Marie Antoinette Henry to John Robert Henry

Letter

Patrick Henry's Red Hill

Name/Title

Marie Antoinette Henry to John Robert Henry

Entry/Object ID

76.22

Description

Letter from Marie Antoinette Henry to her brother John Robert Henry dated January 11, 1854. It describes the death and burial of their father, Alexander Spotswood Henry

Transcription

Halifax Jan 11th 1854 My dear Brother: I seat myself this morning to inform you of Pa's death. He died last Friday morning 20 minutes after one oclock. It gives me great pleasure to inform you that he was perfectly willing to die, and expressed himself a changed man, saying that he had been praying for forgiveness of his sins for a long time, and that he believed he was a Christian. Uncle Winston informed him of his approaching death and told him to live on the subject of religion five days before his death. Pa thanked him for the interest he had evinced in his sons, told him he had been a praying man for some time, and would continue to do so. He always spoke of his death with the greatest calmness and composure. The night before his death he suffered the greatest agony from having difficulty in breathing, an absess [sic] having broken previous to his death and being very strangled every breath he drew, still he talked to last, expressing his willingness to die, never complaining of his suffering at all. Several times he attempted to tell his (our) sister Pauline something to tell his children but he could not finish the sentence on account of the matter which was continuously rising in his throat. Brother Pat was standing by him fanning him when he drew his last breath. Though he died like a Roman. He was buried at "Red Hill" and his funeral preached by Rev. Hammersly, a Presbyterian preacher. I wish you could write a note to Cabell of this. Sister Pauline looks quite badly, baby in arms and all sickness she has undergone. I don't know when she will be at your house again. With best love to Sister Lizzie and children I remain yours affectionatelly [sic], M.A. Henry

Language

English

Dimensions

Width

7-3/4 in

Length

10 in

Provenance

Notes

Marie Antoinette Henry (1832–1900) wrote this letter on January 11, 1854, to her brother John Robert Lewis Henry (1823–1903), describing the death of their father, Alexander Spotswood Henry (1788–1854). Alexander Spotswood Henry was born to Patrick and Dorothea Dandridge Henry in 1788. He was named after Dorothea Henry's grandfather, Alexander Spotswood (1676–1740), the Colonial lieutenant governor of Virginia. Alexander Spotswood Henry married Paulina Jordan Cabell (1794–1833), daughter of Dr. George Cabell (1766–1823) and Sarah Winston Cabell (1770–1826). Dr. Cabell was a friend of Patrick Henry and his physician, who attended to Henry at his death. The letter came into the possession of Sarah "Sallie" Spotswood Henry, daughter of John Robert Henry and his wife, Elizabeth Frances Edwards Henry. Sallie Henry died at her sister Gillie Coleman Henry's home in Radford, Virginia, in September 1915. Her niece, Elizabeth S. Moran, daughter of Gillie Coleman Henry, found the letter in a trunk of Sallie Henry's in the attic at Radford in January 1938 at the time of her mother's burial. In January 1961, Ms. Moran contacted the Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation about the letter. She also wrote to Dr. Robert D. Meade, who was working on the second volume of his Patrick Henry biography at the time. She sent the letter to Dr. Meade, who promised to give it to the Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation after gathering the necessary information for his records. The letter was given to the Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation on October 25, 1964. Information in this letter helped prove Alexander Spotswood Henry's burial at Red Hill; however, the precise location of Henry's grave is still not known.