Annie Henry Christian
Her letters to family, friends, and business associates provide insight into westward movement of the 18th century America and life in the wilderness.Like Martha Washington and Catharine Flood McCall, she was a rare business woman, whose success was based upon slave labor.They had feme sole status of widows or single women who were able to operate businesses, manage finances, and enter into contracts.The Christians had one son and five daughters born between 1770 and 1785:[2] Sarah (Sally), Priscilla (Prissie), Anne, John (Johnnie), Dorothea (Dolly), and Elizabeth (Betsy).In letters to her brother, Governor Patrick Henry, she wrote that her husband was unable to take care of business and family obligations due to his military service.[6] To Ann Fleming, her sister-in-law, she wrote of the travel to Kentucky, they "came through the wilderness… the roads are bad beyond description & the weather is so violently hot & such great scarcity of water."There were attacks on travelers and settlers and horses were stolen, but it was difficult to mobilize and coordinate local militias to fight against the Native American tribes.[1] Her brother, Patrick Henry, wrote to her following the death of his good friend, "I am at loss how to address you my dearest sister.Christian told her brother that if anything happened to her, she wanted Patrick and their brother-in-law Col. Samuel Meredith Jr. to raise the children in eastern Virginia.As a widowed woman, she attained the legal status of feme sole which meant that she could enter into contracts, buy and sell property, and be sued in court.[10][b] She is one of several women—like Martha Washington and Catharine Flood McCall—who oversaw significant business operations that relied on slave labor in the late 1700s and early 1800s.The letters provide first-person accounts of their movements along Wilderness Road and establishing a house on Beargrass Creek: "Her letters, which her sister-in-law preserved, strongly influenced later generations' understandings of the effects on women of the westward movement and life on the frontier," according to biographer Gail S.They are held in the collection of Hugh Blair Grigsby, president of the Virginia Historical Society and a collector in the 19th century.
Hanover CountyColony of VirginiaNorfolk, VirginiaWilliam ChristianPatrick HenryElizabeth Henry Campbell RussellWilliam FlemingAlexander Scott BullittMartha WashingtonCatharine Flood McCallfeme soleSarah Winston Syme HenryHanover County, VirginiaFrench and Indian WarDunkard's BottomAmerican Revolutionary War1st Virginia RegimentColonial WilliamsburgCherokeeWilderness RoadFort WilliamLouisvilleShepherdsvilleBotetourt CountyRoanoke CountyOhio RiverDanville, KentuckyAntiguaWest IndiesWilliam Marshall BullittVirginia Historical SocietyHugh Blair GrigsbyKentucky Countycame of ageGovernor of VirginiaDelegateFirst Continental CongressFounding of theUnited StatesParson's CauseSons of Liberty (Philadelphia)Virginia ResolvesPetition to the KingContinental AssociationSecond Virginia ConventionGive me Liberty, or give me Death!Delegate, Fifth Virginia ConventionGunpowder IncidentAnti-FederalistspapersVirginia Ratifying Convention1776 Virginia gubernatorial electionBirthplacePine SlashHanover TavernScotchtownGovernor's PalaceLeatherwood PlantationSalisburyRed Hill Patrick Henry National MemorialFort HenryCamp Patrick HenryPatrick Henry BuildingEmory and Henry UniversityPatrick Henry CollegePatrick Henry High SchoolPatrick Henry International AirportPatrick Henry (packet)CSS Patrick HenrySS Patrick HenryUSS Patrick Henry (SSBN-599)Give Me LibertyOld GloryLiberty's KidsSarah Shelton HenryDorothea Dandridge HenryWilliam HenryWilliam H. RoaneWilliam Wirt HenryRural PlainsSt. John's Episcopal ChurchFounding Fathers