Patrick Henry's Birthplace

Patrick Henry's Birthplace is a Virginia historical marker in Hanover County, dedicated 2016.

Route 606 near intersection with Route 615 (Williamsville Rd.) at Salem Presbyterian Church

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Patrick Henry was born at Studley, just southeast of here, on 29 May 1736. The two-story brick manor house burned in 1807. Henry gained fame as a lawyer in the Parsons' Cause case of 1763 by challenging British authority to interfere with laws passed in Virginia. While serving in the House of Burgesses, he denounced the Stamp Act in 1765. Furthering his reputation for passionate oratory, he proclaimed “Give me liberty or give me death!” at the Virginia Convention of 1775 in Richmond. Henry was elected first governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1776. He opposed ratification of the U.S. Constitution on states’ rights grounds in 1788. Henry died at Red Hill in Charlotte County in 1799.

Maps this old were drawn largely by eye, so places on them can sit miles from where they really are. The pin is ours and marks the marker's location today.

TodayHistorical map

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Princeton University Library

Historical maps covering this location

1733 · A map of the British Empire in America with the French and Spanish settlements adjacent… (Princeton University Library)
1755 · Virginie, Maryland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1781 · MARCH of the ARMY under Lieut:t General EARL CORNWALLIS in VIRGINIA, from the JUNCTION at… (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1794 · Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1938 · Studley, Virginia (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)

Virginie, Maryland, 1755, covering the location of Patrick Henry's Birthplace, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Virginie, Maryland, 1755, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

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Marker program managed by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

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