Notes
This letter belongs to a collection of correspondence primarily from Lucy Gray Henry Harrison (1857–1944) to Stanislaus “Stan” Vincent Henkels (1854–1926) concerning a proposed sale of Patrick Henry family heirlooms in 1910. Mrs. Harrison was Patrick Henry's great-granddaughter and the last Henry descendant to own and live at Red Hill. She grew up in Richmond, Virginia, and moved to Duluth, Minnesota, after marrying real estate millionaire Matthew Bland Harrison (1853–1892) in 1886. In 1905, she inherited Red Hill and moved onto the property, where she lived along with her sister, Elizabeth Watkins Henry Lyons (1855–1920), and her secretary, Elizabeth H. Kerper (1890–1964).
Mrs. Harrison inherited many of the family heirlooms that had belonged to Patrick Henry and many of his papers. In 1910, on the advice of Philadelphia neurologist and writer Dr. Weir Mitchell (1829–1914), she contacted Stan V. Henkels about a possible private sale or public auction of some of these pieces. Mr. Henkels was an antique dealer in Philadelphia well-known for his auctions and private sales to collectors. The correspondence from Mrs. Harrison to Mr. Henkels details their business negotiations from May 1910 leading up to the sale of the items in Philadelphia on December 20, 1910. It also includes letters concerning a settling of accounts between them up through February 1911.
Mrs. Harrison freighted Henry’s chair, desk, and law books to Mr. Henkels in June 1910. The rest of the objects and papers were sent by express mail.
The Henry portrait mentioned in the receipt is Thomas Sully’s (1783–1872) oil painting of Patrick Henry, commissioned in 1815 by Henry’s first biographer, William Wirt (1772–1834). An engraving of the portrait was featured on the frontispiece of Wirt’s 1817 biography, “Sketches of the Life & Character of Patrick Henry.” Sully based the portrait on one of the few images of Henry painted from life: a 1795 miniature by Sully’s half-brother, Lawrence Sully (1769–1804). Thomas Sully’s portrait of Henry was given by Wirt to Henry’s youngest son, John (1796–1868), who passed the portrait on to his son William Wirt Henry (1831–1900), who loaned it to the Virginia State Library in Richmond from 1873 to 1884 before he passed it on to his daughter, Lucy Harrison. In 1902, Mrs. Harrison loaned the portrait again to the Virginia State Library but reclaimed it in 1910 to sell it at Mr. Henkels’ auction, where it was purchased by Charles Hamilton (1847–1930) for $4,000.
The two pieces of furniture Mrs. Harrison sent to auction were Henry’s desk and corner chair. A photographed image of the desk appears in the 1907 biography, “The True Patrick Henry” by George Morgan. Mrs. Harrison freighted the desk to Philadelphia in June 1910, and it was sold on order at the December auction for $500. The desk is pictured in Mr. Henkels’ December 1910 auction catalog (76.5.2), along with the corner chair and the caster set. The black walnut corner chair passed directly through the Henry family line from Patrick to Lucy Harrison, and it is said to be the chair in which Henry was sitting when he died on June 6, 1799 of complications from intussusception. An image of the chair appears in “The True Patrick Henry” and the auction catalog (76.5.2). It was sold on order for $225, then later given to the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation by Elizabeth Gribbel Corkran (1897–1976), a descendant of the buyer.
The sale earned Mrs. Harrison a little over $7,300 after expenses, which Mr. Henkels sent to her in two payments in December 1910 and January 1911.
In August 1910, Mrs. Harrison’s secretary, Elizabeth Kerper, traveled from Red Hill to Philadelphia and met with Mr. Henkels to discuss the expenses associated with the upcoming sale. Ms. Kerper obtained a quote from Mr. Henkels on the expenses of freight and shipping, insurance of the collection, Henkels’ commission, and the cost of creating and distributing the auction catalog.
The catalog compiled by Mr. Henkels lists and describes the Patrick Henry papers and heirlooms Mrs. Harrison had sent, along with a few historical items unrelated to Henry that were up for sale at the same auction. Charles L. Hamilton (1847–1930), who purchased many Patrick Henry items, owned a copy of this catalog (76.5.2), which his heirs donated to the Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation in 1959.
The Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation purchased this letter from an online seller in May 2004 as part of the collection of correspondence.