Frequently Asked Questions

This FAQ arose out of the June 2007 Montpelier Slave Descendents Reunion hosted by James Madison's Montpelier. If you have any further questions please use our contact form, selecting "Education" as the contact department. Please be aware of our research inquiry policies when you contact us.

Please click on one of the questions, below:

How many enslaved people lived at Montpelier during the Madison period?

• Ambrose Madison in 1732 had 29 slaves. (Inventory at death.)
• James Madison, Sr., in 1801 had 108 slaves. (Inventory at death.)
• President James Madison in 1820 had 106 slaves.
• President James Madison in 1830 had 97 slaves.

Background on the history of slavery at Montpelier

In 1723 Ambrose Madison and Thomas Chew received a patent for 4,600 acres in the Virginia Piedmont. The plantation was initially named "Mount Pleasant," and the house that came to be known as Montpelier was not actually built until the 1760s. Ambrose sent his slaves and an overseer to develop the land long before his family moved there in 1732. Thus, slaves were probably the first inhabitants of the Madison family estate.

In 1732 Ambrose died as a result of poisoning. Court documents reveal that three slaves were accused of conspiring to murder him, two of which, Dido and Turk, were owned by Ambrose, and the third, Pompey, was leased from a local landowner. Dido was a female slave and the other two were males. All were tried and convicted of murder. Pompey was sentenced to death by hanging. Dido and Turk were sentenced to be whipped and then returned to Mount Pleasant to Ambrose's window, Frances Taylor Madison.

James Madison, Sr., inherited the estate when he came of age, but did not officially take over total management of the plantation until the death of his mother Frances in 1761. James Madison, Sr., cultivated tobacco as his primary source of economic support, but he added other ventures for profit such as a grist mill, a saw mill, whiskey and brandy distillation, and a blacksmith shop. All of these activities relied on the use of slave labor and probably slave supervision as well. Most of our knowledge about these ventures come from ledger books that James Madison, Sr., kept throughout his ownership of Montpelier (1740s to 1801). Mentions of slaves are mainly confined to accounts of Madison leasing slave labor to other people or acquiring goods or services for his slaves. According to his inventory, James Madison, Sr., owned 108 slaves in Orange County at the time of his death in 1801.

How many slaves did President James Madison own?

President James Madison, along with his father and grandfather owned slaves at Montpelier. Madison's mother, Nelly Madison, and grandmother, Frances Madison, also owned slaves at Montpelier. The 1820 Census notes the Madison household as having 15 free white persons, 106 enslaved African Americans (54 of which were men and 52 of which were women), and 0 free African Americans. In the 1830s Census, Montpelier is described as having 2 free white males, 56 enslaved men, and 41 enslaved women.

Additional information also suggests that the number of slaves owned by President James Madison fluctuated. This data is drawn from Orange County personal property tax records, which recorded the number of "tithables" or taxable individuals (and items) for which a property owner was responsible. Ill, infirm, aged, juvenile, or injured slaves were not considered productive, and they were not taxed, nor do they appear in these records. In regard to Madison's personal property taxes, the least number of slaves for whom Madison was taxed was nine, and the most was 66.

Some of the slaves President James Madison owned were sold for financial reasons prior to his death in 1836. Dolley also sold some after his death, and some were included in the sale of Montpelier to Henry Moncure in 1844. Dolley also willed some of the slaves to her relatives.

Where did the slaves work and live at Montpelier?

Under President Madison's father, we know that many enslaved people worked as field laborers, in connection with the family's ironworking business, as skilled carpenters, and as domestics in the main house.

The documentary record had shed very little light on the number and position of outbuildings that surrounded the Montpelier mansion during Madison ownership. As an active plantation, the mansion was at the core of the estate and was flanked by kitchens, slave quarters, smokehouses, barns, and other outbuildings. However, archaeological investigations in the yard between the garden and the mansion have revealed a number of outbuildings that date to the late 18th and early 19th centuries, including a kitchen, a slave quarter, and a possible outbuilding associated with the slave quarter. This portion of the yard was likely the "service" complex for the mansion. Daily activities of the enslaved domestics working and living in this yard would have revolved around preparing the Madison family's meals, laundry, and providing for their own households. An 1837 insurance map further confirms that three residences, each a duplex for two slave families, and two smokehouses once stood in the south yard area.

Slaves who worked in the Madison's household lived in the nearby area known as the "south yard." The yard of these homes, where most of the household activities took place, were in direct sight of the mansion. As a result, the Madisons would have controlled not only the appearance, but also the activities within this space. In Madison's day, all of the buildings in the side yard were shielded from the view of a visitor approaching Montpelier by a row of trees and shrubs. These plantings were placed in this manner to direct attention to the mansion and away from the outbuildings. Within the service yard, a series of stone pathways connected these buildings to each other and the mansion. In addition to the more formal stone pathways, a series of less formal dirt pathways likely connected the services complex to the quarters of the field slaves and wider community beyond the mansion yard.

Archaeological investigations have also found the remains of the Madison plantation farm complex, which served as the hub of the working farm and the home for several generations of field slaves. Included in this area were slave quarters, tobacco barns, an overseer's house, and work yards. Slave quarters for field slaves would have been made of logs, with dirt floors, simple plank shutters to shut out the weather, and chimneys made of sticks and mud. The slaves built the homes themselves, receiving only nails and door hardware from the Madisons. The crude home of the field slaves stand in marked contrast to the much better homes of the house slaves located near the mansion, which included glazed windows, wooden floors, and brick chimneys.

Did President James Madison ever free any of his slaves?

There are no reports that indicate that President James Madison ever freed any of his slaves. However, there are cases in which enslaved African Americans at Montpelier were able to gain their freedom.

Paul Jennings was an enslaved man who served as Madison's body servant in both Washington, D.C., and at Montpelier. The 47-year old Jennings was sold in 1846 by Dolley Madison to cover debts. Daniel Webster subsequently purchased Jennings in 1847, and he made an agreement with Jennings for him to work off his debt at $8 a month until he was fully free. Jennings was a member of the free black population of Washington from 1847 until his death in 1870.

Billey, another enslaved man from Montpelier, also eventually gained his freedom. Billey accompanied President James Madison to the Contintental Congress in 1780. In 1783, Madison wrote to his father to tell him that he was reluctant to bring Billey back to Montpelier. Madison apparently feared that the ideas of equality and freedom that Biley had been exposed to in Philadelphia might lead to dissent among the rest of the slave community at Montpelier. Therefore, Madison sold Billey in Philadelphia, where he was eventually freed after seven years of servitude and took the last name of Gardner.

In general, it appears that Madison did not think slavery was good politically, economically, or morally, and from that perspective he would have liked to have seen it restricted or eliminated. In his view, slavery perpetuated an inefficient system of production that could, ultimately, be detrimental to the future of the nation. Moreover, Madison viewed slavery as "a blot on our republican character." In his personal life, however, Madison continued to own many slaves. He does remind his overseers to treat the slaves with "humanity," but not so much as to make them forget their proper place as slaves. Furthermore, he does request in his will that his slaves not be sold without their consent, contingent upon their good behavior. However, this stipulation later falls second to Dolley's financial needs. In his retirement years as a member and eventually the president of the American Colonization Society, Madison advocated the manumission of slaves, but not so that they could join American society as free citizens. Rather, he preferred that they be freed and relocated away from white society, either in the American west or in Africa. He makes it clear that while he does not endorse slavery in principle or as the base of a system of production, he did not believe blacks could live in harmony with whites, unlike some of his close abolitionist peers and colleagues.

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Did any of Madison's slaves run away or ever try to run away?

An enslaved man named Anthony did attempt to run away twice from the Madisons. In 1786 he ran away for the first time and a reward was subsequently posted by James Madison, Sr., for a runaway mulatto slave. Anthony was returned to Montpelier, but he succeeded in running away again in 1788 — with no success.

What do we know about Madison as a slave owner?

In his memoirs, Paul Jennings described Madison as "one of the best that ever lived. I never saw him in passion, and never knew him to strike a slave, although he had over one hundred; neither would he allow an overseer to do it. Whenever any slaves were reported to him as stealing or 'cutting up' badly, he would send for them and admonish them privately, and never mortify them by doing it before others. They generally served him faithfully." Paul Jennings also acknowledged Dolley Madison as a "remarkably fine women. She was beloved by every body in Washington, white and colored."

Even though Jennings' memoirs paints a picture of Madison as the benevolent slaveholder, it is probably an incomplete view of Madison's actual treatment of all 100 of his slaves. Jennings might have benefited from his unique position within the household and daily interaction with Madison.

Slaves worked all day at Montpelier — from sun up to sun down in rain or shine, in snow, or in hot, humid weather. However, they did have some time to themselves at nights, Sundays, or holidays. Madison took this time very seriously and even told a Sunday guest that "he could not have the servants to wait upon him, as they made it a holiday."

What do we know about modern descendants of Montpelier slaves?

One of the strongest connections between modern slave descendants and Montpelier comes from the Gilmore family. The recent excavation and restoration of the Gilmore Cabin on the property of Montpelier reflects the fruit of the relationship between modern descendants and the Montpelier Foundation. Rebecca Gilmore Coleman, a descendent of George Gilmore, was also instrumental in organizing both the 2001 and the 2007 Slave Descendants' Reunions at Montpelier.

Montpelier was not just home to the Madison family but home to hundreds of enslaved African Americans. The recognition of the importance of the contributions made by all of those who helped shape Montpelier into the historical legacy that it is today is a crtical aspect of the presentation of President James Madison's plantation.

What were some of the religious practices of the Montpelier slaves?

Religion was frequently used as a comfort for many enslaved people and became a time when they could express themselves outside of the control of their white owners. Montpelier slaves were usually allowed to have Sunday off and presumably many of them used the opportunity to attend church and various religious functions. A passage about Madison and religious practices of the slaves at Montpelier notes that Madison "mentioned the astonishment of some strangers, who had an idea that slaves were always whipped all day long, at seeing his negroes go to church one Sunday. They were gaily dressed, the women in bright-coloured calicoes; and, when a sprinkling of rain came, up went a dozen umbrellas."

Enslaved people at Montpelier likely incorporated African and Christian traditions into their religous rituals. For instance, slave funerals were major social events that were uniquely their own.

The slave cemetery at Montpelier was first established in the 18th century and represents the first sacred space for enslaved people on the plantation. Archaeological studies have identified 41 graves in the cemetery so far, many of which are marked with quartz or other stones at the head and feet.