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.
The Henry heirlooms Mrs. Harrison sent to auction included a collection of Henry’s letters and other documents. One of these was a copy of the receipt for the reimbursement of the gunpowder that Lord Dunmore ordered taken from the Williamsburg Magazine in April 1775. There were also several letters written between Patrick Henry and Virginia politician Richard Henry Lee (1732–1794) about various issues and events during the Revolution. At the auction, the Virginia State Library purchased the gunpowder receipt for $100 and some or all of the Richard Henry Lee correspondence. Mr. Henkels may have confused the library for the Virginia Historical Society when he wrote to Mrs. Harrison about the return of the documents, hence Mrs. Harrison’s concern in this letter. The Virginia Historical Society accepted Mrs. Harrison’s donation of a copy of the gunpowder receipt, which is now housed at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.
The Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation purchased this letter from an online seller in May 2004 as part of the collection of correspondence.