my 1st wife

At age eighteen, not yet having found his profession, Henry married sixteen-year-old Sarah Shelton, whose dowry was a 600-acre farm called Pine Slash, a house, and six slaves. Henry’s first attempt as a planter ended when fire destroyed his house in 1757. After a second attempt at storekeeping proved unsuccessful, Henry helped his father-in-law at Hanover Tavern, across the road from the county courthouse, and began reading law.

HOME CALENDAR GALLERY DIRECTIONS, HOURS HISTORY DESCENDANTS TRUSTEES OSAGE ORANGE TREE BIOGRAPHY TIMELINE MUSEUM SHOP MEMBERSHIP INFO JOIN THE SOCIETY LINKS OF INTEREST CONTACT US

By 1766, nearing his twenty-fourth birthday, Henry decided to become a lawyer. Self-taught and barely prepared, Henry persuaded the panel of distinguished Virginia attorneys that he had the intelligence to warrant admission to the bar. With his energy and talents, and some encouragement from his influential family, Patrick Henry established a thriving practice in the courts of Hanover and adjacent counties.