Paper Cutter

This ivory paper cutter, sometimes incorrectly referred to as a letter opener, was held by Patrick Henry when he delivered his "Give me liberty or give me death!" speech at St. John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia on March 23, 1775. It was first mentioned in Robert Douthat Meade’s Patrick Henry: Practical Revolutionary, published in 1969. Meade wrote: “As Henry exclaimed ‘Give me liberty…’ he held aloft an ivory letter opener, letting it sink slowly into his breast at the word ‘death.’” He adds, “Henry’s use of the paper cutter was not overly dramatic; it did not disturb his tone of burning simplicity.”

Col. William Winston Fontaine II is the primary source for the provenance of this artifact. His maternal grandmother was Elizabeth Henry Aylett, the fifth child of Patrick and his first wife, Sarah Shelton Henry. His paternal great-grandmother was Elizabeth’s sister, Martha Henry Fontaine, the oldest of Patrick and Sarah’s six children. It passed down through the family to Charles Borum, great-grandson of William Winston Fontaine.

Saturday, February 19, 1859, according to Fontaine’s diary, was his second day visiting Williamsburg, Virginia. After breakfast, he met an old friend of his father, Hugh Blair Grigsby, who is best known to historians as the author of several books, including The Virginia Convention of 1776 and The History of the Virginia Federal Convention of 1788. Grigsby in turn, introduced the 26-year-old Fontaine to former President John Tyler, whose father was a friend and colleague of Patrick Henry’s. President Tyler, at this time fourteen years removed from office, “invited me to call at his room, as he wished to tell me something about Colonel Henry, which perhaps, I had never heard.” After leaving his friends, Fontaine accompanied Tyler to the house where he was staying.

The former president shared an account of Patrick Henry’s “Liberty or Death” speech as he had no doubt heard from his father, Judge John Tyler. The senior Tyler was a fellow delegate to the Second Virginia Convention where Henry delivered his now famous remarks. The vivid description recorded in Fontaine’s diary contained a detailed explanation of Henry’s remarks as well as his use of the paper cutter as a dagger. Fontaine appreciated the story and how it confirmed what he had heard from his grandmother, Elizabeth, as well as his father, who had heard the story from Virginia Senator William H. Roane, whose mother Anne was a sister of Martha and Elizabeth Henry.

William Fontaine then shared with Tyler that he owned the paper cutter that was being talked about. Tyler remarked to Fontaine, “You own a great historic treasure, my boy.” In 1861, as a member of the Secession Convention in Richmond, Tyler visited Fontaine to see the paper cutter, as well as the Lafayette desk. During the visit, with Patrick Henry’s paper cutter in his hand, the former president recited the latter part of the famous speech for those present.