I told you a little about Patrick Henry’s retirement home, Red Hill, in Western Virginia, in my last blog. If you remember, Henry was married twice and had 17 children. Yes, some had grown and moved away, but several still lived with him at Red Hill. I don’t know precisely how many. Some may have returned with their own children.

Red Hill is situated on some beautiful acreage near a river. It is actually not far from Thomas Jefferson’s own retirement home at Poplar Forest. But the home itself was much smaller that the nice home he had lived in at Scotchtown, when he rode his horse to Richmond to make his famous speech.

I can’t help but feel for him. Right now I have one of my daughters and her husband and three children living with my wife and myself. It is nice to be able to help them. But sometimes it is difficult. There comes a time in your retirement years when you’d like some peace and quiet.

I was shown by the curator at Red Hill that Patrick Henry had built a small office for his law practice. It was a separate building from the home. He was mostly retired, but he invited young lawyers to come and be trained by him. His office was small, but it did have a tiny bedroom attached. I can imagine that from time to time Patrick must have found it more peaceful to retire to his law office and spend the night in that bed! In my imagination I can hear him say: “Give me peace or give me death!”