James and Dolley Madison (56 page)

The second floor included more living space and terraces built on the roof of the first floor. Guests filled the terraces at parties. (Courtesy of Montpelier, a National Trust Historic Site.)

For decades, the original Montpelier building was buried beneath a larger structure. This is the actual plantation home, finally restored in the early 2000s. (Courtesy of Montpelier, a National Trust Historic Site.)

President John Adams and Madison were at first rivals, but Adams later became Madison's friend and lent him his full support when the War of 1812 began. Painting by Charles Willson Peale, ca. 1791–1794. (From Independence National Historical Park.)

Alexander Hamilton and Madison lobbied together to have the US Constitution ratified in 1788, but they split over political differences during George Washington's second term as president. Painting by Charles Willson Peale, ca. 1790–1795. (From Independence National Historical Park.)

James Madison in his forties. In midlife he had married and planned to retire from public life at his Montpelier plantation, but the Adams administration's unpopular Alien and Sedition Acts brought him back to the public stage, where he would remain. Painting by James Sharples Sr., 1796–1797. (From Independence National Historical Park.)

Madison and longtime friend James Monroe split when Monroe ran against him for president, but Thomas Jefferson brought the pair back together. Monroe was Madison's secretary of state and succeeded him in the White House. Painting attributed to Felix Sharples, ca. 1807–1811. (From Independence National Historical Park.)

Thomas Jefferson and Madison were longtime friends; Jefferson made Madison secretary of state. Madison succeeded Jefferson as president, and the two remained close all of their lives. Painting by Charles Willson Peale, 1791–1792. (From Independence National Historical Park.)

The Madisons frequently visited Richmond, Virginia, seen here in an 1808 painting completed just before Madison's inauguration, and they often stayed there for weeks. Watercolor on paper by J. L. Bouqueta de Woiseri, 1882. (From Virginia Historical Society [1953.2].)

This map, drawn shortly after the American Revolution ended, shows the United States during Madison's lifetime. Map by John Wallis, 1783. (From the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Museum Purchase.)

Independence Hall, in Philadelphia, was the setting for the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution. Photograph by Carol M. Highsmith, ca. 1980–2006. (From the Library of Congress.)

James Madison was the driving force at the US Constitutional Convention. Painting by Thomas Pritchard Rossiter, 1872. (From Independence National Historical Park.)

CHAPTER 1. SAVING GEORGE WASHINGTON IN A CITY ON FIRE

  
1
.
National Intelligencer
, August 20, 1814.

  
2
. Dolley Madison to Edward Coles, May 12, 1813, in Dolley Madison Digital Edition, ed. Holly C. Shulman (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, Online Rotunda Edition, 2010–2013) (hereafter referred to as DMDE).

  
3
. Ibid.

  
4
. Dolley Madison to Edward Coles, May 18, 1813, in ibid.

  
5
. Abigail Adams to her sister Elizabeth, in
Dolley Madison: Her Life and Times
, by Katherine Anthony (New York: Doubleday, 1949), p. 116; National Geographic Society,
The Capital of Our Country
(Washington, DC: National Geographic Society, 1923), p. 7.

  
6
. Noble Cunningham Jr., ed., “The Frances Few Diary,”
Journal of Southern History
29, no. 3 (August 1963): 349.

  
7
. Ibid., pp. 351–52.

  
8
. Lucia Cutts,
Memoirs and Letters of Dolley Madison, Wife of James Madison, President of the United States
(1886; repr. Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press, 1971), pp. 108–11.

  
9
. Harry Ammon,
James Monroe: The Quest for National Identity
(New York: McGraw-Hill, 1971), pp. 323–24.

10
. Irving Brant,
James Madison
(Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill, 1941–1961), 1:294–95.

11
. Ibid., p. 293.

12
. Ibid., p. 295.

13
. Ibid., p. 297.

14
. Ammon,
James Monroe
, pp. 332–33.

15
. C. Edward Skeen,
Citizen Soldiers in the War of 1812
(Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1977), p. 135.

16
.
Baltimore Patriot
, August 31, 1814.

17
. Cutts,
Memoirs and Letters of Dolley Madison
, pp. 108–11.

18
. Anthony,
Dolley Madison
, p. 224.

19
. Earl Pomeroy, ed.,
Military Affairs Magazine
12, no. 3 (Autumn 1948): 171.

20
. Ibid., p. 110.

21
. Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Flournoy, in Cutts,
Memoirs and Letters of Dolley Madison
, pp. 97–98.

22
. Dolley Madison to Anna Cutts, August 23, 1814, in ibid., pp. 108–11.

23
. Harold Eberlein and Cortlandt Van Dyke Hubbard,
Historic Houses of George-Town and Washington City
(Richmond, VA: Dietz Press, 1958), p. 202.

24
. Anthony,
Dolley Madison
, p. 199.

25
. Alan Lloyd,
The Scorching of Washington: The War of 1812
(Washington, DC: Robert B. Luce, 1974), p. 168.

26
. Anthony Pitch,
The Burning of Washington: The British Invasion of 1814
(Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1998), p. 87.

27
. Charles Ingersoll,
History of the Second War between the United States of America and Great Britain Declared by Act of Congress, the 18th of June, 1812, and Concluded by Peace, the 15th of February, 1815
(Philadelphia, PA: Lea and Blanchard, 1845–1849), pp. 206–207.

28
. Paul Jennings,
A Colored Man's Reminiscences of James Madison
(Brooklyn, NY: George C. Beadle, 1865), p. 11; Lloyd,
Scorching of Washington
, p. 168.

29
. Catherine Allgor,
A Perfect Union: Dolley Madison and the Creation of the American Nation
(New York: Henry Holt, 2006), p. 314.

30
. Ibid.

31
. Anthony,
Dolley Madison
, p. 230.

32
. Anne Hollingsworth Wharton,
Social Life in the Early Republic
(Philadelphia, PA: J. B. Lippincott, 1903), pp. 166–67; Dolley Madison to Anna Cutts, August 23, 1814, in DMDE.

33
. Lloyd,
Scorching of Washington
, p. 14.

34
. Pitch,
Burning of Washington
, p. 66.

35
. Louis Serrurier to Charles Talleyrand, August 27, 1814, in DMDE.

36
. James Ewell,
The Planter's and Mariner's Medical Companion
, 3rd ed. (Philadelphia, PA: Anderson and Meehan, 1816), p. 633.

37
. Pitch,
Burning of Washington
, p. 77.

38
. Ibid., p. 91.

39
. Ibid., p. 64.

40
. The destruction of the Navy Yard was chronicled by Colonel Tom Tingey, who did so in a report to the secretary of the navy,
National Intelligencer
, September 8, 1814.

41
. Sir Harry Smith,
Autobiography of Lieutenant-General Sir Harry Smith
(London: Murray, 1903), p. 200.

42
. John Williams,
History of the Invasion and Capture of Washington, and Events Which Preceded and Followed
(New York: Harper and Brothers, 1857), pp. 254–55.

43
. James McGregor,
Washington from the Ground Up
(Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 2007), pp. 46–47.

44
. Mary Stockton Hunter to Susan Stockton Cuthbert, August 30, 1814, in Hunter Family Papers, New York Historical Society.

45
. Margaret Bayard Smith,
The First Forty Years of Washington Society
, ed. Gaillard Hunt (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1906), pp. 104–105.

46
. William Thornton remembrance,
National Intelligencer
, September 8, 1814.

47
. Ibid.; Williams,
History of the Invasion and Capture of Washington
, p. 266.

48
. Williams,
History of the Invasion and Capture of Washington
, p. 173.

49
. Pitch,
Burning of Washington
, p. 125.

50
. Matilda Sayrs, “Reminiscences,” Alexandria (Virginia) Library, special collections.

51
. Ibid., p. 173.

CHAPTER 2. OPPOSITES ATTRACT

  
1
. Catherine Allgor,
A Perfect Union: Dolley Madison and the Creation of the American Nation
(New York: Henry Holt, 2006), p. 24.

  
2
. John Todd to Dolley Madison, July 30, 1793, in Dolley Madison Digital Edition, ed. Holly C. Shulman (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, Online Rotunda Edition, 2010–2013) (hereafter cited as DMDE).

  
3
. Dolley Madison,
The Selected Letters of Dolley Payne Madison
, ed. David Mattern and Holley Schulman (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2003), pp. 14–15.

  
4
. Dolley Madison to James Todd, October 28 and 31, 1794, and February 1784, in DMDE.

  
5
. Nancy Isenberg,
Fallen Founder: The Life of Aaron Burr
(New York: Viking Press, 2007), p. 124.

  
6
. Fawn Brodie,
Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History
(New York: W. W. Norton, 1974), p. 301.

  
7
. Catherine Allgor,
The Queen of America: Mary Cutts's Life of Dolley Madison
(Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012), p. 52; Lucia Cutts,
Memoirs and Letters of Dolley Madison, Wife of James Madison, President of the United States
(1886; repr., Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press, 1971), 1:14.

  
8
. Irving Brant,
James Madison
(Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill, 1941–1946), 1:630.

  
9
. Catherine Coles to Dolley Madison, June 1, 1794, in Madison,
Selected Letters of Dolley Payne Madison
, pp. 27–28.

10
. Margaret Bayard Smith,
The First Forty Years of Washington Society
, ed. Gaillard Hunt (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1906), p. 61.

11
. Virginia Moore,
The Madisons: A Biography
(New York: McGraw-Hill, 1979), p. 15.

12
. Thomas Jefferson,
Papers of Thomas Jefferson
, ed. Julian Boyd and Barbara Oberg (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2007), 7:240; Brodie,
Thomas Jefferson
, p. 178.

13
. William Wilkins to Dolley Madison, August 22, 1794, in Madison,
Selected Letters of Dolley Payne Madison
, pp. 29–30.

14
. Cutts,
Memoirs and Letters of Dolley Madison
, 2:16.

15
. James Madison to Dolley Madison, August 1794, in DMDE.

16
. Ethel Arnett,
Mrs. James Madison: The Incomparable Dolley
(Greensboro, NC: Piedmont Press, 1972), p. 63.

17
. Dolley Madison to Eliza Collins Lee, September 16, 1794, in DMDE.

CHAPTER 3. THE HAPPY GROOM RETIRES FROM PUBLIC LIFE

  
1
. Ralph Ketcham,
James Madison: A Biography
(New York: Macmillan, 1971), p. 286.

  
2
. George Washington to James Madison, May 5, 1789, in
The Writings of George Washington
, by George Washington, ed. John C. Fitzpatrick (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1932), 30:311; Richard Smith,
Patriarch: George Washington and the New American Nation
(Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1993), p. 24.

  
3
. Ketcham,
James Madison
, p. 314.

  
4
. Alexander Hamilton to Edward Carrington, May 26, 1792, in
The Papers of Alexander Hamilton
, by Alexander Hamilton, ed. Harold Syrett, vol. 11 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1961–1987), pp. 425–45.

  
5
. Dumas Malone,
Jefferson and His Time
(Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2005), 2:324; Ketcham,
James Madison
, p. 333.

  
6
. Stuart Leibiger,
Founding Friendship: George Washington, James Madison and the Creation of the American Republic
(Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1999), p. 220.

  
7
. Adrienne Koch,
Jefferson and Madison: The Great Collaboration
(Birmingham, AL: Palladium Press, 2005), p. 172.

  
8
. Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, December 28, 1794, in Malone,
Jefferson and His Time
, 3:187.

  
9
. Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, in
The Republic of Letters: The Correspondence between Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, 1776–1826
, ed. James Smith (New York: W. W. Norton, 1995), 2:854–55.

10
. Thomas Jefferson to Edward Rutledge, November 30, 1795, in
The Writings of Thomas Jefferson
, by Thomas Jefferson, ed. Paul Ford (New York: 1892–1899), 7:39.

11
. Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, December 28, 1794, in Malone,
Jefferson and His Time
, 3:187.

12
. James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, in Smith,
Republic of Letters
, 2:855.

13
. James Madison Jr. to James Madison Sr., March 12, 1797, in
The Papers of James Madison: Secretary of State Series, Presidential Series, Retirement Series, Personal Papers
, ed. Robert Brugger et al. (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1986) (hereafter cited as
PJM
), 16:500–501.

14
. David Ramsey, “The View from Inside,” in
The Ambiguity of the American Revolution
, ed. Jack Greene (New York: Harper and Row, 1968), pp. 33–34; Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, December 28, 1794, in Smith,
Republic of Letters
, 1:866–68.

15
. John Adams to Abigail Adams, January 1797, in
PJM
, 17:xix.

16
. Hubbard Taylor to James Madison, May 1, 1797, in ibid., 17:4–5.

CHAPTER 4. RETURN TO MONTPELIER, 1796

  
1
. James Madison Jr. to James Madison Sr., February 23, 1795, in
The Writings of James Madison
, by James Madison and Gaillard Hunt (New York: Russell and Russell, 1968), 6:213.

  
2
. Ralph Ketcham,
James Madison: A Biography
(New York: Macmillan, 1971), pp. 373–75.

  
3
. Irving Brant,
James Madison
(Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill, 1941–1946), 3:323–24.

  
4
. Ketcham,
James Madison
, p. 387.

  
5
. Anna Maria Brodeau Thornton, September 5, 1802, in Anna Thornton Diary, 1793–1804, Ann Maria Brodeau Thornton Papers, Library of Congress; Matthew Hyland,
Montpelier and the Madisons: House, Home and American Heritage
(Charleston, SC: History Press, 2007), pp. 60–62.

  
6
. Mary Bagot, August 20, 1817, in
Exile in Yankeeland: The Journal of Mary Bagot, 1816–1819
, ed. David Hosford (Washington, DC: Historical Society of Washington, DC, 1984); Anna Thornton to Dolley Madison, August 21, 1809, in Dolley Madison Digital Edition, ed. Holly C. Shulman (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, Online Rotunda Edition, 2010–2013) (hereafter cited as DMDE).

  
7
. Hyland,
Montpelier and the Madisons
, pp. 54–56; James Blair to James Madison, April 25, 1797, in
The Papers of James Madison: Secretary of State Series, Presidential Series, Retirement Series, Personal Papers
, ed. Robert Brugger et al. (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1986) (hereafter cited as
PJM
), 17:2.