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Patrick Henry Autograph Document Signed...
Description
Patrick Henry Negotiates Western Land Exchange in Virginia Frontier During the Closing Years of the Revolutionary War
Patrick Henry Autograph Document Signed ("P. Henry").
One page, 7 x 8 inches. [no place]; September 19, 1782. Docketed on
the verso: "P: Henry / Release for Great Bone."Henry, the famed Revolutionary orator and first Governor of Virginia, writes to his brother-in-law, Colonel William Christian, concerning the reassignment and exchange of land holdings in western Virginia in full:
"Dear Sir
Inclosed is an agreemt I made with M. Hoard for his land near me in which you'll see I reserved 500 acres for you - & that for the purpose of satisfying you in some measure for 500 acres part of the great Bone Survey; But as I have given up that, I request you to put your name to the assignment I have wrote on the Back of the paper, as I have exchanged the Right to the 500 acres with Mr. Parberry for land in Powell Vally
Dr. Sir
Yrs
P. Henry."
The letter reflects Henry's active involvement in the complex system of land claims and exchanges on Virginia's western frontier during the closing phase of the Revolutionary War. References to the "Great Bone Survey" and lands in Powell Valley place the transaction within the broader movement of settlement beyond the Appalachian Mountains, where overlapping claims, speculative ventures, and informal agreements shaped property ownership.
After serving as Governor of Virginia, Henry returned to public life and in 1780 was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, where he quickly emerged as one of its most influential members. In 1782 he worked to stabilize the state both economically and politically in the difficult closing years of the Revolutionary War. Born in 1736 on what was then Virginia's western frontier, Henry maintained a lifelong interest in westward expansion. In the House he was regarded as a spokesman for interior Virginia, and in private life he engaged in numerous land speculation ventures.
Condition: Lightly toned with flattened folds with a few small separations at fold intersections. Small pencil annotation at top right. Dampstaining at the top edge and near the center. Mounting strip at top edge on verso; clear tape along center vertical fold on verso.
References: Rice, Otis K., The Allegheny Frontier: West Virginia Beginnings, 1730-1830 (1970)
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