Henry Family Cemetery

Henry Family Cemetery. Patrick Henry's Red Hill. This cemetery was once part of the formal gardens at Red Hill. In 1798, Patrick and Dorothea’s infant daughter Jane was buried in this area, thus starting the family cemetery. On June 6, 1799, Patrick Henry died and was later laid to rest at the foot of his garden as he requested. The following month, the Reverend Archibald McRoberts of the nearby Hat Creek Presbyterian Church was called upon to preach the funeral service. No permanent monument marked Patrick Henry’s burial site until 1859 when his son john ordered the marble tombstones which are seen here today for his mother and father. Inscribed on Patrick Henry’s tombstone are the words “His fame his best epitaph.” Patrick’s wife, Dorothea Dandrige Henry, died on February 14, 1831, at Seven Islands, the home of her daughter Sarah Butler Scott which stood across the Staunton River in Halifax County. Her body was later reinterred at Red Hill next to Patrick., Other marked graves in the cemetery include John henry, the youngest son of Patrick Henry, his wife Elvira McClelland henry, and their daughter, Laura Helen Carter. It is believed Patrick’s son, Alexander Spotswood Henry, is buried next to him. The obelisk at the front of the cemetery marks where Patrick’s infant great-grandson John is buried. Several other family members are likely buried in this cemetery, including Jane Henry, Fayette Henry, and his wife Anne, but their graves have no markers.