Patrick Henry Fontaine to Fred

Letter

Patrick Henry's Red Hill

Name/Title

Patrick Henry Fontaine to Fred

Entry/Object ID

2023.30.30

Description

Iron gall ink on laid paper. Three pages on one sheet, folded in half. Written by "PH Fontaine" from the University of Virginia to "Fred," March 16, 1860.

Transcription

March 16th Uni of Va Dear Fred I received your letter 15 days ago and intended answering it th[e] same week but put it off until I would have a better opportunity, but I find the longer I put it off the less I feel inclined to write and even now have almost nothing to say, so I will have to gas [guess?]; and it is said [here?], as much as possible which I hope you will excuse. The examination in Senior Math came off on the 22nd of last month, I had reviewed it four or five times and understood it quite well; but I found it much harder to season in the examination room than in my own room. We had ten questions out of Calculus, nearly eight of which I worked out, but when I came out I found that I had made several little oversights; therefore I am afraid I will not get more than six questions; it requires seven and a half to graduate, which I hope I will be able to make up at the next two examinations, one on the philosophy of Math, which will come off next Wednesday [week?], and the other at the final, there will be an examination on Intermediate Math (including trigonometry and analytical geometry) next Friday I think I will certainly get through on this as it is quite easy. You wrote to me that you thought of beginning Davis's Descriptive when yot [sic] got through Schoolin's. I think you had but not as very little importance is attached to it, here; but begin Calculus as you will find most difficulty in that. I had a very hard time in this act the first of the session and came very near giving it up in disgust; but now I find it much easier. You must also pay good attention to Analytical and Spherical Trigonometry as a good deal of it is used in Calculus. We have had beautiful weather for more than a month. The trees and flowers are coming out and the the [sic] grass in the Lawn is quite green. Three weeks ago from today while walking out in the woods I found a daisy just budding. I took it up and brought it with some dirt to my room; it now has two blooms and looks very pretty. I expect it will live all the Spring. Tomorrow I will go to a little church in the county about five miles from here to teach Sunday School. Give my best love to all my old friends at [Councell's?] and also ________ to all at home. Write soon Yours truly, PHFontaine

Language

English

Dimensions

Width

10 in

Length

8 in

Provenance

Notes

Patrick Henry Fontaine (1841-1915), the author of this letter and a great-grandson of Patrick Henry, was born on September 18, 1841, to William Spotswood Fontaine (1810-1882) and Sarah Shelton Aylett (1811-1876) at "Fontainebleau" in King William County, Virginia. He wrote this letter to an unknown friend - "Fred" - on March 16, 1860, from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. He was nineteen years old at the time and evidently a student, reporting about his various math classes. From there, he discusses the beautiful spring weather and his plans to teach Sunday school at a nearby church. During the Civil War, P. H. Fontaine was commissioned as a First Lieutenant in W. P. Carter's Light Artillery from that county. He married his first cousin, Annie Elizabeth Redd (1847-1936), on February 23, 1865, and they had nine children. The family moved to the Bethel Hill/Woodsdale area of Person County, North Carolina, around 1894. Reverend Fontaine rode a circuit of several area churches, including Bethel Hill church, Amis Chapel, Averett, Grassy Creek, and Mountain Creek. He also taught Bible classes at the Bethel Hill Institute, a local boarding school. Rev. P.H. Fontaine died of pneumonia on March 29, 1915, at his home, Bethel Hill, in Woodsdale, North Carolina. He is buried at Amis Chapel Cemetery in Granville County, North Carolina. This letter 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 (1938-2015), a third-great-granddaughter of Patrick Henry. Patrick Henry Fontaine was her grandfather.