Henry Family
Tennessee and Virginia
------------------------------------------------------------------------

 
Genealogical and Historical Account of Harwoods Henrys and Dotsons
pages 85-106, 110-111 
written in 1902 by James B. Harwood
Henrys

As has been observed, my grandmother was a Henry. Family tradition has been from my first recollection that she was a descendant of the Henry family to which Patrick Henry, the Virginia statesman and orator of Revolutionary fame, belonged. 

After long, patient and diligent search, I have been more than satisfied of the correctness of the tradition. 

History of this notable family begins first in Scotland, and, although of Scotch extraction, they were originally Normans, and are numbered in the list of Conquerors under "William the Conqueror." 

After the "Conquest" they settled in Scotland. From Scotland some went to Ireland, some to England, and many of them, like the Harwoods, are found there listed in "Doomsday Book." Their names also occur in the roll of the "Battle Abbey." 

The names Alexander, Patrick, William and Hugh were common among them. 

Some time, but not very long prior to 1730, John Henry came directly from Scotland to Virginia. In April, 1733, his brother, Patrick Henry, an Episcopalian minister, also came over. 

The two brothers were very much attached to each other and ever afterwards lived not far apart. They were cousins of David Henry, who went from Scotland to London at the age of fourteen, and became a journeyman printer in the same office with Benjamin Franklin. He married a sister of Edward Cave, the found of the "Gentleman's Magazine," in London. 

David was for more than fifty years associate editor of the Magazine, and in that publication describes his Henry kin as "more respected for their good sense and superior education than for their riches, as at every neighborhood meeting they were among the foremost." 

John and Patrick were sons of Alexander Henry and Jean Robertson, of Aberdeen, Scotland. 

Jean Robertson, their mother, was sister of Reverend William Robertson, the father of Dr. William Robertson, a very distinguished historian and divine, who was said to have the blood of John Knox in his veins. 

John and Patrick were both men of classical education, of high moral character, intellectual capacity and irreproachable integrity. 

On June 11th, 1736, the Rev. Patrick Henry was chosen Rector of St. Paul's Parish in Hanover County, after which there is but little said of him in history. 

The date in not given, but in the year 1732 or 1733 John Henry was married to Mrs.  Syme, nee Sarah Winston, the widow of Capt. John Syme. Her brother, William Winston, was said to be "the greatest orator ever heard, Patrick Henry excepted." This was spoken with reference to Patrick Henry, Jr. 

The residence of John Henry was at Studly, in Hanover County, sixteen miles from Richmond, and there Patrick Henry, Jr., was born May 29, 1736, and lived to be the greatest orator known to history, a statesman, the peer of any that ever lived, and while it is said of Washington that he was the "Father of his Country," it may be as truly said of Patrick Henry that he was the "Father of the Revolution." He was named for his uncle, the Rev. Patrick Henry. His brother William was older. There were seven sisters all younger and said to be very talented. 

In the Fall of 1754, and before he was 19 years of age, Patrick, Jr., was married to Sarah Shelton. She was a most estimable woman and of excellent parentage. A gift from her father at the time of  her marriage was six negroes and 300 acres of land. His father gave him some property besides and this was their start in the world. 

He at first engaged in mercantile business and soon failed, but it is written of him that he was of "a cheerful and self-reliant spirit that no misfortune could benumb." Evidence of such spirit is visible in a letter of advice to a young friend in which he said: "Adversity toughens manhood, and a characteristic of the good or the great man is not that he has been exempted rom the evils and errors of life, but that he has surmounted them." 

It is said that he was remarkably fond of fun, of hunting, fishing and playing on the violin. Some people accused him of being lazy, but at the age of 15 he had read Virgil and Livy in the original, which is evidence that he could not have been much lazy. A lazy man won't study. 

Early in the year 1775 his wife died, leaving six children. He was then thirty-nine years old and Commander in Chief of the Virginia forces. Afterwards five times elected Governor of the State. Refused election to a sixth term. 

October 9, 1777 he was married the second time to Dorothy Dandridge, daughter of Nathaniel West Dandridge and Dorothy Spotswood, daughter of Governor Spotswood. Dorothy Dandridge was a cousin of Martha Washington. She was much younger than her husband and survived him many years. 

Of the second marriage there were ten children, making sixteen in all. Marriages at the age of 17 to 20 were common in those days, and a frequent occurrence to find comparative young men with grandchildren.