Accession number(s): 76.178
Object: Key to the Patrick Henry House
Material: Steel
Date: 1795-1800
Country: United States
Maker: Unknown
Style: N/A
Provenance: Patrick Henry (1736-1799) to John Henry (1796-1868) to William Wirt Henry (1831-1900) to Lucy Gray Henry Harrison (1857-1944) to Preservation Virginia to Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation
Description: This skeleton key is believed to have been unlocked the chamber at Red Hill where Patrick Henry died on June 6, 1799. The key hung for years on a nail next to the chamber door. On the morning of February 19, 1919, the Red Hill mansion caught fire and people rushed to save as many furnishings from the house as possible. Elizabeth Kerper, secretary and companion to Lucy Henry Harrison, snatched the key off the nail as she left the house. Mrs. Harrison gave the key to the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (now Preservation Virginia) in 1950.
Thanks to the generosity of Preservation Virginia staff, the key was transferred to Red Hill in May 2023.
