What We Know About William Gardner
William (Billey) Gardner may have been the only enslaved person from Montpelier to gain freedom during James Madison’s lifetime.
Gardner was the son of “old” Anthony and his wife Betty[1] (and was possibly the brother of a younger man named Anthony, who would escape from Montpelier at age 17 in 1786). [2] All were enslaved by Madison’s father, who transferred Gardner to Madison sometime prior to 1787 – a transaction that was confirmed in the elder Madison’s will.[3]
Gardner likely served as Madison’s manservant when Madison went to Philadelphia in March 1780 to attend the Continental Congress. Gardner was first mentioned there in July 1782, when Edmund Randolph suggested to Madison that “Billy can remind you” of the name of a particular enslaved person.[4] By this time the American Revolution was all but won, and liberty was in the air. Gardner apparently felt its influence, according to a letter Madison wrote to his father in 1783:
“On a view of all circumstances I have judged it most prudent not to force Billey back to Va. even if could be done; and have accordingly taken measures for his final separation from me. I am persuaded his mind is too thoroughly tainted to be a fit companion for fellow slaves in Virga. The laws here do not admit of his being sold for more than 7 years. I do not expect to get near the worth of him; but cannot think of punishing him by transportation merely for coveting that liberty for which we have paid the price of so much blood, and have proclaimed so often to be the right, & worthy the pursuit, of every human being.”[5]
Madison did not explain what prompted his urgency to make a decision between selling Gardner and sending him back to Virginia. Possibly Gardner had tried to escape; this would not be the only instance where the Madisons considered selling an enslaved person as a punishment for running away. Madison clearly feared that Gardner, now “tainted” with the desire for liberty, could influence other people enslaved at Montpelier to seek their freedom as well.
Madison seemed to be testing his own commitment to liberty in this letter. He knew the price paid for the colonies’ liberty, he expressed sympathy for Gardner desiring liberty – but he could not bring himself to grant Gardner his freedom outright. The only compromise Madison was willing to make was to accept a lower price for Gardner by selling him into short-term servitude in Philadelphia, rather than selling him at a higher price for lifetime servitude elsewhere.
Madison wrote to his father in September 1783, explaining his decision to sell Billey Gardner into short-term servitude in Philadelphia. “I am persuaded his mind is too thoroughly tainted to be a fit companion for fellow slaves in Virga.” See above for a transcription of the highlighted section. Courtesy of Library of Congress.
Gardner’s Next Chapter
While Madison referred to him only as “Billey,” Gardner began using the full name William Gardner at some point after Madison sold him. (It is possible that he already had the surname Gardner, since the Madisons rarely acknowledged the surnames of enslaved people.) Gardner remained in Philadelphia, where Madison and Jefferson had occasional contact with him. In 1787, a year after Anthony escaped from Montpelier, Madison asked Gardner if he knew whether Anthony was in Philadelphia. (Anthony may have been Gardner’s brother.) Madison wrote his father, “The enquiries which I have at different times made of Billey concerning Anthony satisfy me that he either knows, or will tell [,] nothing of the matter.”[6] A year later, Madison was still speculating on Anthony’s whereabouts, and wrote his father with the suspicion that his current enslaved manservant John had “practised a gross deception on us” by implying that Anthony was in Philadelphia. Madison could see no reason for John to do this “unless it were a spite to Billey, which I fancy he entertained.”[7]
By 1793 Gardner seems to have been working at Mary House’s boarding house in Philadelphia. Madison, now a U. S. Congressman, had ordered plows from a Philadelphia agriculturist. He sought Gardner’s assistance to have the plows sent to him at Montpelier, where he had returned between Congressional sessions. Madison wrote Jefferson in May 1793 regarding plans for shipping the plows: “Billy at Mrs. Houses was charged to look out for the first Vessel that offers. If the Newspapers shd. present one to your eye be so good as to let him have notice [,] that he put them on board.”[8] Madison asked Jefferson to pay for the plows, adding in another letter, “The price will be made known by Billey.”[9] Jefferson replied in July, “I have never been able to get a sight of Billy till yesterday. He has promised to bring me the bill of your ploughs which shall be paid.”[10] Jefferson noted in his account book on August 24, “pd Billy Gardner for J. Madison 34.70,”[11] and wrote to Madison on August 25, “Billy who is just going on a nautical expedition to Charleston, called on me yesterday to desire I would send you the inclosed account which he said was necessary for you to debit those for whom the articles were.”[12] Gardner’s voyage to Charleston may have been related to duties he carried out as a merchant’s agent.
In addition to Madison calling on William Gardner for this type of odd job, Jefferson paid his wife Henrietta Gardner to do laundry. On January 10, 1791, Jefferson recorded in his account book, “Billy’s wife (Mrs Gardener) begins to wash for me at £20. a year.” The account book records payments made to “Mrs Gardner,” “Henrietta Gardner,” or simply “washerwoman” throughout Jefferson’s term as Washington’s Secretary of State (1791-1793) and his term as Vice President under Adams (from 1797 until early 1800, when the capital – and Jefferson’s laundry – moved from Philadelphia to Washington). On several occasions Billey Gardner collected the payments. The last time was on January 5, 1794, when Jefferson recorded: “pd Billy Gardner in full for washing 10.18.”[13]
In late December 1795, Madison learned dismaying news. He wrote from Philadelphia to his father at Montpelier,
“You may let Old Anthony & Betty know that their son Billey is no more. He went on a voyage to N. Orleans, where being sick as were most of the crew, & very weak under the operation of a dose of physic, he tumbled in a fainty fit overboard & never rose.”[14]
William Gardner’s life as free man had come to an untimely end.
References
[1] James Madison to James Madison Sr., December 27, 1795, James Madison Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC, accessed August 10, 2020, MRD-S 11057, Montpelier Research Database.
[2] “Twenty Dollars Reward,” Virginia Gazette (Richmond, VA), November 22, 1786, accessed August 7, 2020, MRD-S 42360, Montpelier Research Database.
[3]Madison Sr.’s will, written in 1787, states, “I do hereby confirm to my son James a good right and title to the following slaves which I have heretofore given him to wit, Billy which he has since sold…” James Madison Sr., Will dated September 17, 1787, James Madison Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC, accessed August 7, 2020, MRD-S 20954, Montpelier Research Database.
[4] Edmund Randolph to James Madison, July 5, 1782, James Madison Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC, accessed August 7, 2020, MRD-S 10241, Montpelier Research Database.
[5] James Madison to James Madison Sr., September 8, 1783, James Madison Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC, accessed August 7, 2020, MRD-S 10510, Montpelier Research Database.
[6] James Madison to James Madison Sr., July 28, 1787, James Madison Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC, accessed August 7, 2020, MRD-S 10780, Montpelier Research Database.
[7] James Madison to James Madison Sr., September 6, 1788, James Madison Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC, accessed August 7, 2020, MRD-S 21380, Montpelier Research Database.
[8] James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, May 27, 1793, James Madison Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC, accessed August 10, 2020, MRD-S 10948, Montpelier Research Database.
[9] James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, June 17, 1793, James Madison Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC, accessed August 10, 2020, MRD-S 10954, Montpelier Research Database.
[10] Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, July 21, 1793, James Madison Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC, accessed August 10, 2020, MRD-S 10964.
[11] Thomas Jefferson account book 1791-1803, Manuscripts and Archives Division, MS 23168, New York Public Library, New York, New York, accessed July 30, 2020, MRD-S 42851, Montpelier Research Database. This entry can be viewed on the 47th image of the digitized account book (click on the “Digital Assets” button).
[12] Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, August 25, 1793, James Madison Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC, accessed August 10, 2020, MRD-S 10980, Montpelier Research Database.
[13] Thomas Jefferson account book 1791-1803, Manuscripts and Archives Division, MS 23168, New York Public Library, New York, New York, accessed July 30, 2020, MRD-S 42851, Montpelier Research Database. These entries can be viewed on the 5th and 53rd images of the digitized account book (click on the “Digital Assets” button).
[14] James Madison to James Madison Sr., December 27, 1795, James Madison Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC, accessed August 10, 2020, MRD-S 11057, Montpelier Research Database.
[15] James Madison to James Madison Sr., December 27, 1795, James Madison Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC, accessed August 10, 2020, MRD-S 11057, Montpelier Research Database.
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