Notes
John Winston Fontaine, a great-great grandson of Patrick Henry, was born on January 27, 1887, to Rev. Patrick Henry Fontaine (1841-1915) and Annie Elizabeth Redd (1847-1936) at "Elmo" in Halifax County, Virginia. He never married and did not have children. John was a professor of music who taught at several colleges, including Atlantic Christian College (later Atlantic University) in Wilson, North Carolina. He died on August 21, 1973, and was buried with his parents in Amis Chapel Cemetery in Granville County, North Carolina.
His younger brother, James Spotswood Fontaine, was also born at Elmo, on October 27, 1888. He married Chloe Irene Stephenson (1897-1982) on September 2, 1930, and they had one child together: Catherine Spotswood Fontaine (1938-2015). James attended North Carolina State College (now NC State University) in Raleigh, North Carolina, and served as a civil engineering professor there for many years. He died on August 17, 1943, in Raleigh and is buried in Oakwood Cemetery.
This photograph of the brothers was taken when John was about 22 and James was about 21 years old.
It was given to PHMF on May 3, 2023, by Monique and Philip Heller. They inherited this object and the others in this accession from her stepmother, Catherine Spotswood Fontaine Lawrence, a third-great-granddaughter of Patrick Henry. James Spotswood Fontaine was her father.