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The Chesterfield County Museum, at 6813 Mimms Loop, is a replica of the 1749 courthouse where magistrates, during 1770-74, sentenced seven Baptist preachers to jail for preaching Christ without state-church approval. Where the jail once stood, there now stands the Religious Freedom Monument, a grantie memorial with a bronze tablet inscribed to the memory of those Baptist preachers. See the section, “Virginia Read more...
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The Scotchtown is one of the most significant historic homes associated with Patrick Henry, offering a valuable glimpse into the private life of one of America’s most influential voices for liberty. Located in Hanover County, Virginia, Scotchtown served as Henry’s residence from 1771 to 1778, a crucial period that included the opening years of the American Revolution. Originally built around Read more...
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The Hanover Tavern is one of Virginia’s most storied colonial landmarks, closely associated with the early life and career of Patrick Henry. Situated just a short distance from the historic Hanover County Courthouse, the tavern played an important role in the civic and social life of eighteenth-century Virginia and served as a formative setting for one of America’s most celebrated Read more...
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The Hanover County Courthouse occupies an important place in American history as the setting for one of the earliest and most influential public stands taken by Patrick Henry. Long before his famous speech at St. John’s Church, Henry rose to prominence within this courthouse, where his bold defense of colonial rights helped lay the groundwork for the spirit of resistance Read more...
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Only archaeological remnants of Studley survive today, but in the 18th century this was the site of an impressive two-story brick house. Studley was built by John Syme in the 1720s for his wife Sarah Winston. After his death, she married John Henry. The couple’s nine children were born at the house, including their son, Patrick Henry, who was born Read more...
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Samuel Davies was born in Delaware, trained in Pennsylvania, and at 23 years of age, a missionary to Virginia. He was a “New Light” Presbyterian (like George Whitfield) that taught salvation by grace alone, thru a personal conversion that resulted in a Romans 12:2 transformation. He arrived in Hanover County, Virginia, and took Samuel Morris’ reading houses (such as we Read more...
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The St. John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia, holds a distinguished place in American history as the site of one of the most famous speeches in the struggle for independence. It was within this modest colonial church that Patrick Henry delivered his stirring call for resistance to British rule, forever linking the building to the birth of American liberty. St. John’s Read more...
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The grave of Virginia Governor Patrick Henry, a friend of persecuted Baptists, is at Patrick Henry National Memorial, 1497 Red Hill Road, Brookneal, VA 24528. This beautiful plantation is called Red Hill. Copyrighted and used by permission from David Beale, Baptist History in England and America: Personalities, Positions, and Practices Patrick Henry (1736-1799) loved freedom – risking his life and Read more...
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The Dissenter’s Glebe of Samuel Davies occupies an important place in the religious history of colonial Virginia. Closely associated with Samuel Davies, one of the most influential early American Presbyterian ministers, the glebe represents both the challenges and the gradual expansion of religious freedom in the eighteenth-century South. In colonial Virginia, the Church of England was the established church, supported Read more...