Capitol of Virginia in Richmond, from the General Government and State Capitol Buildings series (N14) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands (1889) by Allen & Ginter|The Gast Lithograph & Engraving CompanyThe Metropolitan Museum of Art
Political powerhouse
After a year away from politics, Henry reentered in the spring of 1780. He was the most powerful and influential member of the Virginia House of Delegates, often supporting measures to return power to planters and farmers.
“I consider myself a servant of the people of this commonwealth, as a sentinel over the rights, liberty, and happiness.” – Patrick Henry, 1788
Saltcellar (ca. 1785) by William RichardsonPatrick Henry's Red Hill
Chief executive
On November 17, 1784, Henry was reelected as governor and moved his family into the recently built Executive Mansion in Richmond, the new capital of Virginia. He served for a fifth term until resigning in November 1786 to focus on his health and personal affairs.
Henry and his family then moved to Pleasant Grove plantation in Prince Edward County, taking with him 28 enslaved people.
There was a growing favor for a more powerful central government, something Patrick Henry opposed, with several Virginia Federalists wishing to win him over. In September 1787, following the adjournment of the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention, George Washington sent Henry the proposed constitution, to which he disapproved.
Constitutional critic
On June 2, 1788, Patrick Henry met as an elected delegate to the Virginia Convention during the ratification of the United States Constitution.
He was the spokesman of the Anti-Federalist side and gave a spirited objection to the proposed constitution, stating that it did not protect individuals’ rights. His opposition won over a small group of Anti-Federalists and despite the Constitution being ratified by a vote of 89 to 79, this growing sentiment led to the creation of the Bill of Rights a year later on September 25, 1789.
Return to law
Due to declining health, Patrick Henry finally retired from the legislature at the end of 1790. He found himself in debt and returned to practicing law.
A new federal court opened in Virginia that same year and a backlog of cases from British creditors seeking payments from the Revolutionary War had accumulated.
By September 1791, Henry had earned a reputation as one of the top civil lawyers in America, with President Washington wishing to appoint him Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. At this time, Henry was to argue for a defendant in Ware v. Hylton—The British Debts Case—the most critical civil suit of his career.
Part of an original letter from Patrick Henry to his daughter, Martha "Patsey" Fontaine, at Leatherwood. This letter mentions the affairs of the British Debts Case and that Martha's sister, Anne Roane, has lost her second son.
Turret of the White Tower, Tower of London (2009) by Simon Jarratt PhotographyHistoric Royal Palaces
The Treaty of Paris included an agreement that both parties could collect debts without lawful impediment from the other. In response to this, the Commonwealth of Virginia passed a law allowing debtors to absolve themselves from British creditors, citing them as an alien enemy.
However, the Supreme Court struck this down, citing the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which established all federal treaties as the supreme law of the land. In 1791 and again in May 1793, Patrick Henry argued on the losing side of this case alongside John Marshall, a fellow Founding Father and lawyer.
Red Hill Main House (1990) by UnknownPatrick Henry's Red Hill
Retiring to Red Hill
In January 1794, Henry purchased Red Hill, a 700-acre plantation in Charlotte County, and spent the next two years between this and his Long Island plantation. He continued to farm tobacco at both and conducted a limited law practice.
Tap to explore
The law office of Patrick Henry at his Red Hill plantation.
In correspondence with his family, Henry described Red Hill as “one of the garden spots of the world.” At Red Hill, Henry spent his final years in leisure, tending to his “little flock” and returning to the violin.
Osage Orange Tree (2017-06-14) by Myra TrentPatrick Henry's Red Hill
National Champion Osage orange tree
Patrick Henry enjoyed his last years at Red Hill under this massive Osage orange tree, now the largest of its kind in the United States.
D. Junii Juvenalis et Auli Persi Flacci Satyrae (1669) by E. Tyler, Nathan Brooks, and Edward Thomas, eds.Patrick Henry's Red Hill
Political resurgence
Henry deemed himself “too old and infirm ever again to undertake public concerns,” though he became increasingly re-engaged in the face of Democratic-Republicans.
Both the Federalist-backed Alien and Sedition Acts and the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions of 1798 alarmed Henry. After a direct request from George Washington, Henry ran for a seat in the House of Delegates. He gave his final public speech at Charlotte Court House, winning the election on March 4, 1799. Henry returned to Red Hill, however, never to leave again.
The beginning of the end
On April 16, 1799, Patrick Henry wrote of his worsening health. He stated he’d been confined for several weeks by “a severe indisposition” and was almost too ill to write the letter. Henry referred to his illness as feeling like “the gravel,” an 18th-century term for kidney stones. His family began to assemble at Red Hill after hearing of his failing health.
Red Hill Mansion Library (1913/1918) by Heustis P. CookPatrick Henry's Red Hill
In the final hours of his life, Henry felt most comfortable sitting in a corner chair. After trying several remedies, his physician, Dr. George Cabell, offered a dose of liquid mercury. Hoping it would cure him, Henry drew his cap over his eyes, prayed, and drank the medicine.
The first replica of the chair sat in by Patrick Henry upon his death in June 1799.
Patrick Henry Mourning Brooch (ca. 1800) by UnknownPatrick Henry's Red Hill
"Mourn, Virginia, mourn!"
Shortly thereafter, Patrick Henry died on June 6, 1799 at Red Hill. He was survived by his wife, Dorothea, and had fathered seventeen children with both her and Sarah Shelton.
“The characteristic of the good or the great man, is not that he has been exempted from the evils of life, but that he has surmounted them.” – Patrick Henry, 1793.
