Mourning Ring with Hair of Patrick Henry

Mourning Ring

Mourning Ring

Name/Title

Mourning Ring with Hair of Patrick Henry

Entry/Object ID

76.10

Description

Oval mourning ring displaying the hair of Patrick Henry under glass in a setting of yellow gold. The oval face is surrounded by beaded gold work. The beaded gold work is missing on one complete side and a small portion on the opposite side. Engraved in script on back of ring, "Pat.k Henry."

Collection

Patrick & Dorothea Henry Collection

Made/Created

Date made

circa 1799

Dimensions

Width

3/4 in

Depth

3/4 in

Length

1/2 in

Diameter

5/8 in

Material

Gold, Glass, Hair

Provenance

Notes

This mourning ring, commissioned from an unspecified jeweler by the Henry family to commemorate Patrick Henry's death, contains a lock of his hair under glass and has his name engraved on the back side of the ring. It came into the possession of Susan Hill Dabney (1892–1986), a descendant of Patrick Henry. Further written provenance is not extant; however, it is likely the ring passed to Dabney from her mother, Florence Miller Dabney (1853–1923), who may have received it from her mother, Margaret Ann Henry Miller (1827–1881), a granddaughter of Patrick Henry through his youngest son, John (1796–1868). Ms. Dabney donated the ring to the Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation on May 29, 1974.