This summer the girls and I are taking advantage of all the wonderful historical learning opportunities available to us in Virginia by taking several day trips. Other than a hot and humid central Virginia special at 94 degrees and muggy, our visit to James Madison's home at Montpelier did not disappoint.
The home was originally built by James Madison's father, James Sr., and was expanded upon several times by James Jr. It has been restored to what it looked like during the 20 years that James and Dolley lived here in their retirement years.
The home has only recently opened to the public, with architectural restoration completed in 2008. Archaeologists continue to excavate and research to learn more about the history of this working plantation. They were excavating the south lawn while we were there, which is where several slave quarters were located, as well as the smoke house.
A kind archaeologist talked with us about what they found that day, which included a tiny straight pin used by the slave women for sewing. The previous day they had found a tiny cannon made out of metal that was likely a little boy's toy in Madison's day.
We also visited the archaeology lab, where they have displays and drawers full of things found in and around Montpelier. There was everything from pottery to glassware to civil war artifacts to metal tools and more. Here we also talked with an archaeologist, who showed us the toy cannon mentioned above. This area also included a hands-on area for children to "dig" for artifacts.
A round structure called the "temple" served as the ice house for the mansion, keeping foods cool in the summer. It also serves as a great spot for a photograph!
No photographs were allowed inside the mansion, but we did walk through the large, two-acre walled garden. Clearly it was modeled after an English garden and included several terraced levels and gates at either end.
Underneath the main house were the cellars that included storage areas and the kitchens. We appreciated how nice and cool it was under here, and the kids enjoyed playing in a children's zone set up in one of the rooms off Dolley's kitchen.
We visited both the slave cemetery and the family cemetery, and the girls noticed the difference between the two. The slave cemetery had no marked graves and no record of who was buried where. You'll see from the photos below that the family cemetery was quite different!
I was most impressed with what I learned about Dolley Madison. She was quite the hostess, both in Washington, DC and at home in Montpelier. When Madison served as Secretary of State under Jefferson, the Madisons lived in the White House with Jefferson since they were old friends and Jefferson's wife had already passed away. Dolley served as the hostess for official state events in the White House for 16 years, eight while Madison was Secretary of State and eight as first lady while he was President. In fact, Dolley is considered to be the first true "first lady." She was so loved and respected that her funeral in Washington, DC upon her death in 1849 had more attendees than any of the founding fathers. The plaque below was hanging in the cemetery and pays homage to this amazing woman that I'm now inspired to learn more about.
Though we were there for nearly five hours, there was still not enough time to see it all. Perhaps one day we'll return. In the meantime, here are a few more photos from the day.
