The Founding Father Who Kept His Wife Locked In A Basement For 4 Years
A champion of freedom turned to unconventional methods when his spouse developed mental health issues
--
Early American statesman Patrick Henry is best known in the annals of history for passionately exclaiming, “Give me liberty or give me death,” when attending the second Virginia Convention to discuss possible independence from Britain. Sadly, in a cruel twist of irony, the champion of freedom locked his mentally ill first wife in their cellar until her untimely death as an alternative to her being committed to an insane asylum.
Born in 1736, Henry was a self-educated lawyer who became such a prominent citizen of Virginia that he served in their House of Delegates and later became the state’s first governor. He was staunchly opposed to large federal governments, to the point that he wasn’t even in favor of the United States ratifying their Constitution for fear it would create too powerful a n entity. However, he was even more against the English continuing their rule over Americans.
His impassioned style of public speaking, particularly on the top of independence (despite being a slave owner) brought him great notoriety. In retrospect, his ideas on the importance of freedom clearly were narrowly defined.
In 1754, Henry married Sarah Shelton. The pair were just teenagers (he was 18 and she was 16) and spent the next 21 years together in a marriage that produced six children. Unfortunately, in 1771 when their youngest child Edward, who was also known as Neddy was born, Sarah slipped into a deep depression and troubled mental state. In retrospect, it may have been related to postpartum depression, but at the time such afflictions were completely unknown. It’s believed she had experienced mental health issues going back as far as 1767, but her final pregnancy appears to have been a tipping point.
The mental state of Sarah rapidly transitioned from precarious to untenable. At times she had violent outbursts, to the point that she had to be placed in restraints for the protection of all involved. Despite the medical limitations of the day, Henry had her attended to by the best doctors in the area. Unfortunately, their best recommendations was…
