Notes
This silver tablespoon was said to have belonged to Patrick Henry. According to the donor, the spoon descended from Henry to Sarah Butler Henry Scott (1780–1856), Henry's second daughter with his second wife, Dorothea Spotswood Dandridge (1757–1831).
Documentary evidence on this spoon was very limited. The partially rubbed-away maker's mark is of Lumsden & Short, a silversmith firm created by Charles Lumsden in 1829 in Petersburg, Virginia. Lumsden partnered with William E. Short between 1856 and 1857, indicating this spoon was made during that short-lived partnership. In conclusion, the spoon could not have belonged to Patrick Henry.
The engraved "PH" on the handle of the spoon likely stood for Patrick Henry Scott (1815–1865), a grandson of Patrick Henry and great-grandfather of the donor, Frank Tinsley (1921–2007). Considering Scott's death date and having lived at Seven Islands plantation in Halifax, VA, it seems more likely than not that Scott purchased the spoon.
In 1998, Frank Tinsley loaned the tablespoon to Red Hill. The tablespoon was considered abandoned property and accessioned to the PHMF collection on December 8, 2022.