Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 2.djvu/31

 14

VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

had the sanction of that body, Mr. Henry ltd the opposition and was the only one to speak against it. The vote of one colony defeated the measure, and Patrick Henry alone arose to the occasion that precipitated the war. He moved before the Virginia convention, March 23. 1775, to put the colony in a state of defence preparatory to war which was threatening. The delegates met in St. John's Episcopal Church, Rich- mond, and Mr. Henry for two days listened f^ the proceedings toward an amicable set- tlement of the colonies and England. He foresaw in any compromise acceptable to the King, absolute submission that would be little less than slavery, and he prepared a set of resolutions providing for an immedi- ate organization of the militia and the plac- ing of the colony in a condition of defense. The reading of these resolutions alarmed some, who asked him to withdraw his reso- lutions. Instead of this he pronounced his immortal oration, closing with the sentence, tut as for me. give me liberty or give me death!" The Virginia convention of 1775 made him commander of all the Virginia forces, and commissioned him colonel of the First Virginia Regiment. When the Vir- ginia troops were taken into the Continental army. Congress commissioned a subordinate, brigadier-general, and offered a single regi- ment to Colonel Henry, who declined any commission from that body. He was elected to the Virginia convention of May, 1776, charged with "the care of the republic," the royal governor having fled. This conven- tion framed a new constitution and elected Henry the first governor of the state on the first ballot. He was re-elected in 1777, 1778, 1784 and 1785. and in 1786 declined a re-
 * 1 know not what course others may take,

election. In 1777 he planned and sent out the George Rogers Clarke expedition which conquered the northwest He served in the Virginia convention that ratified the Fed- eral constitution, and after vehemently op- posing it as dangerous to the liberties of the people, he offered amendments to the instru- ment which were partially adopted. In 1794 he declined the appointment of United States senator, made by Governor Henry Lee. and withdrew from public life. In 1795 ^^ de- clined the position of secretary of state in President Washington's cabinet, in 1796 the position of chief justice of the United States supreme court, and the nomination for gov- ernor of Virginia, and in 1797, the mission to France offered by President Adams. In 1799 he allowed himself to be elected to the state legislature in order to oppose the Vir- ginia resolutions of 1798, but he died before taking his seat. His first wife died in 1775, and October 9. 1777. he married Dorothea Spotswood Dandridge, a granddaughter of Governor Alexander Spotswood. His life was written by William Wirt (1817): by Alexander H. Everett in Sparks' "American Biography" (1844-48); by Moses Coit Ty- ler in "American Statesmen" (1887), and by his grandson, William Wirt Henry (3 vols. 1891-92). His body lies in a grave on the estate in Charlotte county, where he formerly fived, and the simple gravestone is inscribed with the one line, "His Fame His Best Epi- taph." He died at "Red Hill," Charlotte county, June 6, 1799.

Holtt James (q. v., i-259).

Hoitt William, son of John Holt, who was a justice of York in 1757. and mayor of Wil- liamsburg, resided in Williamsburg; was a Presbyterian, and partner with Rev. Charles

Digitized by

Google