Early leaders paved the way for Henry County
By Dr. Barry Dorsey, March 11, 2018
This area has a rich history. It was a stop along the Great Road, through which thousands of immigrants traveled. It was the home of Patrick Henry and home to the largest landowner in Virginia at one time. That would be George Hairston, who owned 280,000 acres at one point. From the efforts of pioneer women in Henry County and elsewhere, this county has a history not found among many others. For this month’s Henry County edition of Looking Back, we examine some of the early leaders of Henry County.
Around the time of the Revolutionary War, the growing frontier in Virginia often saw new counties carved from older ones. Thus it was with Henry County. The area that eventually became Henry County had once been a part of Brunswick County. In 1732, that county was partitioned so that Lunenburg County was carved out of it. Then, in 1752, it was divided again, creating Halifax County and in 1767, Pittsylvania County was carved out of Halifax.
The counties kept dividing after war was declared with England. In 1776, Henry County was formed by taking part of Pittsylvania County. Originally, Henry included what became Franklin County in 1787 and Patrick County, which split off in 1791.
It wasn’t as simple as drawing lines on a map. In fact, a county’s creation was a heated topic of discussion in the legislature. As the governor of Virginia in 1776, Patrick Henry supported creating the county that included part of his name. He and others convinced the legislature to approve the idea, which they did in Oct. 1776. There were specific requirements included in the county’s original status. First, the county would have a number of justices, comparable to today’s board of supervisors, who would run the area, as well as a high sheriff who would function much like today’s county administrator. The sheriff was also in charge of all elections. The delegates approved the proposal, calling for a group to gather in early 1777 to help organize the new county.
On the third Monday of January 1777, a group of people met at a home along the Smith River to organize the new County of Henry. First taking a required Oath to Virginia, the five justices appointed for life were Edward Lyne, Abram Penn, Peter Saunders, George Waller, and Robert Hairston. After taking his Oath of Allegiance to Virginia, Robert Hairston produced a commission showing him as the first High Sheriff of Henry and two of his sons as Under Sheriffs of Henry. The justices appointed other officers of the court and four constable positions to maintain order in the county.
Because the boundaries of a county often shifted, a county’s courthouse moved frequently. At the time, there was a rule that a county seat had to be in the center of a county and not more than a day’s ride (by horse, of course) from any part of a county. The first county seat of Henry County was reportedly about a mile northeast of where Stanley Furniture was eventually located. When Franklin County became a reality in 1787, the county seat moved to Mayo Forge near the home of Abram Penn, one of the original Justices of the County. In 1791, when Patrick County was created, the county seat moved to an area in the center of the remaining county’s land-mass, with George Hairston giving 50 acres of land for a new courthouse and buildings and James Anthony providing two acres with springs so that there would be water for the courthouse. The new settlement was simply called “Henry County Courthouse,” but before long someone suggested naming the new village “Martinsville” in honor of perhaps the area’s best well-known citizen at the time, Gen. Joseph Martin. Owing its development not only to being the county seat, but eventually to the railroad and tobacco houses, Martinsville was incorporated as a town in 1873 and became a city in 1929.
Henry and Martin
In 1779, having completed three one-year terms as governor, Patrick Henry moved to the area. He was a friend of Joseph Martin, and he also had an opportunity to buy 10,000 acres of land with his sister. He lived on a plantation at Leatherwood Creek for approximately five years until again being elected governor and moving to the Richmond area.
Patrick Henry was the orator of the Revolution. One can’t forget his fiery speech at St. John’s Church in Richmond where he spoke the well-known sentence “Give me liberty or give me death” and also the famous line “If this be treason, then make the most of it.” But he changed from being a firebrand—and incurring Thomas Jefferson’s favor—to becoming convinced that Jefferson and Madison were on the wrong track in what they proposed, beginning with the ratification of the Constitution.
Along the way, he served several terms in the Virginia General Assembly, representing different areas of western Virginia. He became a supporter of John Marshall for Congress. Marshall became the leader of the Federalists in the House and then resurrected a static Supreme Court as Chief Justice, supporting a national government agenda in the process.
Refusing several important positions, Henry and his wife retired to Red Hill, a plantation near Lynchburg. He eventually ran for and was elected to the General Assembly as a Federalist but died of stomach cancer before he could take his seat.
Joseph Martin was a friend of Patrick Henry’s. He stood over six-feet tall, which was practically a giant in those days. His specialty was dealing with the Indians. Indeed, he had a first wife who died of smallpox, a second wife who had been a neighbor and was considerably younger than Martin, and an Indian wife—not totally unheard of along the frontier at that time. Gov. Henry appointed Martin as Agent and Commissioner to the Cherokee Indians, and he kept the Indians uninvolved at Kings Mountain, a decisive battle of the Revolutionary War. Altogether, Martin had 23 children.
The largest landowner
In an era of big families, George Hairston had 12 children. Upon their marriage (one son and one daughter died before marrying), each of his children received possessions equivalent to $500,000, a huge sum in those days.
One story often told about George Hairston relates to how he met his future wife, Elizabeth Perkins Letcher. A Tory who raided Henry County farms for beef to feed Cornwallis’s army, Colonel Bell Nicholls, learned that a local county Justice and Patriot leader, William Letcher, was at home. Sneaking up to a window, Nicholls shot and killed Letcher in the presence of his wife and infant child. Colonel Abram Penn organized a party of men to catch the Tory and began chasing him. Hairston was a member of the party of 500. Here, the story becomes convoluted. Either Penn or perhaps Hairston caught the Tory and eventually hanged him or the Tory was hanged two weeks later in North Carolina. At any rate, six months later, George Hairston married Letcher’s widow.
The Revolutionary War divided the citizens of the county like no other conflict except perhaps the Civil War. Near the end of 1777, a Tory stronghold was on the mountain frontier, and it flew the British flag. Tories were told by Cornwallis to raid Patriot settlements. Homes were often burned after being plundered of all their valuables. The Patriots followed the Tory example, and many died on both sides, according to a history of the time.
Other early leaders
Several men were leaders of the county in the early days, in addition to Henry, Martin, and George Hairston. They included Robert Hairston, John Redd, George Waller, and Abram Penn.
Robert Hairston arrived in America by 1730 with his father and three brothers. He originally settled in what is now Campbell County and represented it in the House of Burgesses in 1749. He served as a Lieutenant in the French and Indian War, took an Oath of Allegiance to the King, and became a Captain of Militia. Moving to Henry County, he took an Oath of Allegiance to the Commonwealth of Virginia; he was the first High Sheriff of Henry County. His son George, born in 1750, is well known in this area, serving as a Captain under Colonel Penn in the Revolutionary War, working as a Justice of the Henry County Court, becoming the largest landowner in Virginia, serving for a timeJohn Redd became the second richest man “in these wilds,” according to one history of Henry County. He ran away from his home and a poverty-stricken family in Albemarle County, became a Major in charge of wagons during the Revolutionary War, and was known for his “pluck, brains, and persistency,” again according to the same history of Henry County. In later years, it was a common sight to see him, spy glass in hand, scanning the road from north to south in search of travelers who might be invited to the noon meal. He once spied John C. Calhoun, newly elected Senator from South Carolina, and family whose carriage had broken down on the way to Washington, D.C. He invited them into his home and its hospitality. Calhoun, who later became Vice President, referred to Redd as the “smartest man he had ever met.” as the Coroner for the county, etc.
George Waller lived at Wallers Ford, an area that became Fieldale in 1919 when Fieldcrest Mills, Inc., built a textile plant there. The area was a well-known crossing on the Smith River, especially for travelers along the Great Road. At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, the plantation was used as a muster field and drill ground. A shed was added to store ammunition to protect the county against the British, if they attempted a crossing on the Smith River. Waller’s home had iron bars on long narrow windows to protect the residents against Indian attacks which never came.
Abram Penn commanded the Henry County Militia throughout the Revolutionary War. The members of the militia were “minutemen” pledged to respond immediately to any call for muster. They were frequently engaged in military actions but spent most of their time responding to Tory incursions into the county. The county’s second courthouse was near Penn’s home. He was involved in a number of county activities: he was one of the first Justices, as well as the Sheriff at one time. He always seemed to be available when his county needed him.
Certainly, these men were not the only early settlers in the county. For example, Joseph Gravely came to Henry County from Culpeper County before the Revolutionary War. He acquired extensive lands in the Leatherwood section. In the 1800s, the Gravelys became world famous for their plug chewing tobacco. Another trio who could be singled out is Elisha Walden, Will Blevins, and John Cox—all Long Hunters (men who went hunting in the fall of the year 100 miles or more beyond their settlements) who greatly influenced and awakened a frontier spirit in Joseph Martin. And then there were three original settlers (William Randolph, Jonathan Harmer, and Walter King) who received 24,000 acres in a tax-free arrangement in 1738 for settlers making their homes in the frontier area. These men were Tory sympathizers and at the close of the Revolutionary War their lands were forfeited. After a “Board of Inquist,” some of their lands were sold.
Some of the material in this article was presented to attendees of the Martinsville-Henry County Historical Society’s first Annual Founders’ Day in late January. The society is located at 1 E. Main Street in Martinsville in the Heritage Center and Museum.