Images

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Fork Church: The Fork Church, built from 1735–1739, was part of the Church of England, the official church in Virginia before the American Revolution. The Reverend Patrick Henry, Sr., Patrick Henry’s uncle and namesake, officiated at the Fork Church from 1737 to 1777. Patrick Henry worshipped there regularly. The church sits in St. Martin’s Parish, Hanover County, and functions today as part of the Episcopal Church of the United States. Photograph by author. Special thanks to the Fork Church, the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia.

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Rural Plains: Rural Plains, built in about 1723, was owned by the Shelton family. Tradition has it that in 1754 Patrick Henry, then 18 years old, married Sarah Shelton, 16 years old, in the parlor of her parents’ home. Sarah brought to the marriage the 300 acre Pine Slash plantation and six enslaved persons. Sarah would die a tragic death at Scotchtown in 1775. Photograph by author. Special thanks to the National Park Service, Department of the Interior.

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Sully Miniature: The Lawrence Sully miniature painting of Patrick Henry, a 2 9/16 x 2 1/8 inches watercolor on ivory, is believed to be one of only two images of Henry made while he was alive. It was painted in 1795 and is believed to depict Henry during the British Debts case. (The other life miniature, known as the Meredith miniature, is held by the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.) The famous painting of Henry by Thomas Sully (Lawrence’s more well-known brother) is believed to have been made from this miniature and a painting of Sir James Cook, who some said bore a striking resemblance to Patrick Henry. See Charles Henry Hart, Portraits of Patrick Henry, Remarks before the Numismatic and Antiquarian Society of Philadelphia, April 17th, 1911 (reprint, Philadelphia, 1913). The original Lawrence Sully miniature is held by the Mead Art Museum at Amherst College as a bequest of Herbert L. Pratt (class of 1895); image courtesy of Bridgeman Images, London.

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Sievers Bust:  Sculpted by F. William Sievers and presented to Virginia in 1932 by John Henry Miller, this bust of Patrick Henry sits in the Virginia State Capitol. It is said to be a good likeness of Henry and is believed to have been made from a bust of Henry made during his life and the Thomas Sully portrait. A proposal in the House of Delegates to have a bust of Henry made shortly after his death to honor the first governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia was blocked by Jeffersonians in the assembly who were angry with Henry’s decision to run as a Federalist in the election of 1799.

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Rothermel: This 1851 painting by Peter Rothermel is supposed to depict Henry making his famous “Caesarser had his Brutus” speech in opposition to the Stamp Act and its taxation without representation. The image painted by Rothermel is entirely romanticized – neither Henry nor the House of Burgesses looked at all like this, but it does show the extent to which Henry was lionized in the nineteenth century for his famous speeches. Special thanks to the Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation, which holds the original painting at Red Hill and the Papers of Patrick Henry at Documents Compass, Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.

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Currier and Ives: This Currier and Ives lithograph from c.1876 depicts Patrick Henry giving his “Liberty or Death” speech at the Virginia Convention meeting in St. John’s Church in Richmond. As with the Rothermel painting, the scene is entirely romanticized. Special thanks to the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division and Gale Research.