My great-grandmother was adamant all her life that her grandfather, William Henry, was a descendent of Patrick Henry's brother, also named William Henry. This story was passed down from generation to generation. My research suggests that this may be a myth.
Patrick Henry's brother William did have children, but connecting this Thomas Henry to him has not been possible thus far. My latest research shows that this Thomas Henry actually immigrated from Scotland to the U.S. in 1808, at which time he immediately applied for naturalization.
It seems highly unlikely that Patrick Henry's brother William, who was born in Hanover, Virginia in 1734, or one of his sons, traveled to Scotland, had a child there and left him in Scotland while he returned to the U.S.
More likely is that Thomas Henry (Henry-5444) was related to Patrick Henry through a mutual ancestor and they were cousins of some sort. I need to find out who Thomas Henry's parents were, as well as his grandparents and great grandparents to see if there is any connection to Patrick Henry's ancestral line.
Please note that in one Find-A-Grave record, it shows a photo of his grave with a caption that says Thomas Henry died in 1810. I took the photograph and magnified it using Photoshop and determined that the third digit in the year was actually a 4, not a 1, making his death year 1840. This opinion is supported by census records from Westmoreland, Pennsylvania from 1810 through 1840 that clearly show him living there with the correct number of children in each of those decades.
If someone could help me identify Thomas Henry's parents and birth place, I would be very grateful.