Patrick henry biography family
Patrick Henry
Patrick Henry’s legacy has become indelibly linked with his oration to the Second Virginia Convention where he proclaimed, “Give me liberty or give me death.” However, Henry did not just give one speech and was not merely an unwavering patriot, Henry was a skilled politician, lawyer, and orator and his life and opinions did not always line up with other founders.
The orator was born in Studley in the Colony of Virginia on May 29, 1736. Patrick Henry’s father, John Henry, was an educated Scottish immigrant who had married into the considerable fortune of Sarah Winston Syme, a wealthy widow with a good family name. Henry did not attend a university; instead, his father tutored him. His mother provided him with his oratorical and religious education by bringing him along to numerous Presbyterian speakers across the colony. These speakers were products of the Great Awakening and as a result they had a unique oratorical style, speaking in the people’s language and to their hearts rather than their logic. Henry adapted this style of oration to the political sphere throughout his life. In 1754, the young patriot married Sarah Shelton; and as a dowry, her father gave the young couple 300 acres of land and six slaves. However, years of drought killed Henry’s hopes of being a prosperous planter, and he moved in with his father-in-law at Hanover Tavern. Henry became the de-facto manager of the tavern—serving drinks, entertaining guests with his fiddle, and meeting with travelers passing through Hanover. During Henry’s tenure at the Hanover Tavern, he and Thomas Jefferson became close friends.
While working at the tavern, Henry began to pursue a career in law. After only one month of studying, he applied for a lawyer’s license in Williamsburg and shortly thereafter opened a practice. Henry used his position as a lawyer to fight for what he believed were natural rights. After the crown repealed the Twin Penny Acts
Full Biography
The Life and Times of Patrick Henry
Early Life
Location of Studley, the birthplace of Patrick Henry, in Hanover County, Virginia.
Patrick Henry was born at Studley in Hanover County, Virginia, on May 29, 1736. His father John Henry was a Scottish-born planter. His mother Sarah Winston Syme was a young widow from a prominent gentry family. Henry attended a local school for a few years and received the remainder of his formal education from his father, who had attended King’s College in Aberdeen.
At fifteen Henry began working as a clerk for a local merchant. A year later, in 1752, he and his older brother William opened their own store, which promptly failed.
At age eighteen, not yet having found his profession, Henry married sixteen-year-old Sarah Shelton, whose dowry was a 600-acre farm called Pine Slash, a house, and six enslaved people. Henry’s first attempt as a planter ended when fire destroyed his house in 1757. After a second attempt at storekeeping proved unsuccessful, Henry helped his father-in-law at Hanover Tavern, across the road from the county courthouse, and began reading law.
By 1760, nearing his twenty-fourth birthday, Henry decided to become a lawyer. Self-taught and barely prepared, Henry persuaded the panel of distinguished Virginia attorneys, Wythe and Randolph, that he had the intelligence to warrant admission to the bar. With his energy and talents and some encouragement from his influential family, Patrick Henry established a thriving practice in the courts of Hanover and adjacent counties.
The Voice of the Revolution
Patrick Henry’s political career began in December 1763 with his rousing victory in the Parsons’ Cause, a controversy rooted in the peculiarities of colonial Virginia’s tobacco-based economy that also became an important precursor of the American Revolution. Clergymen of the established Anglican church and other public officials in colonial Virginia received their an In October 1754, at the age of eighteen, Henry married Sarah Shelton, a sixteen-year-old from Rural Plains, not far from Studley. He received as her dowry a 600-acre farm called Pine Slash and six slaves. Henry was remarkably candid about the contradiction that his role as a slaveholder posed for his religious and political ideals. “Would anyone believe I am the master of slaves of my own purchase,” he wrote in 1773. “I will not, I cannot justify it … It is a debt we owe to the purity of our religion, to show that it is at variance with that law which warrants slavery.” After unsuccessful ventures as a storeowner and planter, Henry taught himself the law and found his calling. He won admission to the bar in April 1760 and began a successful practice in the county courts. His political career took wing on December 1, 1763, with his success in the lawsuit at the heart of the Parsons’ Cause controversy. At issue in the Parsons’ Cause were the Two Penny Acts of 1755 and 1758, temporary statutes that had stabilized the salaries of Virginia’s public officials in years when crop failure had driven up the price of tobacco, the colony’s main form of taxation American Founding Father, orator and politician (1736–1799) For other uses, see Patrick Henry (disambiguation). Patrick Henry Portrait by George Bagby Matthews after Thomas Sully, c. 1891 Patrick Henry (May 29, 1736 [O.S. May 18, 1736] – June 6, 1799) was an American politician, planter and orator who declared to the Second Virginia Convention (1775): "Give me liberty or give me death!" A Founding Father, he served as the first and sixth post-colonial governor of Virginia, from 1776 to 1779 and from 1784 to 1786. A native of Hanover County, Virginia, Henry was primarily educated at home. After an unsuccessful venture running a store, as well as assisting his father-in-law at Hanover Tavern, he became a lawyer through self-study. Beginning his practice in 1760, Henry soon became prominent through his victory in the Parson's Cause against Early Years
Patrick Henry was born on May 29, 1736, at Studley plantation in Hanover County. His father, John Henry, was a planter, mapmaker, and justice of the peace who was educated at Kings College, Aberdeen; his mother, Sarah Winston Syme Henry, was a former widow from a prominent family. Henry was the second of their nine children. He was educated by his father and by his uncle the Reverend Patrick Henry, rector of the Hanover parish, Saint Paul’s. Though Henry held true to his Anglicanbeliefs throughout his life (becoming an Episcopalian after the American Revolution), as a youth he regularly accompanied his mother to sermons given by the evangelical Presbyterian Samuel Davies, whose oratorical example had a strong influence on Henry.Early Legal Career
Patrick Henry
In office
December 1, 1784 – December 1, 1786Preceded by Benjamin Harrison V Succeeded by Edmund Randolph In office
July 5, 1776 – June 1, 1779Preceded by Edmund Pendleton (acting) Succeeded by Thomas Jefferson In office
September 5, 1774 – August 1, 1775Preceded by Office established Succeeded by Thomas Nelson Jr. Constituency Constituency Born May 29, 1736 [O.S. May 18, 1736]
Studley, Colony of Virginia, British AmericaDied June 6, 1799(1799-06-06) (aged 63)
Red Hill, Charlotte County, Virginia, U.S.Resting place Red Hill Patrick Henry National Memorial Political party Spouses Children 17 Parents Relatives William Henry (brother), Elizabeth Henry Campbell Russell (sister), Annie Henry Christian (sister) Profession Signature Allegiance United Colonies Branch/service Virginia militia Years of service 1775–1776 Rank Commands Battles/wars American Revolutionary War