El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-12-03

l. ROM his name, glowing humor.
= keen wit, incisive speech, burning
eloquence, fervid figures. his
stand as a patriot and his record as
rebel from English domino ton, it
might be inferred that Patrick Henry
was an Irishman, sprung from the
land of Burke and Sherida an, of Ora ttan
and Curran, whose fiery tongues have
kindled the world into living flames
of poesy and passion that sweep before
them the souls of men; but Patrick
Henry was alien to the Irish in every
thing save in name. He was an EpiS-
copalian, American born and the son
of a Scotchman.
His mother was of the Wintons of
Virginia and the Wintons came Of
Welsh stock. The father of Patrick
Henry's mother, Isaac Winton, married
Mary Dabney, daughter of a French
Huguenot, who fled from his country
to escape religious persecution. The
Dabneys were a French family of rare
gifts, noted for vivacity and eloquence
and it is claimed that Patrick Henry
inherited through his mother his ora
torical powers. She had ready wit and
a reader tongue, and at an early age
she married John Syme who after
wards became distinguished as Col.
John Syme, with membership in the
The widow married John Henry, an
emigrant from Aberdeen. who had
been in her husbands employ. From
this union was born the illustrious
Patrick Henry, on May 90. 1886, in the
county of Hanover, Virginia.
Elder Henry Brilliant Man.
John Henry had a superior intellect.
He was held in high esteem by his
neighbors, who had made him presid-
f-rr id - =
many iHustrious kin in the land be-
yond the sea. His uncle was William
Robertson. a famous minister of Lo-
THAN; his cousin, another William
Robertson, was principal of the Univer-
sity Of Edinburgh and a well-known
author in his day. His cousin, the
beautiful Eleanor Syme, distantly re-
lated to his wife's late husband. had
married Henry Brougham of Brougham
hall in Westmoreland. and became the
mother of the famous orator, lord
Brougham, the great champion of Eng
lish anti-slavery. He had a brother,
Patrick Henry. who became a minister
and occupied the living of Hanover in
Virginia 1t was this uncle for whom
the famous orator was named. Patrick,
al that time, was a name very COM
mon among the Scotch, who generally
heightened it into the name Patricius,
winch mas nOtn1ng 10 90 with the Pat
rick of the sister island.
Patrick Henry as Boy.
Patrick Henry, as a boy, had no apti-
tude for learning, except for mathe-
mates. When he should have been at
the desk he was out shooting or fish
ing. His 'boyhood indifference to edu-
cation was replaced by a love of his |
tory. especially that of Greece and
Rome; his habitua1 Incidence was over !
come by his admiration for Livy, whose (
history he thenceforth read every year. |
Patrick, at Is, became the clerk in /
a country store and at Is he entered |
into partnership with his step brother, |
being set up in trade by their !
parents. The business was unsuccess- /
full and a second attempt at store !
keeping likewise ended in failure.
Patrick continued to hunt, shoot and |
fish. At Is. without money or occu-
patton, he married Sarah Shelton, the |
daughter of small farmer and tavern
keeper
His family established him on a small |
farm and gave him a number of slaves. |
but lack of industry sent him and his /
young wife to the wall. He sold the |
slaves and again established himself |
in trade, but he hated to work and |
became insolvent.
Patrick Tends Bar.
His fatherinlaw took him and his |
family into his home and Patrick tend
ed bar for three years. That age was
different from ours. Some of the best |
men in every community sold drinks. |
Abraham Lincoln sold whisky in his |
store.
While handing over drinks to a law
yer who was stopping at the hotel,
while trying a case at the county court