. Thomas Read who worked and lived in Charlotte Court House, VA, near the location to which this letter was sent. Like Henry, Read served actively during the Founding period as a Virginia Burgess, a representative to 1776 and 1777 state conventions, and a member of the 1788 Constitutional Convention.
Inventory notes written on the outside of the letter are in the hand of Thomas Read. This was confirmed by the donation of another letter to Read (2023.31) in which matching handwriting is said by Hugh B. Grigsby to be Read's. Grigsby asserts, "Col. H omitted the date, which Col. Read ... has supplied."
This letter was given to PHMF by Anne LeDuc (1925-2020) on October 9, 2018. LeDuc is a direct descendant of Patrick Henry. LeDuc's mother was Bessie Daniel Catlett (1889-1970); Bessie’s father was Robert Catlett (1855-1926); Robert Catlett was the son of Celine Henry (1827-1874) and John Robert Catlett (1824-1861). Celine Henry's parents were Edward Winston Henry (1794-1872) and Jane Yuille (1799-1866). Edward Winston Henry was the ninth child of Patrick Henry (1736-1799) and Dorothea Dandridge (1757-1831), Henry’s second wife.