Notes
This is a copy of the famous portrait of Patrick Henry done in 1815 by Thomas Sully (1783–1872). The "Sully portrait" was commissioned by William Wirt (1772–1834) to be used as the frontispiece for his book "Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry" (1817). After the book was published, Wirt gave the portrait to John Henry (1796–1868), Patrick Henry's son, then residing at Red Hill. John Henry's mother and older siblings attested that this was the best likeness of Patrick Henry they had seen. Chief Justice John Marshall (1755–1835), Henry's contemporary, wrote, on December 30, 1816, "I have been shown a painting of the late Mr. Henry painted by Mr. Sully ... which I think a good likeness."
The painting passed from John Henry to his son William Wirt Henry (1831–1900), and then to Lucy Gray Henry Harrison (1857–1944). Mrs. Harrison allowed the painting to hang in the Virginia State Library. In 1910, she sent it to Philadelphia along with many other Henry artifacts to be sold at the Stan Henkels auction. Charles Hamilton of Philadelphia bought and loaned the portrait to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. After his death in 1957, it was sold by his heirs to the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
In 1962, S. Merrill Bemiss and Samuel P. Goodloe began researching Patrick Henry’s portraiture. During this time, S. Merrill Bemiss corresponded with the Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation to gather more information about the Sully portrait. In 1965, the foundation started a drive to raise money to procure a copy of Sully's original portrait for Red Hill. Friends of the foundation sold wood gavels made from walnut trees at Red Hill to raise money for this project.
It is unclear if the drive failed to raise adequate funds or if private donors stepped in unexpectedly. However, in 1966, Samuel P. Goodloe and S. Merrill Bemiss agreed to split the cost of the painting and provide a frame. They commissioned David Silvette (1909–1992) to make a copy of the original Sully portrait in Williamsburg. The copy was completed in October 1966 and was unveiled in a ceremony at Red Hill on June 20, 1968.