Patrick Henry’s Red Hill

Patrick Henry’s Red Hill. “One of the garden spots of the world”. You are now standing in the heart of what was once a 3,000 acre plantation known as Red Hill. After three decades of public service, Patrick Henry, the “Voice of the Revolution”, retired here, which he regarded as “one of the garden spots of the world”., Henry purchased the 700-acre estate and story-and-half house from Richard Marot Booker in March 1794. Over the next five years, he expanded the modest plantation and its labor force to 67 enslaved persons. These enslaved grew 20,000 pounds of tobacco per year, cared for 381 heads of livestock, and operated a distillery, laundry, and tannery on the plantation., While living at Red Hill, Henry declined numerous posts in the national government. Yet, George Washington persuaded him to stand for election to the Virginia legislature. Henry delivered his last public speech at nearby Charlotte Court House on March 4, 1799., Henry died on June 6, 1799, at age 63, from an intestinal blockage and was buried at Red Hill. Over 147 enslaved and free African Americans are also buried here at Quarter Place Cemetery., Ownership of Red Hill remained with the family until 1944 when Henry’s great-granddaughter died. At that time, the Patrick Henry memorial Foundation was established to preserve the last home of the revolutionary orator. Congress declared red Hill the Patrick Henry National Monument in 1986., (captions) , Harrison Henry, born enslaved by Patrick Henry around 1798, photographed at Red Hill., Patrick Henry’s home as it appeared in the 1790s, The Henry family cemetery around 1907. All images courtesy Red Hill collection.