James Madison and Montpelier

Madison's formal schooling began in 1762 at the age of eleven upon attending a school that was operated by a Presbyterian minister named Daniel Robertson. This school was located in King and Queen County, and was so far from his home that he could not travel the distance daily. Therefore, James lived at the school until the age of 16, and then returned to Montpelier where Thomas Martin tutored him until the age of 18. In 1769, James began his education at the College of New Jersey, which today is known as Princeton University, where he graduated in 1771.

Madison's Early Political Life

Three years after graduation, Madison began a political career that would last 41 years, beginning in December 1774, when he was appointed to the Orange County Committee of Safety. In 1776, Madison was elected to the Virginia Convention in Williamsburg that drafted the state's first constitution. In the years that followed, James served as a delegate to the Virginia House of Delegates, and was elected to the Second Continental Congress as well as served as a member of the United States House of Representatives. By the spring of 1787, Madison traveled to Philadelphia where he attended the Constitutional Convention. It was during this time that Madison drafted the United States Constitution, some of his most brilliant work, earning him the title at the age of 36 of Father of the Constitution.

James & Dolley

In 1794, during the spring, James met a Quaker widow named Dolley Payne Todd. That summer their courtship began, which did not last long, resulting in their marriage at the home of Dolley's sister on September 15, 1794. Although they were married for 41 years, their marriage did not produce any children. However, Dolley had two children from her first marriage, of whom a son, John Payne Todd was raised as Madison's son.

Dolley Payne Todd Madison was born on May 20, 1768 in Guilford County, North Carolina. At the age of one, her family moved to Hanover County, Virginia where they lived until 1783 when they moved to Philadelphia. In 1790, Dolley married a fellow Quaker gentleman named John Todd, Jr., with whom two children were born; John Payne Todd and William Temple Todd. In 1793, during the yellow fever epidemic, Dolley's husband John, his parents and their infant son William all perished. About one year following her husband's death, a friend, the legendary Aaron Burr introduced her to the dashing James Madison.

The Madison's and Washington D.C.

Under Thomas Jefferson, his longtime friend, Madison was appointed Secretary of State resulting in James and Dolley leaving Montpelier to live in Washington. Unknown to them at this time, this move, would keep them in Washington for the next 16 years. Madison would serve two terms as Secretary of State in Jefferson's administration, followed by his election as the fourth President of the United States, a position he held for eight years. While serving as President, the War of 1812 began with Great Britain, and in 1814 British soldiers invaded Washington and burned The White House, resulting in the president and first lady making a narrow escape.

Before her husband would become president, while he was Secretary of State, Dolley at times served as President's Jefferson's hostess in the White House, which gave her some prior experience of what was to come.

At her husband's inauguration in 1809, Dolley began refurbishing The White House, turning it into a comfortable place for entertaining their guests. It seemed that Dolley was a natural entertainer, so much so she became legendary in her hospitality that welcomed many guests, and even made her husband's political rivals feel at home. During the War of 1812, Dolley and one of her servants is credited with saving the Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington, removing it before the British burned The White House.

Dolley Madison's Firsts

During the Madison's 16 years in Washington and at The White House, she is credited with several events that were firsts.

Dolley was the first to serve ice cream in The White House, which occurred during Jefferson's presidency; She initiated the first Easter Egg Roll on the Capital Lawn; She was present when the cornerstone was laid for the Washington Monument; She sent the first telegraph message, and at her funeral in 1849, Zachary Taylor used the phrase "First Lady" to describe her, a term which has since been used to describe the president's wife.

The Madison's in Retirement

In 1817, when his second term as president ended, James and Dolley returned to Montpelier. James stayed active in retirement, founding the American Colonization Society in 1819 that was dedicated to freeing slaves and transporting them to the West Coast of Africa. Additionally Madison served on the board of visitors at the University of Virginia. In 1829 at the age of 79, James came out of retirement to attend the Virginia Constitutional Convention.

Madison enjoyed writing, but in his later years suffered from arthritis and was unable to do so, resulting in Dolley spending a great deal of her time assisting her husband, writing the letters he could not following his dictation.

On June 28, 1836, James Madison died at Montpelier at the age of 85, and is buried in the Family Cemetery on the grounds. Upon his death, Dolley left Montpelier and returned to live in Washington, D.C.

Montpelier Today

Over the years since the Madison's resided there, Montpelier has had several owners, the last being Marion DuPont Scott who died in 1983 and left the house and grounds to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Montpelier opened its doors to the public in 1987 and in 2000; the Montpelier Foundation became the steward of the property.

During the DuPont ownership, various additions and buildings were added between 1901 and 1917. The main house doubled in size and was remodeled early in the DuPont ownership, primarily between 1901 and 1903. Between c.1928 and 1937, Marion DuPont Scott, assisted by her friend Carroll Bassett and her private pilot Edward Conklin, masterminded the renovation of the Montpelier "Red Room" in the Art Moderne style. Charlottesville architect Milton Grigg drew the design for the glass and mirrored mantel in the Red Room. Most of the later repairs to the Montpelier house were done by the Charlottesville firm of Johnson, Craven and Gibson as consulting architects, using McCormick Construction, Charlottesville, as general contractor.

Today Montpelier includes more than 2,700 acres of rolling pastures, gardens, and timber. The estate has evolved from the plantation that was home to three generations of Madison's, to the estate created under the DuPont ownership. Visitors can enjoy a two-acre formal garden, a landscape that includes a mixture of trees planted during the Madison era as well as ornamentals planted in the 20th Century. Montpelier is also home to more than 200 acres of old growth timber, known today as the James Madison Landmark Forest.

By John T. Marck

Montpelier