That “Champion of Liberty,” as Madison called him, was Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de Lafayette (1757-1834), also known as the Marquis de Lafayette, or simply General Lafayette. Lafayette first came to America from his native France to support the cause of liberty during the American Revolution, joining George Washington’s staff at age 19. Lafayette endured the brutal winter of 1777-78 at Valley Forge. He led a division of troops in the successful siege of Yorktown in 1781, the last major battle of the Revolutionary War, which forced the surrender of the British General Cornwallis. Returning to France, Lafayette continued to serve the cause of liberty during the French Revolution, famously gifting the key to the Bastille to his mentor Washington.
Four decades later, American pride was at a new height. The United States had won a second war for independence – the War of 1812 – during James Madison’s presidency, and experienced an “Era of Good Feelings” under Madison’s successor James Monroe. Americans revered the Revolutionary generation, even as fewer and fewer of the soldiers and statesmen of that era were still living. When Lafayette accepted President Monroe’s invitation to return as the nation’s guest in 1824, his thirteen-month tour through the (then) 24 states became an outpouring of affection and gratitude for the Frenchman who helped the United States achieve independence. The tour also gave Lafayette a chance to reunite with old friends, including James Madison. Lafayette visited the Madisons at Montpelier on two legs of his journey – in November 1824 and again in August 1825.
This celebratory 1825 engraving (featuring a plethora of exuberant fonts) heralded “The Nation’s Guest. In Commemoration of the Magnanimous and Illustrious LAFAYETTE’S Visit to the United States of North America in the Forty-Ninth Year of Her Independence.” Joseph Perkins after Ary Scheffer, courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.
“As Amiable a Man as His Vanity Will Admit”
Madison’s own friendship with Lafayette had begun 40 years earlier, in September 1784. Madison had a chance encounter in Baltimore with Lafayette, who was on his way to negotiate a treaty with the Iroquois at Fort Stanwix, New York and invited Madison to travel with him. As Madison wrote to his father from Philadelphia, “I fell in with the Marquis & had his company thus far. … He presses me much to fall into his plan, and I am not sure that I shall decline it. It will carry me farther than I had proposed, but I shall be rewarded by the pleasure of his company and the further opportunity of gratifying my curiosity.”2
Madison and Lafayette’s month-long road trip (from September 3 to October 8) turned out to be a bonding experience. Soon afterwards, Madison wrote a frank assessment of the Marquis’s character to his close friend Thomas Jefferson, using a cypher or code in case the letter was read by anyone else:
“The time I have lately passed with the M. has given me a pretty thorough insight into his character. With great natural frankness of temper he unites much address with very considerable talents, a strong thirst of praise and popularity. In his politics he says his three hobby horses are the alliance between France and the United States, the union of the latter and the manumission of the slaves. The two former are the dearer to him as they are connected with his personal glory. The last does him real honor as it is a proof of his humanity. In a word I take him to be as amiable a man as his vanity will admit and as sincere an American as any Frenchman can be; one whose past services gratitude obliges us to acknowledge, and whose future friendship prudence requires us to cultivate.”3
Madison saw Lafayette as both talented and glory-seeking, someone who deserved America’s gratitude and someone whose friendship could be politically useful. (When Madison later edited his papers for publication during his retirement, he crossed out “a strong thirst of praise and popularity” and changed “as amiable a man as his vanity will admit” to “as amiable a man as can be imagined” – even altering the coded words in the hope that no one would realize his initial impression of Lafayette was somewhat mixed.)4
This 1790 mezzotint engraving of Lafayette captures some of the youthful vanity that Madison perceived when he first met Lafayette in 1784. Mezzotint by Philibert-Louis Debucourt, courtesy of National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.
Liberty and Slavery
It’s significant that Madison saw Lafayette’s commitment to the abolition of slavery as “a proof of his humanity.” At this point in his life, Madison himself was still reconciling his thoughts on natural rights with the institution of slavery. He had sold Billey Gardner from slavery into temporary servitude rather than penalizing him “merely for coveting that liberty which we have paid the price of so much blood, and proclaimed so often to be the right, & and worthy pursuit of, every human being,” as he wrote to his father.5Madison wrote in 1785 that one “of my wishes is to depend as little as possible on the labour of slaves,”6 intending to try land speculation as an alternate way to earn income. Once Madison inherited the Montpelier plantation from his father in 1801, his outlook seems to have changed. He thought less in terms of ending his personal dependence on enslaved laborers, and instead looked for a future end to slavery through colonization (emancipating enslaved people and resettling them in Africa or the western territories of the United States.)
“My Friend, as My Heart Reckons But Few Men”
Lafayette was enthusiastic about the friendship he had established with Madison during their travels. He wrote effusively to Madison shortly before returning to France in December 1784,
“One of the Most pleasing Circumstances, not only of my Voyage, But also of my Life, Has Been to obtain as an intimate friend the Man who Before this last time, was only to me a valuable and Agreable Acquaintance. Hitherto You Had Been my friend as the World Calls it—But now I Hope you are my friend as my Heart Reckons But few men—and once for all, I wanted to tell you that I know you, esteem you, and love you with all the warmth of my regard and affection.”7
Although it would be 40 years before Madison and Lafayette saw each other again, their friendship continued. The two men corresponded steadily, exchanging at least 65 letters between 1785 and 1824.
The Nation’s Guest Arrives
Lafayette arrived back in America on August 15, 1824, embarking on his return journey to France on September 7, 1825. As he traveled throughout the United States, communities welcomed the general with processions, artillery salutes, speeches, dinners, and balls. Young ladies strewed flowers or presented bouquets. Elderly veterans of the Revolution came out to shake his hand and share their war stories. Crowds waving handkerchiefs turned out in great numbers simply to catch a glimpse of the great man. Lafayette visited Washington’s tomb at Mount Vernon, laid the cornerstone of the Bunker Hill monument, and participated in ceremonies marking the anniversary of the Battle of Yorktown.8
Lafayette’s secretary, Auguste Levasseur, published an account of their travels, which sheds some light on their time at Montpelier.9 We can glean further insights from the Madisons’ letters, as well as newspaper accounts of Lafayette’s journey.
An Invitation to Montpelier
As soon as Madison heard that his old friend Lafayette had safely arrived in America in August 1824, he immediately extended an invitation to visit Montpelier, writing on August 21, 1824,
“I this instant learn, my dear friend, that you have safely reached the shores, where you will be hailed by every voice of a free people. That of no one, as you will believe, springs more from the heart than mine. May I not hope that the course of your movements will give me an opportunity of proving it, by the warmth of my embrace on my own threshold. Make me happy by a line to that effect when you can snatch a moment for a single one, from the eager gratulations pouring in upon you.”10
If Lafayette responded directly to Madison’s invitation, that letter does not survive. A letter from Lafayette to the United States Senator from Maryland, Samuel Smith, indicates that Lafayette was scheduling trips around his planned attendance at the October 19 Yorktown ceremonies. “The Monticello, and Montpellier visits, and then to the president’s [Monroe’s] County Seat I will be forced to differ [defer] until after the york town anniversary.”11
Embracing Old Friends at Monticello
Lafayette arrived at Monticello on November 4 to visit Thomas Jefferson. James Madison joined them there about sunset that evening, and attended a dinner in Lafayette’s honor at the University of Virginia the next day.12James reported to his wife Dolley from Monticello,
“My old friend embraced me with great warmth. He is in fine health & spirits but so much increased in bulk & changed in aspect that I should not have known him.”13
Lafayette’s appearance had changed significantly since Madison had seen him forty years earlier. Portrait of the Marquis de Lafayette, ca. 1822, attributed to Ary Scheffer, courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of the John Hay Whitney Collection.
James also wrote Dolley what no hostess would want to hear – he still didn’t know exactly when Lafayette would arrive at Montpelier or how many people would be in Lafayette’s entourage!
“The Genl. does not say yet how many days he stays here. … It is probable he will not be with us till near or quite the middle of next week. He will have with him besides his son & Secy. the 2 Councillors, and such of the Company of Orange meeting & conducting him as may chuse to stop at Montpellier… I may learn more to day, but not in time to write you.”14
Plans and Preparations
Dolley initiated preparations nonetheless. Ailsey Payne, who was then an 18-year-old enslaved housemaid, later remembered “stirring times” as Ailsey and other domestic workers polished silver, put tablewares in order, and cleaned the house. The ice houses were filled with the meats that enslaved cooks would prepare for an elaborate dinner including mutton, beef, chickens, turkeys, ducks, and shoats. Ailsey particularly recalled that Dolley made sure the maids were well-dressed for the occasion, since their appearance reflected on Dolley. Otherwise, as Ailsey explained, Dolley would have “disqualified herself in her own house.”15
Lafayette’s plans had firmed up by the time he wrote from Monticello to Robert Lewis of Fredericksburg:
“We expect to leave here next Monday to dine in Montpellier and remain with my friend Mr. Madison until Friday when we contemplate to partake of an early dinner with the citizens of Orange County at their Court House, then to proceed as far as we can on the road to Fredericksburg there to arrive Saturday morning…”16
“Next Monday” meant that Lafayette would arrive at Montpelier on November 15, and stay until Friday, November 19.
The fluid nature of Lafayette’s schedule was sometimes frustrating to local residents who wanted to organize appropriate welcomes. When Madison alerted his neighbor, former governor James Barbour, that Lafayette would be coming the next day, Barbour replied in consternation,
“Yours of this morning is the first intimation I have had of the General’s approach. The shortness of the interval, and our sparse situation present almost insuperable difficulties in making a suitable arrangement to meet him.”17
Barbour proposed meeting Lafayette’s carriage at the county line near Gordonsville. He would bring his carriage and asked Madison to send his own carriage as well. Barbour also asked Madison to relay a message to his nephew, Captain Conway Macon, regarding the plans to meet Lafayette.
Guest of the Nation, Guest of Montpelier
Despite the short notice, Barbour was able to arrange a suitable escort for Lafayette. As the newspaper reported,
“Although his approach was known only a few hours before its occurrence, and the weather was extremely inclement, many of the respectable citizens went out to do him honor. He, his suite, and a most numerous and respectable escort of the citizens of Albemarle, were met at Gordonsville, near the county line, by the Orange Committee of Arrangement, and an escort of mounted Volunteers, under the command of Capt. MACON.”18
Lafayette and his party transferred to the carriages provided by the Committee of Arrangement (presumably including Barbour’s and Madison’s carriages) and traveled on to Montpelier, “where they were affectionately received by Mr. MADISON.”19 As Ailsey Payne later remembered, there were “more horses and carriages [than] you could hardly count!”20
Lafayette’s secretary, Auguste Levasseur, recorded his impressions of the Madisons and Montpelier in his journal: “Mr. Madison is now seventy-four years of age; but his body, which has been but little impaired, contains a mind still young, and filled with a kind sensibility, which he showed in its full extent, when he expressed to General Lafayette the pleasure he felt in having him in his house. … Mrs. Madison also greatly contributes, by the accomplishments of her mind, and the elegance of her manners, to render doubly delightful the unaffected hospitality with which strangers are received at Montpellier.”21
Lafayette as represented in the Dining Room at Montpelier. Photo by Jenniffer Powers, courtesy of Montpelier, a National Trust site.
Levasseur continued, “The four days we spent at Mr. Madison’s, were agreeably divided between walks about his fine estate, and the still more engaging conversations that we enjoyed in the evenings, on the great interests of America, which are known to be so dear to Lafayette.”22
Slavery and Religion
The conversation turned to topics that Madison and his neighbors may have found uncomfortable:
“General Lafayette, who, while he well appreciates the unfortunate position of slave-holders in the United States, and cannot overlook the greater part of the obstacles which oppose an immediate emancipation of the blacks, still never fails to take advantage of an opportunity to defend the right which all men, without exception, have to liberty, introduced the question of slavery among the friends of Mr. Madison.”23
Levausser’s impression was that the company discussed the topic with “frankness” and expressed “noble sentiments … on that deplorable subject.” Levasseur concluded, perhaps naively, “It seems to me that slavery cannot subsist much longer in Virginia: for the principle is condemned by all enlightened men…”24
Levasseur did not record anything that Madison said on the subject of slavery. Madison’s opinions, if he shared them with the company, were probably similar to what he had written to Lafayette several years earlier: “The Negro slavery is as you justly complain a sad blot on our free Country … No satisfactory plan has yet been devised for taking out the stain. If an adequate asylum cd. be found in africa that wd. be the appropriate destination for the unhappy race among us.”25
Madison’s ideas for ending slavery hinged on finding a site to relocate emancipated people, either in Africa or the American West, since as he later wrote Lafayette, Madison believed that
“it seems to be indelible that the two races cannot co-exist, both being free & equal.”26
The Madisons’ guests soon turned the discussion of slavery to what Levasseur described as “the no less important question of mental slavery,” meaning the limitations on religious freedom in many European nations. “The friends of Mr. Madison congratulated themselves that at least this species of slavery is unknown in the United States,” he wrote, observing that here “no individual can be compelled to practice any religious worship, nor to frequent any place, nor to support any minister, of any religion whatever … none can be persecuted in any manner on account of religious opinions: but all men have liberty to profess, and sustain by argument, their opinions in matters of religion…”27
One guest made a point of drawing Levasseur aside to inform him of Madison’s role in opposing a 1784 proposal to use state tax funds to pay teachers of Christian religion. The next morning, the guest sent Levasseur a copy of Madison’s Memorial and Remonstrance, which laid out fifteen arguments in favor of the separation of church and state. Levasseur “perused [it] with interest” and found its principles “so simple and so eloquently maintained and defended.”28
A copy of the Memorial and Remonstrance was on display in Montpelier’s dining room during Madison’s retirement. Photo by Jenniffer Powers, courtesy of Montpelier, a National Trust site.
Many years later, Mary Cutts recorded an incident from Lafayette’s visit that does not appear in Levasseur’s account. It was probably told to her by her aunt Dolley Madison.
“General de La Fayette when he visited Montpelier in 1825, said one of the most interesting sights he had witnessed in America was when he visited the log cabin of Granny Milly, 104 years of age, whose daughter and grand daughter, the youngest nearly 70 were all at rest retired from their labors, and living happily together; their patch of ground cultivated for them, their food and raiment supplied by [‘]Mass Jimmy and Miss Dolley.’”29
Neither Lafayette nor Levasseur wrote about meeting Milly in their letters or accounts of either the 1824 or 1825 visits to Montpelier. Possibly Lafayette met Milly during one of his many “walks about [Madison’s] fine estate.” Lafayette may have found the elderly Milly and her long-lived family “interesting,” but he would not have shared Cutts’s romanticized view of Milly’s family happily retired from work. Perhaps he would have found the visit to Milly’s cabin to be another “opportunity to defend the right which all men, without exception, have to liberty.”30
“A Dinner Prepared with Great Taste and Elegance”
Lafayette’s departure from Montpelier on Friday, November 19, was just as ceremonious as his arrival:
“…attended by Mr. MADISON, the Committee of Arrangement, Capt. MACON’S numerous escort, and many respectable citizens, [Lafayette] proceeded to Orange Court House. Groups of citizens, on foot and on horseback, were seen on the road. As the General approached, he was every where hailed with shouts of applause. On his arrival at the Court House, an extended line of citizens presented itself, along which he proceeded. When he alighted, he was received with acclamation.”31
Levasseur noted that while greeting the people in line, “the General received expressions of regret from several old revolutionary soldiers who had been prevented by age or distance, from being present at the celebration at Yorktown; who now consoled themselves with his expressions of friendship and remembrance by which they seemed greatly affected.”32
After addresses and introductions, Madison accompanied Lafayette to a three o’clock dinner for 200 guests, hosted by James Barbour and “prepared with great taste and elegance.” Thirteen ceremonial toasts followed the dinner. The first was to Lafayette himself:
“The Guest of the Nation; no where more welcome than in Virginia: She received his best services; he enjoys her best affections.”33
Lafayette graciously responded with a toast to Orange County.
The ninth toast honored “Our countryman, JAMES MADISON: Pure in private as illustrious in public life; we love the man and venerate the statesman.” Madison too made a gracious reply, adding his own praise of Lafayette:
“…he has endeared himself by his persevering devotion to the great principles of our Revolution, and by his zeal, truly America, in maintaining our rights, our honor, and our interests, as a free and independent people. In his absence I could say much, which I cannot trust my feelings to utter in his presence. But, were he absent, I could not say more than would be due, nor more than I am sure would be echoed by every heart present.”34
Levasseur noted, “After the repast, we separated from Mr. Madison, who, notwithstanding his seventy-four years, mounted his horse with activity, and returned to his peaceful home alone, through the woods.”35
Lafayette’s party was accompanied out of town by Captain Macon’s escort, now swelled with a number of local residents. A short way down the road, they encountered crowd gathered by a path in the woods where a “triumphal arch” had been erected at a site of Revolutionary War significance. As Levasseur explained, “We soon learned that this path which young ladies were scattering with flowers, and which the crowd entered with much interest, was the road opened by Lafayette on the 15th of June 1781, to effect a rapid march from the banks of the Rapidan to Michunk creek, where Cornwallis was greatly surprised to find him in order of battle…”36
A week later, Dolley recorded her impressions of the visit in a letter to her brother-in-law:
“We have lately had a visit from Genl. LaFayette & family of a few days—the former, you know, was an old friend of Mr M——s I was charmed with his society— & never witnessed so much enthusiasm as his appearance occationed here and at our court house, where hundreds of both sexes collected together, to hail & welcome him— He has promised to spend some time with us again, before he leaves this country.”37
Lafayette Returns to Montpelier
Just as Lafayette promised, he made one last trip to visit his Virginia friends in the final weeks of his stay in America. Levasseur wrote in his travel journal that in August 1825, “we again left the capital to make a last tour in Virginia. On this occasion we visited Albemarle, Culpepper, Fauquier, Warrenton and Buckland.” Lafayette’s mood seemed different on this final segment of the journey, as Levasseur observed:
“Although in all these towns the progress of Lafayette was marked by popular festivals, he could not avoid feeling pained by the recollection that in a few days he was about to leave, perhaps for ever, a country which contained so many objects of his affection.”38
James Monroe (who had recently been succeeded as president by John Quincy Adams) and James Madison “re-joined us on the road to Monticello, whither the general went to take leave of his old friend Jefferson, whose enfeebled health kept him at present in a state of painful inaction.” Levasseur noted the sadness of Lafayette’s parting from these three statesmen and friends,
“for in this instance, the individuals who bade farewell, had all passed through a long career, and the immensity of the ocean would still add to the difficulties of a reunion.”39
In focusing his description on the poignant farewell at Monticello, however, Levasseur left out the specific details of Lafayette’s travel itinerary, which included two stops at Montpelier on August 15-18 and August 21-22. These details can be reconstructed from newspaper accounts and letters.
Tracing Lafayette’s August 1825 Route
According to an item reprinted from the Washington newspaper National Intelligencer, Lafayette left the capital city on August 6 to spend a few days with Monroe in northern Virginia. After returning to Washington, Lafayette’s plan was to “proceed, by the way of Fredericksburgh, to visit, and take leave of, the Ex-Presidents Jefferson and Madison.”40
A news item from Fredericksburg reported that Lafayette arrived there between midnight and one o’clock Sunday morning, August 14. He attended church services later that morning, and left town on Monday, August 15 “for the purpose of paying farewell visits to Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Madison.” Hugh Tennant Mercer, whose father General Hugh Mercer had died in the American Revolution, was listed as one of the men who accompanied Lafayette from Fredericksburg to Montpelier.41 Presumably Lafayette’s party arrived at Montpelier later in the day on Monday. Mercer later apologized to Madison “at being obliged to leave so abruptly the easy & refined Hospitality of Montpelier, in my late Visit to you & Mrs Madison, & especially too as the pleasure of that Visit was so highly enhanced to me by the Society of Him, whom every Section of our Country has been emulous in honoring, but whom, alas! we shall, in all probability, never behold again!”42
The days of Lafayette’s visit may have seemed very full to Dolley Madison, who wrote to a relative on Tuesday, August 16,
“Genl. Fayette … did not arrive with us til the day before yesterday.”43
The “day before yesterday” was Sunday, suggesting that Dolley thought her company had spent one more day at Montpelier than they actually had! In any case, Lafayette and his party were still at Montpelier when Dolley was writing on Tuesday, August 16. Lafayette’s son, George Washington Lafayette, also wrote a letter datelined “Montpelier, 16th Aug. 1825,” in which he regretted being unable to visit Richmond friends, “but our time is so very short, that truly it has become absolutely impossible. We are on our way to bid adieu to Mr. Jefferson, and it will require our best exertions to arrive at Washington city by the 25th of this month.”44
Lafayette likely saw a bust of himself in the Madisons’ art collection while visiting Montpelier. Lafayette’s bust appears to the right of the fireplace. Photo by Jenniffer Powers, courtesy of Montpelier, a National Trust site.
Lafayette left Montpelier for Monticello on Thursday, August 18, where he stayed until Sunday, August 21. (Jefferson’s granddaughter reported on August 26 that “Gen. La Fayette left us on sunday last, having arrived the thursday evening before.”45) The touching scene described by Levasseur, when Lafayette took his final leave of Jefferson, with Madison and Monroe also present at Monticello, must have taken place during those few days.
After leaving Monticello, Lafayette made one last stop at Montpelier on Sunday, August 21. Monroe was traveling with him. It is unknown how long Lafayette intended to stay, but later that day, Captain Philip Slaughter arrived at Montpelier with an invitation to a dinner in Lafayette’s honor in Culpeper on Monday, August 22. Slaughter recorded in his journal, “Major Gabriel Long and myself were deputed by the committee of arrangements of Culpeper to wait upon General La Fayette at Montpelier, the seat of ex-President Madison, in Orange, and invite him to dine at Culpeper Courthouse on 22d of August, 1825. We started from my house on the 21st, with two carriages, and remained at Montpelier that night. We left there with General La Fayette and suite, at 5½ A. M. …”46
“Lafayette Took His Final Leave of Us”
When Lafayette and his entourage departed Montpelier at daybreak on August 22, 1825, it was the last time that Madison ever saw him. Madison wrote to Frances Wright (a sometime traveling companion of Lafayette who had not made this part of the journey), “General Lafayette took his final leave of us a few days ago … He carries with him the unanimous blessings of the free nation which has adopted him. If equal honors have not been his portion in that which he had his birth, it is not because he did not deserve them: This hemisphere at least, & posterity in the other, will award what is due to the nobleness of his mind, and the grandeur of his career.”47
As Lafayette had suspected, he would not see Thomas Jefferson again. Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, less than a year after Lafayette’s visit. When Lafayette heard the news, he wrote to Madison, “Our Beloved Jefferson is No More, my dear friend, and While I Mingle My sorrows with Yours, I never more Sadly felt What Has been to me a Constant object of Regret, the painful distance there is Between our Respective places of Abode.” Lafayette concluded his letter with this reflection:
“My dear friend We are few Remaining of those old Revolutionary times. I am by Seas Separated from the Small band; But Until I Go to the departed ones My Heart is With You…”48
Madison reflected the same sentiments in his reply to Lafayette:
“You will never doubt that your happiness is very dear to me; and I feel the sentiment growing stronger as the loss of others dear to us both, shortens the list to which we belong.”49
In the same letter, Madison sent regards from his 95-year-old mother Nelly Madison:
“She forgets many things she says, but shall never forget General Lafayette the great & good friend of her Country.”50
Like many Americans, Nelly Madison would always remember Lafayette with gratitude for helping to win American independence. It was not an abstract ideal for her. Nelly well remembered the American Revolution and how British General Cornwallis had “instilled a great deal of terror” in Virginia (as she told another Montpelier visitor, the Baron de Montlezun, in 1816).51 Plaster medallion portrait of Nelly Madison by Pietro Cardelli, 1819. Photo by Rebecca Hagen, courtesy of Montpelier, a National Trust site.
Revolution and Remembrance
As Madison observed, “the list to which we belong” – the list of people with personal recollections of the American Revolution – was growing ever shorter. Jefferson and John Adams died in 1826, the year after Lafayette’s tour. Monroe died in 1831, Lafayette in 1834, and Madison in 1836. In another 50 years after Madison’s death, an elderly Ailsey Payne – along with the once-young ladies who had presented bouquets to Lafayette – would tell stories of the Farewell Tour as if the tour itself was an event in a long-ago history.
Lafayette remained in American memory through the many places – towns, parks, and streets – named in his honor. Fayetteville, North Carolina was named in 1783, even before the Treaty of Paris ended the Revolutionary War. Other places were named or renamed during the years of the Farewell Tour, including Lafayette Square in New Orleans and Lafayette Square in Washington, DC (where Dolley Madison would later live as a widow).52
The bicentennial of Lafayette’s Farewell Tour (2024-25) offers yet another opportunity to renew appreciation of Lafayette’s contributions to American independence and the cause of human freedom. For that reason, the Lafayette Trail project has set out to document, map, and mark the sites Lafayette visited in 1824 and 1825. The Montpelier Foundation was pleased to receive a Lafayette Trail marker on November 15, 2021, exactly 197 years since James Madison first extended to General Lafayette “the warmth of my embrace on my own threshold” at Montpelier. Look for the marker beside the historic train depot on your next visit to Montpelier!
This Lafayette Trail marker notes the dates of Lafayette’s first and final visits to Montpelier, as well as the topics of discussion that Lafayette’s secretary, Auguste Levasseur, recorded in his journal. Photo by Ryan C. Jones, courtesy of Montpelier, a National Trust site.
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!
