Henry Scarsbrook "Harry" Langhorne was an American land owner and farmer.
Early life
Langhorne was born November 3, 1790 at "Gambell", the family ancestral home in Warwick County, Virginia. Henry was the youngest of five children of John Scarsbrook Langhorne and Elizabeth Langhorne, first cousins who had married in 1782, which was customary at the time to retain family wealth. Gambell had been built in 1675 by the original Langhorne family immigrant, John Langhorne. who emigrated from Bristol, England. The colonial homestead strategically situated between Lake Maury and the James River was destroyed by fire in 1818, and the land is now home to the Mariners' Museum in Newport News.
Career
Although he was first seated on some of the Cumberland County, Virginia lands that he had inherited through his mother, he quickly resolved to move to Lynchburg with his brother Maurice. An active and keen agriculturist, the planting of tobacco was no longer as profitable as it had once been, and after an early venture at the Farm Mills in Amherst was ruined by flood in 1826, brothers Henry and Maurice erected Lynchburg Milling Co. flour mill, also known as Langhorne Mills, which was built in 1831. He never abandoned planting though, and continued to buy numerous plantations in Bedford, Campbell and Amherst Counties. Also in 1826, Henry appraised the Poplar Forest estate of Thomas Jefferson. In 1845, he retired and relocated to "Cloverdale", the 3,500-acre Botetourt County plantation he had just purchased from his niece's husband George Plater Tayloe of "Buena Vista". He continued to purchase smaller tracts and at the time of his death, he owned a total of 3,892 acres. Langhorne's Mill would be used by the Red Cross as a makeshift hospital to treat injured confederate soldiers during the American Civil War.
Personal life
Langhorne was married twice and between his two wives, he was the father of thirteen children. His first marriage, in 1816, was to Frances Callaway Steptoe, the highly sought after daughter of Hon. James Steptoe and Frances Callaway of "Federal Hill". Beginning in 1828, Henry lived at Point of Honor, an historic mansion overlooking Blackwater Creek in Lynchburg. Together, Henry and Frances were the parents of the following children:
John Scarsbrook Langhorne, who married Sarah Elizabeth Dabney of "Edgemont", a great-granddaughter of William Randolph II of "Chatesworth".
James Steptoe Langhorne, who married Elizabeth Rachel Omohundro.
Henry Langhorne, who died unmarried.
Thomas Nelson Langhorne, who married Orra Henderson Moore Gray, a writer.
