Henry Heth

Henry "Harry" Heth (1764-1822) was a Virginia officer and businessman. After settling in Chesterfield County, Virginia near Richmond circa 1759, he established and ran the Black Heath coal mines following the American Revolutionary War. During that conflict, Heth and his brothers served officers in the Continental Army and would become founding members of the Society of the Cincinnati. Heth became involved in many commercial activities in Richmond and Norfolk from the late 1790s to his death. Family and early life Although one source discussed below names him as likely born in the British Colony of Virginia around 1759 to 1772, Heth first appears age 18 years old on a Virginia state census conducted in Richmond in 1782. A 1764 birthdate is also consistent with his age being given as 23 years old on his marriage certificate in 1787. According to Lyon Gardiner Tyler, Henry Heth came to Virginia from England in 1759 along with his brothers, William and John, and after the American Revolutionary War all three became charter members of the Society of the Cincinnati. According to Tyler, this Harry Heth (Sr.) served in the American Revolutionary War and had a son, Henry, who served in the War of 1812. This subsequent Henry had a son named John. Another reference states "that John Heth emigrated from the North of Ireland in the earlier half of the eighteenth century" and "settled first in Pennsylvania not far from Pittsburgh".