The choicest fruits, especially pears, were raised in abundance, figs bore their two crops every summer, which Mr. Madison liked to gather himself, arbors of grapes, over which he exercised the same authority. It was a paradise of roses and other flowers, to say nothing of the strawberries, and vegetables; every rare plant and fruit was sent to him by his admiring friends, who knew his taste, and carefully studied and reared by the gardener and his black aids.
Memoir by Dolley’s niece Mary Cutts1
James and Dolley Madison’s terraced garden, laid out by the French gardener Charles Bizet, incorporated fruits and vegetables, as well as ornamental flowers. As described by Dolley’s niece Mary Cutts, the garden not only produced pears, figs, grapes, and strawberries, but was “a paradise of roses and other flowers.” In this post we’ll look for references to some of the “other” flowers that grew at Montpelier – in Madison’s father’s gardens, in the terraced garden, and at other locations on the property. (For the fruits and vegetables grown here, see Montpelier’s Edible Alphabet).
The Weather Journals
Most of what we know about the gardens in James Madison Sr.’s time comes from side comments in the weather journals kept by the Madison family between 1784 and 1801. (There are no complete farm or garden journals for Montpelier; see Where Have All the Papers Gone?) It was James Madison Jr.’s idea to log daily weather conditions at Montpelier (prompted by a suggestion from Thomas Jefferson). Although Madison Jr. made entries when he was home, it was James Madison Sr., assisted by other family members, who kept the weather journals going for a decade and a half.
The purpose of keeping weather journals was to build a record of daily weather data: temperature, wind direction, precipitation, and other weather conditions, which were logged in the morning and the afternoon. Garden observations sporadically appear in a column of miscellaneous notes. These were recorded as markers of the changing seasons – blossoming trees, migrating birds, and the progress of fruits, flowers, and vegetables – and were not entered consistently.
Iris bloomed at Montpelier between late February and mid-March according to the Madison weather journals of 1789, 1790, and 1791. Kendall Madigan photo, courtesy of the Montpelier Foundation.
Flowers, in fact, were mentioned only in the years 1784-1786, and 1788-1791. James Madison Jr. included flowers in the entries he penned in the springs of 1784, 1785, and 1786. In the 1790s, most of the flower-related entries appear to be in a different handwriting than the observations on the weather and edible garden produce. Perhaps the flower observations were written in by a family member who had greater interest in that aspect of gardening (a woman?), while another family member was the primary recorder in the weather journal at that point. None of the weather journal entries give any clues to the location of the flowers. Possibly they were in the various garden patches located to the north and east of the main house during James Madison Sr.’s time.2
The Madison weather journal reported “Snowdrop in blossom” on May 11, 1785. Beth Bass photo, courtesy of the Montpelier Foundation.
Spring bulbs such as hyacinths (blue and white), tulips (red, yellow, and white), iris, snowdrops, and daffodils were noted when they blossomed. Although the terms daffodil, jonquil, and narcissus are somewhat interchangeable, all three terms appear in the weather journal. This suggests that the Madisons were distinguishing among different sizes or varieties of the flower. “Jonquil” is often used for daffodils that have clusters of blooms on each stem, while “Narcissus” is typically applied to small white daffodils such as paperwhites. (The weather journal entry of May 5, 1789, for example, noted “White Narsissars Bloom’d.”)3
Other perennials mentioned in the weather journal included peonies (“Pionys”), primroses, hollyhocks, and lilies. Two members of the genus Dianthus are represented: Sweet Williams and pinks. Pinks are named for their jagged, “pinked” edge and are not necessarily pink in color; “a red & white double pink full blown” was noted on June 11, 1785. “Purple in the Shade” and “Twelve O’clock Bells” bloomed in May 1784. These were probably common names for flowers based on their characteristics; “Twelve O’clock Bells” may have had blossoms that opened midday. Based on its late spring blooming time, it is probably a different flower than the “Bell flower” that bloomed along with jonquils in March 1790. Damask roses were noted as blooming in 1785 and 1789; white roses also bloomed in 1789.4
According to the Madison weather journal, “Pionys” (peonies) were in bloom at Montpelier on May 10, 1785, along with primroses and monthly honeysuckle. Peggy Harrison photo, courtesy of the Montpelier Foundation.
A List of Flowers
Another source of information is a list of flowering plants that James Madison Sr. jotted down in March 1791 on the back of a list of seeds that he ordered from Philadelphia seedsman George Morris. Most of the seeds were vegetables, but one item was “a Packet Flower seeds.” The flowers listed by Madison Sr. may have been the seeds included in the packet (assuming that the “packet” contained several different envelopes filled with seeds). It could also have been a wish list of additional seeds that Madison Sr. wanted to acquire:
Spanish [Thistle]
Sensitive Plant
Miginette
Princes Feathers
Tricolor
10 Week-stock
China Pink
Love lies Bleeding Amaranthus
Brumton Stock5
Many of the plants on the list are described in The American Gardener’s Calendar, written in 1806 by another Philadelphia seedsman, Bernard McMahon.6 Spanish thistle could be Centaurea iberica, the Iberian starthistle. The “sensitive plant” (Mimosa pudica) has leaves that collapse when touched, as described by McMahon: “The sensibility of this plant is worthy of admiration, that not only in the evening, or towards night, but at all hours of the day, with the least touch, or concussion of air, the leaves just like a tree a dying, droop and complicate themselves immediately, and presently after recover, resuming their former position; so that a person would be induced to think they were really endowed with the sense of feeling.” (Look here for a video of a sensitive plant’s “sensibility.”)
McMahon recommended both mignonette and ten-week stock for flower gardens: “The ten-week stock is a beautiful annual; none makes a more agreeable appearance in pots, and in the borders, &c. and it continues a long time in blow [bloom]. The mignonette impart a sweet and agreeable odour, for which purpose it is extremely worthy of cultivation.” Both Prince’s Feather (Amaranthus hypocondriacus) and Love-lies bleeding (Amaranthus cauautus) appear in The American Gardener’s Calendar. Since Tricolor appears just after Princes Feathers on Madison Sr.’s list, it may refer to another member of the Amaranthus genus, Amaranthus tricolor. McMahon lists the China Pink (Dianthus chinensis), but not the Brumton (Brompton) Stock. Related to ten-week stock, Brompton stock is a fragrant variety of stock, named for London’s Brompton Park Nursery, where it was identified in the eighteenth century.)
James and Dolley’s Garden
We have now, beautiful weather, & our garden and grove begin to charm me with musick & flowers.
There are surprisingly few mentions of specific flowers in the terraced gardens designed for James and Dolley Madison by Bizet. Niece Mary Cutts mentioned only the roses and “other” flowers.8 A visitor account published in The Family Magazine in 1837 described the gardens in general terms, having “a great number of native plants and exoticks.”9 Dolley was no more specific when she told her friend Eliza Collins Lee about “my gardener busily planting in his ground all sorts of bulbes for my taste” in an 1840 letter.10 (For more on enslaved gardeners at Montpelier, see Putting People in the Picture. ) We do learn that Dolley had wildflowers transplanted to the garden; when thanking a friend for a gift of floral lithographs in 1844, she commented, “The flowers are familiar to me, having many of the species among our Mountains from whence I have several times transplanted them to my garden—”11
Montpelier’s terraced garden was “a paradise of roses and other flowers,” according to the Madisons’ niece Mary Cutts. Vivian Eicke photo, courtesy of the Montpelier Foundation.
Two plants mentioned in Madison correspondence were possibly grown at Montpelier. In 1823, Mary Randolph wrote to Dolley regarding seed for immortal flower (Gnaphalium orientale, called “immortal” or “everlasting” because its dried flowers could last for years).12 Mary complained, “The Lady who gave you the immortal flower seed put only the flower in the paper with out seed, I did not examine it until I got home—” It is not clear whether Dolley was simply the go-between, passing the paper of immortal flowers from “the Lady” to Mary, or whether she also obtained seed for herself and was raising immortal flowers in the Montpelier garden.13
Another flower possibly grown at Montpelier is Lupinus mutabilis, a lupin in colors varying from white to purple. William Maury, in September 1831, offered to “send to Mrs M some flower seeds this autumn, & if I can save it, some of the Lupinus Mutabilis, the most beautiful of that tribe of plants which has ever been seen & possessing a perfume as strong & fragrant as the Orange Flower; it also continues in Flower from June until the Frost.” We don’t know whether Dolley actually received or planted these seeds.14
Had you an april shower just now? We had & … many of our flowers are in bloom – and the green grass – looks like a velvet carpet at a little distance.”
The garden was not the only place to find flowers at Montpelier. Flowers grew wild, or had naturalized, across lawns and meadows. James Madison described the changing plant population at Montpelier to his visitor John Finch in spring 1824. “The Ex-President observed, that the common wild-flowers had certain periods during which they flourished, and then a new race appeared; formerly his plantation had been covered with the blue centaurea; the fields were now ornamented with the verbascum thapsis, or mullein.” Centaurea is a genus that encompasses hundreds of thistle-like plants. The “Spanish Thistle” listed by James Madison Sr. on his 1791 seed order, likely Centaurea iberica or Iberian star thistle, may have been the source of the flowers the former President recalled as having once grown freely.16
Mary Cutts mentioned wildflowers and invasive plants growing in the meadows and on the lawn. She had a sentimentalized recollection of enslaved children following Dolley Madison on her morning rounds, until she dismissed them by sending them on an errand: “in summer it was to gather her the beautiful wild flowers which adorned the vallies and meadows.” Mary Cutts also described tiger lilies sent as a gift by General Lafayette, which quickly invaded an area beyond the ha-ha at the back of the rear lawn, near James Madison’s prized “twin” tulip trees. The two trees “were still standing in fields, rendered useless by a present of the seed of the Tiger lilly; they were sent from France by Genl de la Fayette, with other esteemed flowers, and spread so rapidly that Mr. Madison found it impossible to uproot them — among the ‘other esteemed flowers’ was the common thistle which grows too luxuriously by our road sides, it was marked, very rare, and raised with care until it proved so unpopular a flower!”17 (Thistles again!)
During the exceptionally mild January of 1819, Dolley Madison wrote “for the last ten days, the weather has been, that of May … we have had three dishes of Asparagus & our Lalacks [lilacs] are in bud!”18 Jay Hirsh photo, courtesy of the Montpelier Foundation.
Roses and Jessamine
Close to the house were some of Montpelier’s most fondly remembered flowers: jessamine and roses. Anne Mercer Slaughter, who visited in 1825, recalled their scent wafting through the drawing room: “Into this lovely apartment came the sweet odours of the jessamine and roses, which twined around the pillars of the rear porch, and gave an air of indescribable charm to the whole scene, like a bit of fairyland in this prosaic world.”19 Visitor Lydia Sigourney composed a poem about Montpelier, including praise for
The curtaining jessamine, that showers,
Rich fragrance o’er the nightly bowers
When Sigourney published this poem in her volume Scenes in My Native Land, she added a few remarks about Montpelier, noting that “the jessamine climbed up to the sleeping apartments, diffusing its rich perfume, and the Multiflora on every side cheered the eye with its countless clusters.”20 She was probably identifying the climbing roses as Rosa multiflora, a rambling rose shrub that appeared on Thomas Jefferson’s plant list in 1819.21
Mary Cutts also noted, “The pillars of this South portico were twined with ever blooming roses and white Jessamine, which reached up to the terraces … Mrs. Madison brought the sweet briar also near; these were the only flowers allowed to approach the house, except green house plants.”22 Sweetbriar is another rambling rose (Rosa eglanteria or Rosa rubiginosa) and appeared on Jefferson’s plant list in 1771. 23
One of the plants near the house was “a superb Cape Jessamine.” Mary Cutts recalled Dolley’s habit of naming each bud for her husband, her son, her sisters, and other friends and guests: “each morning nay, more frequently, she would examine them, and it was almost distressing, should a favored one die without maturing!”24 In 1831 Dolley asked Mary Cutts to pass along several Cape Jessamine leaves to her friend Nicholas Trist, referring to the blossom as “his dear lady who is now blooming, when all her contemporaries have changed color and are passing away! emblematic of her good heart and disposition, whose fragrance will last until the end!” Dolley specified the names she had given to the blossoms associated with each leaf, including one for Trist’s wife Virginia. Clearly Dolley had an emotional attachment to the plant, and assumed that a friend like Nicholas Trist would enjoy knowing that a flower named for his wife was in bloom at Montpelier.25
The name “jessamine” applies to several varieties of flowering vines and shrubs, including gardenia. Because the jessamine at Montpelier bore white flowers and was a climbing vine, it was most likely Poet’s Jasmine (Jasminum officinale), a plant also cultivated at Monticello, where Jefferson called it “Star Jasmine.”26
A friend remembered the daisy as Dolley Madison’s favorite flower. Kendall Madigan photo, courtesy of the Montpelier Foundation.
Dolley Madison’s sentimental attachment to her jessamine plant has led to an assumption that this was her favorite flower. However, an old friend of Dolley suggested otherwise. Writing Dolley in 1846, this friend mentioned that her own great-granddaughter was called Daisy, “and I love her the better as that used to be your favorite flower.”27 Perhaps the daisy was still Dolley’s favorite among flowers generally, or perhaps it had been her favorite until she encountered the jessamine plant.
No matter which flower was Dolley’s particular favorite, the Madisons and their guests could find beauty in the variety of blossoms throughout Montpelier’s gardens and grounds. From the spring flower bulbs that enslaved gardeners planted in the terraced garden, to the flowering vines twining along the back portico, to the thistles and tiger lilies running rampant through the lawn, most visitors could agree that Montpelier was truly a “paradise of roses and other flowers.”
Why did James Madison have a temple in his front yard? He didn’t come here to pray– it wasn’t that kind of temple. Maybe it reminded him of the ancient Roman temple where the “flame of Liberty” was kept burning. But what does “liberty” mean? Does it mean that you can do anything you want? Whenever you want? Of course not! Can you imagine a whole country of people doing whatever they want? Imagine how quickly things would get out of control!
Things were getting out of control after the colonies broke away from the King of England during the American Revolution. The new states didn’t have a good system to govern themselves. They needed a rulebook. They needed a constitution.
Enter James Madison. He read lots of books right here at Montpelier that gave him ideas about the rules that other countries played by, if they didn’t have a king. Madison went to Philadelphia and worked with people from many different states to write a Constitution. His ideas were so helpful that now he is known as the “Father of the Constitution.”
What does the Constitution say about who makes the rules? Instead of a king, it’s “We The People.” The Constitution gives citizens the FREEDOM to govern themselves, to choose their own leaders, and to make their own laws and rules. The Constitution also protects the people’s rights like freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of the press.
At first the Constitution didn’t allow everyone to participate in government, but over the past 240 years, Americans have made changes — things called Amendments– that let more people have rights, and vote, and run for office. Now “We the People” means just about “All the People!”
The United States Constitution is the modern world’s longest lasting Constitution, and many countries have used it as a model when they wrote their own Constitutions . And just think: it all began right here, on this plantation, Montpelier. That’s how Montpelier made its mark on the world!
Madison was the 4th President, but can you guess six other Presidents who came to Montpelier?
Madison’s best friends were Presidents 3 and 5. Maybe you’ll visit their homes, Monticello and Highland. Who were they? … Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe!
President Number 7 visited Montpelier in 1832. Someone in your family might have his picture right now – he’s on the $20 bill. Who was he? … Andrew Jackson!
Three other Presidents visited Montpelier after Madison’s lifetime. They might be harder to guess, but let’s give it a try.
President Number 19 came in 1878, and gave a speech in praise of Madison and the Constitution. In fact, his last name rhymes with “praise.” Any guesses?… Rutherford B. Hayes!
President Number 26 came to Montpelier on Thanksgiving Day 1907, when the duPonts lived here. A toy bear is named for him. Who was he? … Teddy Roosevelt!
And finally, President Number 41 came here in 1991 for the 200th anniversary of the Bill of Rights. His son was a President too. Can you guess? … George H. W. Bush!
That’s a lot of Presidents who made their mark on Montpelier. And today you’re here! Now you’re part of Montpelier’s story too.
Sometimes the people who lived at Montpelier chose to make their mark, but other times they were forced to make their mark. From the time President Madison’s grandparents came to Montpelier, it was a plantation––a huge farm–where enslaved people of African descent grew crops like tobacco, wheat, and corn and did many other jobs to make money for the Madison family. People who were enslaved had many skills and worked hard, but they didn’t get the benefit.
It was not only enslaved adults that labored for the Madisons, but enslaved children were also forced to do a lot of different tasks such as gathering firewood, helping in the kitchens, hauling water, cleaning stables, and… making bricks. Look at this huge house in front of you— each and every one of these bricks was made one at a time, by hand. On plantations, brick-making was often a task given to enslaved children. They pressed wet clay into rectangular-shaped molds. Then the bricks were left in the sun to “bake,” and once enough bricks were made they “fired” them to harden them. Have you ever pressed your fingers into wet clay? What happens when you do that? Your fingerprints make a mark. That’s exactly what happened here when enslaved people were making bricks to build this house. As you walk around the house, see if you can find any fingerprints in the bricks. These fingerprints remind us that nearly 300 enslaved people, of all ages, made their mark on Montpelier.
Since enslaved adults and children did most of the work at Montpelier, they didn’t have a lot of time for fun. What did they do when they did have a little time to themselves? Archaeologists found artifacts – marbles, doll parts, and toy wagon wheels – that tell us that enslaved children sometimes played with toys. Other artifacts, like musical instruments called jaw harps, tell us that enslaved people made music. Many of the activities that enslaved people probably enjoyed, like storytelling or dancing, didn’t leave artifacts in the ground.
The Madisons had much more time to themselves. Written records describe one of their favorite ways to have fun: parties.
Dolley Madison wrote about a barbecue picnic that she and James hosted on the 4th of July 1816. Ninety guests sat at tables set up on the lawn by enslaved people. Enslaved waiters served them roasted meats and punch, and most likely, fresh vegetables from the garden.
We don’t have a written account of what enslaved people had to do to get ready for that party, but historians found one written account that gives us a clue. In 1824, the famous General Lafayette visited Montpelier. A young enslaved maid named Ailsey Payne was there. Years later, she gave a newspaper reporter her eyewitness account. She saw so many horse drawn carriages she could hardly count them. Young enslaved men rode and led the horses. Enslaved people stored all kinds of food and meat in the icehouse. Ailsey Payne helped clean every inch of the House and shined all of the glass, silver, and china.
Ailsey Payne left her mark on Montpelier by telling her story! Will you tell someone about your visit?
Have you ever been asked to “sweep the floor?” Maybe it’s your chore to sweep up the crumbs that fall to the floor after dinner (if you don’t have a dog to do it for you). But have you ever been asked to “sweep the yard?” Archaeologists at Montpelier believe that enslaved people who lived here did just that! They used brooms to sweep away all of the grass and weeds. The ground would have been like a smooth, hard, clay floor.
Sweeping the yard cut down pests and unwanted creatures like ticks, mice, and snakes. It was a natural way of getting rid of pests that ruined food or caused disease.
The building in front of you was once a kitchen. Enslaved cooks labored here from long before sunup to long after sundown to prepare meals for the Madison family and their guests. They could build their hot cooking fires outside in the swept yard so that the work was more tolerable.
Except for the two smokehouses, the buildings here were homes for enslaved families who mostly worked inside the Madisons’ House. Their homes could be crowded, dark, and unbearably hot in summer. Having a smooth, swept yard allowed them to move many of their indoor activities outdoors. Imagine how busy this place would have been!
The ancestors of enslaved people at Montpelier had also swept their yards in Africa.They passed their wisdom along to their descendants. This is just one example of how enslaved people and their ancestors left their mark on Montpelier.
Do you have pets?
The Madisons had a pet parrot named Polly, but most of the animals at Montpelier weren’t pets – they were working animals. Horses pulled plows that made the ground ready for planting wheat or corn. Horses also pulled wagons, loaded with barrels of Montpelier tobaccos or wheat flour, to market in Fredericksburg and Richmond, and brought supplies back. Aleck was an enslaved wagoner who drove and cared for the horses. On one trip to Fredericksburg, Aleck had to borrow 50 cents to go to the blacksmith for new horseshoes so the horses could make the trip back.
Besides horses, there were cows and sheep and pigs at Montpelier. Some animals were raised for food. Sheep were also raised for their woolly coats. Enslaved women spun the wool into yarn or thread, and weavers like Reuben, Amy, and Harriet wove it into cloth.
James Madison wanted to improve the American breeds of cows and sheep. He bought some Merino sheep, because their wool was so good. A friend gave him some Devon calves as a gift, because they were a better breed of cows.
Animals made their mark at Montpelier – and so did the people who worked with them and took care of them!
How do we know what we know about the past? We can’t ask the people who used to live here— they’re long gone. We have to piece together clues from “primary sources”— letters, journals, diaries, paintings, and newspapers. History is kind of like a giant jigsaw puzzle— as we put the pieces together, a picture of the past emerges!
The very first people to live at Montpelier were Native Americans, or Indigenous people. They didn’t leave written records behind, but they did leave artifacts– objects that were made or shaped or used with their own hands. People who study artifacts are called archaeologists. Montpelier’s archaeologists have discovered artifacts that are about 2000 years old. That tells us that Indigenous people were here, thousands of years before the Madisons, or enslaved people, ever set foot on this land.
The Manahoac tribe were the native people living on this land just before the Madisons arrived here. Artifacts show us that the Manahoac made their mark by making their homes here for periods of time. The artifacts found near President Madison’s house, and near his grandparent’s house at Mount Pleasant–objects such as ceramics, stone tools, and projectile points— show us that the Manahoac thought these were good places to live too.
Did you know that there are descendants of Manahoac people living and making their mark in Virginia today? They are now part of the Monocan tribe, one of the 7 Federally recognized tribes in Virginia.
Some of the people that left their mark on Montpelier are buried here in the Madison family Cemetery. Can you guess which of these gravestones marks the final resting place of James Madison? It’s the tallest monument, and it’s called an obelisk. Today it’s easy to spot Madison’s grave, but if you visited Montpelier in the first 20 years after his death, you wouldn’t know where he was buried unless you were a member of his family. James Madison passed away on June 28, 1836, and two days later, he was buried here, in an unmarked grave.
Why would a president of the United States be buried in an unmarked grave? Today we usually place a marker at the head of a grave, but in the 1700s and 1800s people didn’t always do that, especially in a family cemetery where everyone knew where their family members were buried. If you count the gravestones you’ll find that there are about 30, but we know there are about 100 Madison family members buried here.
It wasn’t until 20 years later that people, outside of the Madison family, decided to place the large gravestone to honor the “Father of the Constitution.” Now, ready for a creepy story? Before placing the gravestone, a deep foundation had to be dug to a depth below James Madison’s coffin. “The boards placed above the coffin had decayed…and the coffin lid was slightly out of place…” so the men digging the foundation opened the coffin lid and “looked in upon the remains…” of James Madison!
Some people made their mark at Montpelier by leaving it.
Anthony was just 17 years old when he decided to make his escape from Montpelier. He had been enslaved here all his life, working in the Madisons’ house, and he was ready to take a big risk for freedom. James Madison’s father placed an ad in the newspaper to say that Anthony had escaped. The ad said that Anthony had light hair and gray eyes, and it described his coats, pants, striped overalls, hat, and buckled shoes. The ad offered a reward for capturing Anthony.
Anthony didn’t want to be caught, so he told people his name was Robert Jones. But one year after he escaped, Anthony was found, about 70 miles from Montpelier. He told the men who captured him that he had traveled to port cities in Virginia, to Philadelphia, and even the West Indies.
But the very next day, Anthony escaped again. He managed to get papers that said he was a free man named Billy Willis. There was a rumor that he was heading to Philadelphia. The Madisons never heard from him again. What happened next is a mystery. But Anthony left his mark by taking a big risk for freedom.
The duPont Family bought Montpelier in 1901 and made many changes to the House and the property. Did you see the racetrack on your way in today? You might even have seen some horses!
Marion duPont Scott loved horses and horse racing. She helped make Montpelier one of the most important horse training centers in America. When three of her favorite horses passed away, she had them buried here and put up these markers to remember them.
Perhaps her favorite horse was Battleship. He was so small that people called him the “American Pony,” but Marion DuPont Scott knew that he had big talent. She sent him across the ocean to race in the British “Grand National,” an important steeplechase race that is still run today. The race is over 4 miles long, and the horses have to jump 30 fences! Many people thought that a small horse like Battleship couldn’t possibly win, but in 1938 he surprised them all! To this day, he is still the smallest horse ever to win the British Grand National. You might say that Battleship left his hoofprints on the history of horse racing!
Marion duPont Scott left another mark on Montpelier. She wanted to share Montpelier and its story with everyone. Thanks to her, you can visit Montpelier today!
Lots of people made their mark on Montpelier. But there are two people you might already know: James and Dolley Madison!
How did James Madison make his mark? He was a Virginia lawmaker, a US Congressman, the Secretary of State, and our 4th President! (Not all at the same time.)
But most importantly, Madison was “Father of the Constitution” and “Architect of the Bill of Rights.” He didn’t write those documents all by himself, but he shared lots of good ideas that still help us govern our country. Madison got his ideas from reading books right here at Montpelier, and he made notes to take to the Constitutional Convention.
Madison could spend so much time in public service because his family had money from owning this plantation. The Madisons enslaved people who grew crops and tended animals. The enslaved people didn’t have much choice about being here, but their hard work made Madison’s career possible. The enslaved people made their mark as the “invisible Founders” of our country.
Dolley Madison made her mark too. James was shy and quiet, but Dolley liked to bring people together for dinners and parties, especially in Washington, DC. That made it easier for James to connect with other people in government.
As you explore Montpelier, see what else you’ll find out about people making their mark!
