Notes
These two fragments of a letter were written by Patrick Henry for his daughter Martha Henry Fontaine (1755–1818) to allow her son William Winston (1786–1816) to divide land owned by her deceased husband John Smith Fontaine (1750–1792) according to his will.
Martha Fontaine was the first child of Patrick and Sarah Shelton Henry, born at Pine Slash in 1755. Biographers often refer to her as the favorite child. It was "dear Patsey," as she was nicknamed, to whom Henry turned when he needed help with the younger children. Martha oversaw the care of her ill mother and her five siblings while the Henrys lived at Scotchtown. In the early 1770s, Martha meets her second cousin, John Fontaine, who was born at Beaverdam, Hanover County, Virginia in 1750. Martha Henry and John Fontaine marry on October 2, 1773 at Scotchtown. The couple would go on to have seven children until John's death from malaria at their Leatherwood plantation in April 1792.
After her husband's death, Martha administered his will. In an unusual move for the time, Patrick Henry requested the court grant Martha the right to administer her deceased husband's estate, a job that usually fell to the closest male relative.
This letter was gifted to PHMF in 1950 by Reverend Patrick Henry Fontaine (1869-1959), a great-grandson of Martha Henry Fontaine. It was given in two fragments; the rest of the letter is lost.