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Sarah Shelton, was born and raised in her family’s home of thirteen rooms in Rural Plains, in Hanover County, Virginia. At age sixteen, Sarah Shelton married Patrick Henry in 1754. Nearly a year later, Sarah gave birth to her first child Martha and by the year 1771, the couple had six children together. Sarah Shelton started to show signs of mental illness after the birth of her last child, Edward (but many called him Neddy). Patrick Henry’s mother sent a letter to his sister which stated, “We feel Sarah is losing her mind after the birth of little Neddy”. We know today that she was probably suffering from postpartum depression or puerperal psychosis. It is unknown when Sarah’s private doctor strongly suggested that she’d be sent to the new hospital in Williamsburg. However, her husband disagreed and did not want to send her to an asylum. He likely wanted to keep her home due to the horrible conditions and treatments. Patrick was politically active when he decided to keep his wife in confident in the cellar of their home. Because of her husband’s money and resources, she was able to not suffer the consequences of the poor laws.

It was said that her behavior was so unmanageable that “she was confined in a cellar room, bound in a straightjacket, and attended by a servant.” According to research, it is believed that a female slave took care of Sarah in the cellar. There are very little documents about the condiment of Sarah likely due to the fact that her husband was becoming the governor of Virginia and this secret was kept from society. After three or four years in confinement, Sarah died in the spring of 1775. Though no one really knows where Sarah Shelton Henry is buried it is believed that her grave is thirty feet from the cellar door.