WASHINGTON AND THE WHITE HOUSE.
When Jefferson became President, in 1801, Madison was made Secretary of
State. The capital had been moved the year before to Washington, and the
Madisons settled on F street, between 13th and 14th. From this time
Dolly's history is well known. She became at once the center of the
social life of the capital; all eyes were turned her way, and she soon
won the hearts of the people.
Mary Payne, Dolly's younger sister, was married in 1800 to Congressman
J. G. Jackson, of Virginia, and Anna Payne was married in 1804 to
Senator Richard Cutts,[47] from Maine, then part of Massachusetts. With
her three daughters in Washington, Mary Payne was soon ready to follow,
and henceforth made her home with Dolly.
[Illustration: Colonel Samuel Washington.]
On June 4, 1805, Dolly writes: "Yesterday we had brother George,
Thornton and Laurence Washington to spend the day, and I enjoyed the
sound of Virginia hilarity echoing through the house. George coughs
incessantly, and looks thin and hoarse, but has no idea of dying."
He died a few years later, when traveling with his servant in the south,
and Lucy with her three boys came to live with the Madisons. Her
great-grandson, John Augustine Washington, owns Harewood, where from the
wall the portrait of Lucy Payne Washington smiles a welcome to the
stranger, and in the old terraced garden[48] with its rare plants, the
lilac hedge planted by her sister Dolly each springtime fills the air
with fragrance.
"Here's the garden she walked across;
Down this side of the gravel walk
She went, while her robe's edge brushed the box,
And here she paused in her gracious talk
To point me a moth on the milk-white phlox."
Here also are the portraits of George Steptoe, and the "gay fox-loving
squire," Samuel Washington, his father, the loving husband of five
wives, who laid them one by one in the little family burying plot near
by, where now he himself and many of his descendants sleep the last
sleep.
"In ancient graves, where trailing vines
And tender wild flowers grow."
In 1807 a great grief came to Dolly in the loss of her beloved mother,
who did not live to see her mistress of the White House. Mary Coles had
been a belle and beauty during her girlhood.[49] At the home of her
cousin, Colonel John Coles, of Enniscorthy,[50] in Albemarle county, she
had met men who were destined for grave responsibilities in later years.
John Coles and his son, Colonel John, who inherited this estate,
entertained with lavish hospitality. They had a fine stock of horses,
and for the hunting season such men as Jefferson, Madison, Monroe,
Randolph, Patrick Henry, Wirt, Edmunds, and many others, were guests
here for weeks.
Shortly after her mother's death Dolly writes:
"Deep affliction, my dear friend, has for some time past arrested
my pen! My beloved & tender Mother left us forever on the 20th of
October last--She was in Virgi^a with my youngest sister when she
died without suffering or regret. The loss is only ours, & for that
only ought we her children to mourn.
"Mr. Madison unites with me in best wishes & regard for you and
yours.
D. P. Madison[51].
The following unpublished letter[52] from James Madison to his
brother-in-law, George Steptoe Washington, is interesting as giving an
account of the early troubles with Great Britain that finally led to the
War of 1812:
Washington, Dec^r 7, 1807.
Dear Sir
Having lately rec'd a few no^s of Cobbets[53] Register, I enclose
them with a few newspapers of our own for your amusement, by a
winter's fire side.
The business with England has come to a stop there, and is to be
transferred to this place. The British Gov^t. would not admit, even
formally, into the case of the Chesapeake, a discussion of the
general principal of impressments; and the inefficacy of any
arrangement not embracing the whole subject, for placing the two
countries in the relation of secure & permanent friendship, was
thought to require a joint provision. It had been calculated with
great confidence here that the offer authorized for putting an end
to the general practice of G. B. was so favorable to her interest
as well as so liberal in itself, that it would be instantly
embraced, and that the great difficulty on the general subject
being surmounted, the affair of the Chesapeake would be met on both
sides with dispositions which would render it the more manageable.
The different course insisted on will necessarily leave around the
subject all the thorns which mutual pride and honor, wise and
false, will have planted there; and even in case the parties shall
succeed in removing this ground of contest, the old one, on which
a species of contest tending to rupture has been commenced, will
remain. From the sensibility produced in this country by the
British practice of taking seamen, and ours in greater number than
their own, it can hardly be supposed that the practice will be
tolerated after a refusal of the liberal & conciliatory substitute
proposed on our part. Let us not however despair that things may
take a better turn. If the new envoy brings as sincere disposition
to remove obstacles to peace & harmony as he will find here, this
cannot fail to be the case.
Inclosed are a few lines for Mr^s. Washington from her sister, to
whom I beg you to offer my sincere affection.
With great esteem & regard I remain
D^r Sir yr. friend & bro^r
James Madison
Cap^t G. S. Washington
Benjamin H. Latrobe,[54] having been made architect of the capitol with
the title of Surveyor of the Public Buildings, removed his family to
Washington in 1807. To him we owe the corn-stalk columns with capitals
of ripened ears in the vestibule of the Capitol, which Mrs. Trollope
declared the most beautiful things she had seen in primitive America.
He also designed the capitals of tobacco leaves and flowers crowning
the columns in the vestibule of the old Senate Chamber, now the Supreme
Court Room. He was likewise the architect of the St. John's Church.
At the beginning of Madison's administration, in 1809, Congress
appropriated $6,000 towards furnishing the White House, of which work he
had charge; and mirrors, china, household linen, knives and other
necessaries were bought, as were also sofas, chairs and hangings, not
forgetting a pianoforte, for $458, and a guitar, for $28.
The Madison coach was built by Fielding, of Philadelphia, at the modest
price of $1,500. It was drawn by four horses.
Mrs. Latrobe and Dolly had soon become friends, as the following
note[55] shows. It was written while James Madison was the Secretary of
State:
To Mrs. Latrobe:
My dear friend: I have read your books with pleasure & return them
with many thanks. I intended to have presented them myself
yesterday, but could not get my carriage in time. I long to see you,
& hope you will not fail to send for the ride when you wish it, as
I expect M^r. Latrobe has left you for Phil^a & that you will
indulge low spirits. How is Lidia & the little ones? I have been
sick for several days, & on this we shall have Doc^r Wistar of
Phil^a to dine with us. He is an old friend, & I shall be gratified
in having some account of our mutual acquaintances.
We have nothing new in this quarter except Mrs. Fulton[56] the
Bride, who arrived from New York 3 days ago. She was a Miss
Livingston, & perhaps known to you. Even with this elegant addition
to the City I feel melancholy without knowing wherefore.
Can I send you anything? Can I do anything for you? If yes, will
you still think of me with confidence & affection? I desire it from
you if a faithful & tender friendship _has favor in your eyes_.
Adieu for the moment,
[Illustration: Signature of D P Madison]
8^th July 1808.
At Madison's first inauguration Dolly wore buff-colored velvet and pearl
ornaments, with a Paris turban with bird-of-Paradise plumes, and "looked
and moved a queen." The inaugural ball was held at Long's Hotel, and
about four hundred people were present. The first "four hundred."
At the request of her husband she had laid aside her Quaker dress on her
marriage. However, she clung to the Quaker ways, to its soft "thee" and
"thou" that fell so pleasantly from her tongue, and even, in a measure,
to its dress. During the eight years when, as wife of the Secretary of
State, she and her sisters, Lucy and Anna, were often called on by
Jefferson[57] to do the honors of the White House, she wore her "pretty
Quaker cap." Indeed it was not until she came there as its mistress that
she reluctantly laid it aside as "no longer suitable to her
surroundings."
She has sometimes been accused of adhering less strictly to some of the
more essential beliefs of Quakerism, for which her father had suffered
so much.
Dolly was perhaps never a great woman, but she was infinitely better, a
loving one. Her days were filled with
"Little nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love."
Her manner was irresistibly charming. Her memory of faces, her ready
sympathy, delicate tact and Irish wit made her many admirers and
friends, and her memory to-day is held in a loving remembrance such as
is felt for no other one of the mistresses of the White House.
One of the most characteristic stories told of her was that about the
two old ladies from a western town, who, after seeing the Capital, had
stopped on a corner near the White House, reluctant to leave without
first seeing the President's wife, whose fame in some ways exceeded his
own. They finally made known their wishes to a passer-by, who, being one
who had access to the White House, ushered them in, and laughingly told
their wish to Dolly. She arose from the breakfast table and went quickly
to them, surprising them by the simplicity of her appearance, being
dressed in a plain gray stuff dress and white apron, with a white linen
kerchief crossed on her breast. Gaining courage from her warm reception,
one of the old ladies murmured, "If I could but go home and tell my
daughters I had kissed you!" And the wish was scarcely uttered until it
was a reality for them both, and they departed with a story worth
telling in their western home.
She was a notable housekeeper, too, after the hospitable ways of old
Virginia, and looked well to the ways of her household, usually ere her
guests had left their beds.
Any history of Dolly Madison seems incomplete without seeing her through
Washington Irving's eyes. He attended a levee in 1811, then held from
seven to ten o'clock, and writes:
"I was soon ushered into the blazing splendor of Mrs. Madison's
drawing-room. Here I was most graciously received. I found a
crowded collection of great and little men, of ugly old women and
beautiful young ones, and in ten minutes was hand and glove with
half the people in the assemblage. Mrs. Madison is a fine, portly,
buxom dame, who has a smile and a pleasant word for everybody. Her
sisters, Mrs. Cutts and Mrs. Washington, are like the two merry
wives of Windsor, but as to Jemmy Madison--ah! poor Jemmy!--he is
but a withered little apple-John."
On March 11, 1812, Lucy Payne Washington was married to Judge Thomas
Todd, of the Supreme Court, a widower with five children, and went to
live at Lexington, Kentucky. Although Dolly missed her greatly, she
wrote, "How wise Lucy is!" She had had many admirers, and these words
were in recognition of the wisdom of her choice.
This was the first wedding to take place in the White House, but we have
searched in vain to find any record of it in the papers of the day or
elsewhere. It was probably a comparatively quiet affair, and unlike our
recent weddings there.
Elizabeth Henry, sister of Patrick Henry, married General William
Campbell. Her daughter, Sarah Campbell, married Francis Preston, and was
the mother of the Hon. William Campbell Preston, of South Carolina, who
in his journal describes a visit to the White House, when he was only
eighteen.
"I and my conductor proceeded in the hack in utter silence. The
appearance of the house and grounds was very grand. There was a
multitude of carriages at the door. Many persons were going in and
coming out, and especially many in grand regimentals. Upon entering
the room there were fifteen or twenty persons. Mr. Madison turned
toward us, and the General said, presenting me. 'My young kinsman,
Mr. President, who has come to pay his respects to you and Mrs.
Madison.' The President was a little man, with a powdered head,
having an abstracted air and a pale countenance. Around the room
was a blaze of military men and naval officers in brilliant
uniforms. The furniture of the room, with the brilliant mirrors,
was very magnificent. While we stood Mrs. Madison entered, a tall,
portly, elegant lady with a turban on her head and a book in her
hand. She advanced straight to me, and extending her left hand
said, 'Are you William Campbell Preston, son of my old friend and
most beloved kinswoman, Sally Campbell?' I assented. She said, 'Sit
down, my son; for you are my son, and I am the first person who
ever saw you in this world.'"
[Illustration: Montpellier.
The ancestral estate inherited by James Madison, in Orange County, Va.
Courtesy of Mrs. du Pont.]
After such a greeting, little wonder that his awkwardness and terror
disappeared, and a "romantic admiration for this magnificent woman took
its place."
One more glimpse of Dolly may be given here as we pass rapidly over
these scenes, and also over the later ones at Montpellier,[58] whose
chronicles have already been so well written, to linger awhile over her
declining years ere taking leave forever. She herself has drawn this
picture.
Ingersoll's history contains the following letter from "the lady who
there, with a spirit of gentle fortitude, presided." It was written to
her sister Lucy, who was then visiting at Mount Vernon,[59] the home of
General Washington, eighteen miles from the federal city.
Tuesday, Aug. 23d, 1814.
Dear Sister:
My husband left me yesterday morning to join General Winder. He
inquired anxiously whether I had courage or firmness to remain in
the President's house until his return on the morrow, or succeeding
day; and on my assurance that I had no fear but for him and the
success of our army, he left me, beseeching me to take care of
myself, and of the cabinet papers, public and private. I have since
received two dispatches from him, written with a pencil; but the
last is alarming, because he desires I should be ready at a moment's
warning to enter my carriage and leave the city; that the enemy
seemed stronger than had been reported, and that it might happen
that they would reach the city with intention to destroy it.... I am
accordingly ready; I have pressed as many cabinet papers into trunks
as will fill one carriage; our private property must be sacrificed,
as it is impossible to procure wagons for its transportation. I am
determined not to go myself until I see Mr. Madison safe, and he
can accompany me--as I hear of much hostility towards him ...
disaffection stalks arounds us.... My friends and acquaintances are
all gone,--even Colonel C--with his hundred men, who were stationed
as a guard in the enclosure.... French John (a faithful domestic),
with his usual activity and resolution, offers to spike the cannon
at the gates, and to lay a train of powder which would blow up the
British should they enter the house. To the last proposition I
positively object, without being able, however, to make him
understand why all advantages in war may not be taken.
Wednesday morning, 12 o'clock.--Since sunrise I have been turning
my spy-glass in every direction, and watching with unwearied
anxiety, hoping to discern the approach of my dear husband and his
friends; but alas, I can descry only groups of military wandering
in all directions as if there was a lack of arms, or of spirit to
fight for their own firesides!
3 o'clock.
Will you believe it, my sister? We have had a battle or skirmish
near Bladensburg, and I am still here, within sound of the cannons!
Mr. Madison comes not; may God protect him! Two messengers covered
with dust come to bid me fly; but I wait for him.... At this late
hour a wagon has been procured. I have had it filled with the plate
and most valuable portable articles belonging to the house; whether
it will reach its destination, the Bank of Maryland, or fall into
the hands of British soldiery, events must determine.
August 24, 1814.
Our kind friend, Mr. Carroll, has come to hasten my departure, and
is in a very bad humor with me because I insist on waiting until
the large picture of General Washington is secured, and it requires
to be unscrewed from the wall. This process was found too tedious
for these perilous moments! I have ordered the frame to be broken,
and the canvas taken out; it is done, and the precious portrait
placed in the hands of two gentlemen of New York for safe keeping.
And now, dear sister, I must leave this house, or the retreating
army will make me a prisoner in it, by filling up the road I am
directed to take. When I shall again write you, or where I shall be
to-morrow, I cannot tell!!
The gentlemen to whom Dolly entrusted the portrait of General Washington
were Jacob Barker,[60] the Quaker banker, to whom the government was
largely indebted for financial aid during the war of 1812, and Mr. De
Peyster, of New York. Jacob Barker himself took it to a farmhouse near
Montgomery courthouse, and later returned it to Dolly.
The Declaration of Independence was saved by Josiah King,[61] an
official from the State Department, who went to the place where it hung,
and took it from its frame; and Dolly took him and his precious burden
with her in her flight.
With Dolly went also Mr. Carrol and her servant "Sukey." They drove to
Georgetown, a short distance beyond which she spent her first night of
exile, (Salona Hall, the Smoot place). She, as well as Madison, was to
feel that the "_disaffection_" and "_hostility_" were realities in the
few following days during which they were banished from the capital, he
in hiding and she in disguise, wandering from place to place.
The night of the burning of the capitol she and her companions were
refused admittance to an inn and were, for a time, exposed to the fury
of the tempest of rain and hurricane that, while it wrought havoc in the
city, quenched the flames and drove the British troops in confusion
before it.
Monroe says the President crossed the Potomac on the evening of the
24th, accompanied by the Attorney-General and General Mason, and
remained on the south side of the river, a few miles above the lower
falls on the 25th.
On the morning of the 26th Madison, General Mason, Rush,
Attorney-General, and others of his party rode to Brookville, Montgomery
County, Md., intending to join General Winder, who had rallied his
troops near the court house, where they spent the following night at the
home of Caleb Bentley.
Madison sat most of the night on the porch in an old-fashioned desk
chair, writing his dispatches. Sentries guarded the house, pacing to and
fro around it. They found no enemies in this peaceful neighborhood, but
ere morning came they had trampled under foot the garden flowers and
vegetables of their hostess.
At daybreak (27th) a messenger arrived from the Secretary of State with
the news of the evacuation of Washington, and the President and his
party, joined by Monroe, Secretary of State, left soon afterward,
arriving at Washington at 5 o'clock in the afternoon.
Ingersoll's History of the War of 1812 contains the following reference:
"The night following came some compensation for such punishment, the
last night of Madison's exile, and eve of his restoration to almost
universal favor. It was spent in the family of Quaker hosts, strangers
to him, and conscientious adversaries of all war, who with primitive
hospitality welcomed friend Madison and entertained him and his outcast
comrades in misfortunes with the kindest and most touching attentions.
Refreshed by sweet repose under the Quaker roof they returned next day
to Washington (the 27th)."
The unfortunate battle[62] of Bladensburg was long called by its
contemporaries, "The Bladensburg Races!"
After the burning of the Capitol, the White House being in ruins,
Madison rented the Octagon House,[63] yet standing at the corner of New
York avenue and 18th street, built by Colonel John Tayloe, 3d, in 1798,
and then considered one of the finest houses in the country. It was
built of brick with trimmings of Acquia Creek sandstone, on a triangular
lot, with a circular tower in front, to which the fine Ionic portico
with its delicate tracery leads. Once inside you notice the curved
doors, sash and woodwork, and the perfect preservation of their shape;
the quaint urn-like wood stoves in niches, and the rich, solid mahogany
doors.
[Illustration: The Octagon House.
Photographed by Samuel M. Brosius.]
From a second hallway a handsome stairway winds upward to the third
story. To the right of the entrance was the parlor, with its fine
mantel, designed by Conde, of London, with graceful figures in
bas-relief, executed in a fine cement. Its estimated cost was sixteen
hundred dollars.
[Illustration: Mantel in Octagon House.
Photographed by Samuel M. Brosius.]
During the burning of the city the French minister had moved into the
house to save it from destruction, and had raised from its roof the
white flag of the Bourbons; in this case a hastily-gathered sheet
answered the purpose!
It was here that the glad tidings of peace were received, and here, in
the circular room upstairs, the treaty of Ghent was signed. And when the
soldiers came gladly marching home they stopped here to give volleys of
cheers for Dolly, the most popular person in all the United States.
[Illustration: Detail of Madison China From The White House]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 47: Adele Cutts, their granddaughter, married, first, Stephen
A. Douglas; second, General George R. Williams.]
[Footnote 48: The box-wood border along the walk was planted by Martha
Washington.]
[Footnote 49: Tradition says that Jefferson had been her ardent admirer
and in earlier years the rival of John Payne.]
[Footnote 50: Enniscorthy is ten miles south of Monticello. Governor
Thomas Jefferson took refuge here from Tarleton's troops in 1781. About
eight miles below, at Scotsville, on the James River, is the place where
Lafayette, improvising a road through the forest, headed off Cornwallis
and drove him back to Yorktown. The portrait of Governor (Edward) Coles
hangs in the hall of "Estoutville," Albemarle County.]
[Footnote 51: From the Ferdinand J. Dreer collection at Pennsylvania
Historical Society.]
[Footnote 52: Original owned by Mrs. Eugenia W. M. Brown, Washington, D.
C., great-granddaughter of George Steptoe and Lucy Washington.]
[Footnote 53: William Cobbett (Peter Porcupine), 1762-1835, was an
English political writer. In 1792 he came to America and supported
himself for a time teaching English to French emigrants. Talleyrand was
one of his pupils. He settled in Philadelphia and began his political
writing. Was at first a keen Tory. Stung by the disparaging criticisms
of his mother country, he lashed American democracy and French
republicanism with coarse and bitter personal scorn. Was twice
prosecuted for libel. He left America in June, 1800. In England he
started, in January, 1802, his famous "Weekly Political Register," which
was continued until his death. At first Tory, it became the determined
opponent of the government. He had no refinement of thought, but in
matters of common sense exhibited a vigor surpassing any other writer of
his day.--From "International Encyclopedia."
A caricature of him as Peter Porcupine is published in Scharf's "History
of Philadelphia," page 498. Dr. Benjamin Rush had a "pet" treatment for
the yellow fever in 1793. Cobbett declared that it was the giving of
copious mercurial purges and bleeding five or six times a day. He made
it the talk of Philadelphia. In 1797 the "Peter Porcupine Gazette" was
published, and he opposed it (the Rush treatment) by squibs, puns,
epigrams, and quotations from "Gil Blas." Driven to desperation, Dr.
Rush brought suit for libel. It was decided against Cobbett by Chief
Justice McKean, whose election as governor he had bitterly opposed. His
goods were seized, but did not suffice to pay his debts. He went to New
York and published the "Rushlight," abusing Rush, McKean, Shippen and
Hopkinson, and others, and ended by consigning all Philadelphians to
perdition. He then sailed for England.--Scharf's "History of
Philadelphia."]
[Footnote 54: April 20th, 1798, B. H. Latrobe says in his journal: "As
far as I did observe, I could see no difference between Philadelphian
and English manners. The same style of living, the same opinions as to
fashions, tastes, comforts and accomplishments. Political fanaticism
was, during my residence in Philadelphia, at its acme.... To be civilly
received by the fashionable people, and to be invited to the
President's, it is necessary to visit the British Ambassador. To be on
terms with Chevalier D'Yrujo, or General Kosciusko even, is to be a
marked democrat, unfit for the company of the lovers of order and good
government. This I saw. Many of my Virginia friends say I must be
mistaken.
"I boarded at Francis's Hotel. It is a much cheaper house than any I
have been at in the Virginia towns. For breakfast, dinner, tea and
supper, exclusive of liquors and fire, you pay $8 a week. At the
Virginian House, 7/6 per day, or $8.75, exclusive of liquors, tea,
supper and fire."--B. H. Latrobe's journal.
Eleven years later, B. H. Latrobe gives the expense of going to
Philadelphia from Richmond, as follows:
Stage to Fredericsburg $3.50
Stage to Georgetown 3.50
Stage to Baltimore 4.75
Mail to Philadelphia 8.00
Heavy stage to Philadelphia $5.00
----- ------
$16.75 $19.75
Breakfast, 2/6, --3/- $0.50
Dinner, 6/- 1.00
Bed and supper, 4/6- .75
------
$2.25
------
Five days $11.25
Stage $19.75
Expenses 11.25
------
Total $31.00]
[Footnote 55: The original of this letter is owned by Lucy Tyson
Fitzhugh.]
[Footnote 56: Robert Fulton was married in the spring of 1808 to
Harriet, daughter of Walter and Cornelia Schuyler Livingstone, of
Clermont-on-the-Hudson. His first steamboat was named for the
Livingstone place.]
[Footnote 57: Such notes as the following were frequently sent: "Thomas
Jefferson begs that either Mrs. Madison or Miss Payne will dine with him
to-day," etc.]
[Footnote 58: Montpellier (Madison always spelled it with ll) is now
owned by William du Pont, of Wilmington, Del. The interior has been
remodeled. The two wings, formerly one story, have had two stories
added. The family graveyard is fenced and in fair condition. The estate
formerly consisted of 2,500 acres.]
[Footnote 59: Mt. Vernon was willed by George Washington to his nephew,
Judge Bushrod Washington (Judge of the Supreme Court, then meeting in
Philadelphia). Judge Washington had no children, and he in turn willed
it to his only brother's eldest son, John A. Washington. Lucy Washington
Todd was visiting these cousins at the time the letter was written.]
[Footnote 60: Jacob Barker was one of the remarkable men of that period.
He was born in Maine in 1779 of Quaker parentage, and he himself
remained a Quaker during his lifetime. He was largely interested in
commerce, a ship-owner and a banker, and the government was greatly
indebted to him for financial aid during the War of 1812. In the year
1861 he was still a banker, aged 89, but then living in New Orleans. The
above story was certified as correct by him at this date.]
[Footnote 61: Elizabeth McKean.]
[Footnote 62: Much ridicule was heaped on the President, who, as
Commander-in-chief, with his Cabinet, was watching the battle, and his
orders given as--
"Fly, Monroe, fly! Run, Armstrong, run!
Were the last words of Madison!"
Nor was Dolly exempt. Her departure from Washington was described in the
jingle beginning--
"Sister Cutts, and Cutts and I
And Cutts's children three,
Will fill the coach--and you must ride
On horseback after we."]
[Footnote 63: Dr. William Thornton, the architect of the Octagon House,
was born of Quaker parents in the West Indies, May 27th, 1761. He came
to Washington in 1793, and was the right-hand man of the commissioners
in the early history of Washington. He died there in 1828. He was also
the architect of Tudor Place and of the United States Capitol. His works
give him sufficient praise.
"The Capitol in the federal city, though faulty in detail, is one of the
finest designs of modern times."--B. H. Latrobe's Journal.
After leaving the Octagon House, the Madisons moved to the corner of H
Street, Pennsylvania Avenue and Nineteenth Street, N. W., where they
lived during the remainder of Madison's term in office. The White House
was not again ready for occupancy until Monroe became President.]
[Decoration]