In the home of his grand-fath-er at Port Con-way, Vir-gin-i-a, was
born, in the spring of 1751, the small boy who was to be our fourth
Pres-i-dent. He was ver-y young, though, when he went to live at
Mont-pel-ier, his fath-er's great farm in Vir-gin-i-a, and here he led
much the same life as George Wash-ing-ton did when a boy. He was but a
small boy when the French and Eng-lish War be-gan, and when Brad-dock
lost the day, a great fear of the In-di-ans spread to the ver-y door of
his home; and he grew up with the name of George Wash-ing-ton ev-er in
his ears, as a great he-ro.
His school days were much like those of Jef-fer-son. He was a young boy
when he could read French and Span-ish with ease, and was as well hard
at work at Greek and Lat-in. In 1769 he went to Prince-ton Col-lege, and
here, as well as when he was at home, Jef-fer-son was a great help to
him. The old-er man wrote to the boy in the qui-et old col-lege town,
a-bout the scenes of war; he told him much of the Brit-ish troops in the
Bos-ton streets, of young John Ad-ams and of Wash-ing-ton. So, when in
1771 he left col-lege, he knew a great deal a-bout the strife of the
day, and had deep, clear thoughts a-bout it. At home he led a qui-et
life with his books, un-til 1774, then he was put at the head of a few
men, who were to guard their own town if the Brit-ish troops came there.
In this post he showed such a wise, clear mind and did his part so well
that in a short time he was put in a high place in his State, and from
there in 1779 was sent to Con-gress. Jef-fer-son was at this time
Gov-ern-or of Vir-gin-i-a, and the two men were close, warm friends.
For twen-ty five years Mad-i-son was one of the first men in this land.
He had no taste for war, but he soon took a high place with those who
made the laws of the land. One of the great things he did was to help
draw up the Con-sti-tu-tion of the U-nit-ed States.
In 1794 this grave and qui-et man mar-ried, as Wash-ing-ton and
Jef-fer-son had done, a young and love-ly wid-ow. She was but
twen-ty-two years old, twen-ty years young-er than he, and her name
was Mrs. Dor-o-thy Payne Todd. Lat-er on, the folks who grew to
love this fair la-dy so well, gave her the name by which we know her
to-day--"Dol-ly Mad-i-son." She was a Quak-er-ess, and so fair and
sweet was she, in her qui-et lit-tle gown of gray, that once a friend
said to her: "Dol-ly, tru-ly thou must hide thy face, so ma-ny stare
at thee."
[Illustration: MRS. DOLLY PAYNE MADISON.]
For one year af-ter his mar-riage, Mad-i-son lived at Mont-pel-ier; then
a-gain he went in-to pub-lic life, first in his State, and af-ter that,
in 1800, as Sec-re-ta-ry of State un-der Jef-fer-son.
Now, be-gan the gay life at the White House, for which "Dol-ly"
Mad-i-son won so much fame. Jef-fer-son's wife was dead, and it was the
wife of his friend that helped him en-ter-tain the White House guests.
Well did this love-ly la-dy do her part, and in 1808 when, as the wife
of the Pres-i-dent, she be-came the real mis-tress of the White House,
more than ev-er did the peo-ple love her. To-day, of all the pic-tures
of the Pres-i-dents' wives that hang up-on the White House walls, none
is more love-ly than that of the gay and pretty "Dol-ly Mad-i-son."
Mad-i-son was most of all a man of peace, and yet it was while he was
in of-fice that the U-nit-ed States was drawn in-to the War of 1812.
Eng-land, then at war with France, said she had the right to search
A-mer-i-can ships to see if they were tak-ing aid to France. A-mer-i-ca
would not give this right to Eng-land, and so the war be-gan. In 1814
the Brit-ish came to the cit-y of Wash-ing-ton, and for the on-ly time
in A-mer-i-can his-to-ry the Pres-i-dent had to leave his home.
Mad-i-son, with the Sec-re-ta-ry of State and some friends, went to a
lit-tle inn near Wash-ing-ton, and here they were met by Mrs. Mad-i-son,
who had stayed as long as she could at the White House to save some
things from the hands of the Brit-ish. She had brought the great
Dec-la-ra-tion of In-de-pend-ence, and had cut from its big frame the
pic-ture of Wash-ing-ton and brought it safe-ly a-way. The Brit-ish
troops set fire to the White House, the na-vy yard, the Cap-i-tol, and
in fact the whole town. They left in great haste, though, when they
heard that our troops were on the way, and the next day Mrs. Mad-i-son
put on the dress of a wash-wo-man, so folks would not know her, and made
a start for her home, but the British had set fire to a bridge she had
to cross on the way and then she begged an A-mer-i-can sol-dier to row
her o-ver the riv-er. He would not do so un-til she told him who she
was, and then he was ver-y glad to take this brave lit-tle la-dy in his
boat. On-ly black ash-es marked the spot on which the White House had
once stood, so she had to go to her sis-ter's home, where the
Pres-i-dent soon joined her.
The Eng-lish troops now tried to take Bal-ti-more, but our brave men
drove them back; and when they tried to make a raid on New Or-le-ans,
Gen-er-al Jack-son and his troops fought so hard that the foe could
not get in-to the cit-y.
This was the last fight of this war, and peace was signed at Ghent,
De-cem-ber 24th, 1814. From that day Eng-land has had to leave our ships
a-lone and to treat A-mer-i-ca as one of the great nations of the world.
In 1817 Mad-i-son was not sor-ry to go back to his old home, and here
ma-ny hap-py years were spent, for the fair la-dy of the White House
kept o-pen house in her own home, and guests from far and near were
glad to come here. One of Mad-i-son's dear-est friends was old Thom-as
Jef-fer-son, who oft-en rode o-ver from his home at Mon-ti-cel-lo,
which was on-ly thir-ty miles from Mont-pel-ier.
Mad-i-son wrote a good deal at this time; and once a-gain was seen in
pub-lic life. In 1829 he was at the head of the great change made in
all the laws of the whole land.
He died af-ter a long sick-ness at his home in Mont-pel-ier on
June 28th, 1836.