James Madison’s Montpelier

Constitution Month: Because One Day Isn’t Enough

Almost everyone knows what it’s like to prepare for a big event: a milestone birthday, wedding, graduation, etc. The host agonizes over guest lists, seating charts, entertainment, menus, etc. for months. There seems to be an endless list of things to do before the big day.

The hours leading up the party evaporate. Before you know it, you’re right in the middle of this celebration you planned and anticipated for months. Suddenly, it’s over. Just a few short hours flew by in an instant. You feel just the slightest bit of a letdown, even though your plans turned out perfectly.

This is exactly how we feel about Constitution Day. We spend months planning the perfect day to commemorate the Constitution’s signing. We receive delighted visitors for hours. Then it’s all over in what seems like a matter of minutes. Another Constitution Day came and went, but we feel just slightest twinge of sadness, knowing it’s all over until next year.

We are happy to announce that we discovered a way to fix the letdown problem. Instead of Constitution Day, we’ll celebrate Constitution Month! That will never end, right? Continue Reading…

What’s that on the wall? II

The response to our last post on the wallpaper was tremendous– particularly from our Facebook fans! We are thrilled that you are all so interested and involved in the “Presidential Detective Story!” Readers asked a lot of good questions, and we hope to address them with this post.

Many people said they like the yellow wallpaper displayed in the Madisons’ Dining Room. This paper is French or American, circa 1800-1810. Of the three papers on the wall, it seems to be the most modern. Some of you commented that the yellow paper would match Dolley’s china. Although the reproductions of James and Dolley’s Nast china are yellow tinted, the original pieces are more of a salmon color, as you can see in the photograph of the Nast tureen which Montpelier owns.

Peter Meyerhof asked, “Since a speck of original scarlet wallpaper was found in the drawing room, why isn’t there a sample with a red background being considered here?” This is a great question. We know the Madisons liked red and used it in several rooms in their house, however, it is unlikely they used it in every room.  During the Madisons’ time in the President’s  House they used several different color schemes throughout the house.  We also have other fragments of Madison-era wallpapers that were found in a rats’ nest at Montpelier. Both fragments are multicolored, but not large enough to see a pattern. These are small clues, but they lead us to believe the Montpelier interiors were decorated in a variety of colors.  If we chose red for both the Drawing and Dining Rooms – the two major public rooms in the house–we could overuse that color. Continue Reading…

Happy 242nd Birthday Dolley!

It’s been said that behind every great man is a woman. In James Madison’s case, that fabulous woman was Dolley Madison. This Thursday, May 20, marks Dolley Madison’s 242nd birthday. Montpelier will celebrate with free cake in the Visitor Center, beginning at 11:00 a.m. Also, if you were born on May 20, Thursday is your lucky day because your admission to Montpelier will be free.

Now, let’s talk about just who Dolley Madison was. In her time, she was the most popular person in the country. What made her so famous?

The short answer is Dolley Madison was Washington’s first female power player. Her famous “squeezes” (very popular parties) helped political adversaries broker civil compromises in a social setting. She also showed extraordinary courage. When the British invaded Washington in 1814, she rescued George Washington’s portrait, with the help of her slave Paul Jennings, just before the White House burned. Continue Reading…

What’s that on the wall?

If you come to Montpelier today and take a house tour, you might be surprised when you enter the Dining Room. Strips of reproduction woodblock wallpaper hang on the Dining Room walls. Each has a very busy pattern. Some of the patterns are accompanied by the border papers frequently seen in early-19th-century wallpapers. So what’s going on?

We couldn’t find any evidence of paint or white wash on the walls. This means the Dining Room, like the Drawing Room, was probably papered. Visitor accounts tell us Dolley Madison served a variety of sumptuous meals there. They also say the Dining and Drawing Room walls boasted a variety of art. Incredibly, none of these accounts tells us anything about the walls under the art!
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Take Home Montpelier Hospitality

Dolley Madison was known for her fine entertaining. She always served exquisite wine to her dinner guests. Last week, Montpelier introduced two private label Virginia wines that Mrs. Madison would have been proud to serve: the Montpelier Chardonnay and Montpelier Cabernet Sauvignon.

The Montpelier Chardonnay is a dry white wine that is crisp and fruity with no oak aging. It is an excellent complement to chicken, veal, fettuccine, and baked ham.

The Montpelier Cabernet Sauvignon is a classic red wine aged in white oak barrels. It is dry and clean with a spicy, dried berry taste. It complements lasagna, beef, lamb, and cheese.

The Montpelier Cabernet Sauvignon and Montpelier Chardonnay are produced and bottled by the award-winning Barboursville Vineyards. Visitors may purchase the new wines in the Montpelier Museum Shop.

A Tale of Two Tales

In addition to reading the the Madisons’ personal correspondence, Montpelier’s documentary researchers read memoirs and reminiscences written by contemporaries and Madison family members. There are two particularly interesting sources which survive for the life of Dolley Madison, written by members of her family. Dolley’s niece, Mary Estelle Elizabeth Cutts, wrote a set of memoirs of the life of her famous aunt, to whom she had been very close, titled Memoir I and Memoir II. In turn, Mary’s niece Lucia adapted those memoirs into a compact and readable book titled Memoirs and Letters of Dolley Madison.

Lucia presented a romantic ideal of Dolley Madison by changing names, dates and the text of actual letters. Although Mary’s admiration of Dolley is apparent from her Memoirs, Lucia changed actual scenes of Dolley’s life and those changes are reflected in her editing of Mary’s Memoirs and her own published work. Together, these works and their creators make an interesting puzzle for documentary researchers at Montpelier. Continue Reading…

Can’t Get Enough Dolley?

Tony Award nominee Eve Best as Dolley ©Kent Eames for WGBH

If you can’t wait for the March 1 debut of Dolley Madison: America’s First Lady on PBS’ American Experience you’re not alone.  Excitement has been building here at Montpelier since Middlemarch Films announced the documentary.  Anticipation really started to build when Middlemarch came to Montpelier in mid-June to film a couple of scenes!

While we can’t fastforward to March 1, we would be thrilled to have some likeminded Dolley fans join us for a special preview on February 4 at 12 p.m. at the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond.  Montpelier and the Virginia Historical Society will co-sponsor the event, which will feature a special appearance by the film’s producer and director, Muffie Meyer.  The preview is part of the Virginia Historical Society’s Banner Lecture Series.

The Virginia Historical Society is located at 428 N. Boulevard, Richmond, Virginia.  Reservations are not required. Admission is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors, $4 for children and students, and free for Virginia Historical Society members. We hope to see you there!

Christmas at Montpelier

Today when we think of Christmas, we think of Christmas trees in houses and town squares, carolers in the snow, and houses decorated with lights and bows. The season of Christmas is a visual feast everywhere you look. At this time of year, visitors often ask our guides how Montpelier would have looked during the Christmas season two centuries ago. The answer is a bit surprising.

Christmas, both the day and the season, was celebrated differently in the Madisons’ time. Many of the Christmas customs we know today did not become popular until the end of the 19th century or beginning of the 20th; other Christmas traditions were introduced when the Madisons were in retirement. Santa Claus comes from German and Dutch traditions, and St. Nick made his first appearance on a wider stage in America in Washington Irving’s History of New York, published in 1809. The first record we have of a Christmas tree in Virginia isn’t until 1842, in a house in Williamsburg. What, then, was Christmas like for the Madisons?

Christmas in the late 18th and early 19th centuries was a time for visiting family and friends, hosting or attending large parties, balls, and dinners. In early December 1834, Dolley wrote to her niece Mary with news about what the family members at Montpelier were doing: “Anna & her sisters have gone to a dancing part at Newman’s – they are to keep the Christmas from this time to New Years day.” [note: Dolley Payne Todd Madison to Mary Estelle Elizabeth Cutts, December 11, 1834, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.] Little more than a year later, a friend writing from Richmond told Dolley that everyone there was still “feasting, dancing & making merry,” despite the cholera epidemic in the city.¹ Continue Reading…

The Case of the Missing Painting

The Presidential Detective Story is well underway and we have already had some great finds. One of these is the painting  Pan –  Youths & Nymphs.¹ The painting recently returned to Montpelier. Here is the back story on its journey home:

Gerrit Van Honthorst, Pan, Youths & Nymphs, ca. 1630

Our curatorial team first saw Pan –  Youths & Nymphs listed in the anonymous document “Oil Paintings at Montpellier” (circa 1836-44). Next, the team found an 1846 newspaper article that describes the work hanging over a mantel in Dolley Madison’s Lafayette Square house in Washington, D.C. The article called it “a very old painting representing a group of maidens surprised by Pan while playing in a grove.”²

Then the trail went cold. We knew John Payne Todd (Dolley’s son) held a sale of her property nearly two years after her 1849 death.  A newspaper account following the sale noted at least one of the “large works” remained unsold. Could Pan – Youths & Nymphs be one of these paintings?  If so, where did it go?

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What Was in That desk?

As part of the Presidential Detective Story, Montpelier’s research team examines correspondence and other records from family members who inherited or purchased objects with a Madison provenance.  Once such sale that we have been studying to better understand the dispersal of Madison objects is the 1852 sale of the contents of Toddsberthe, the home of John Payne Todd, Dolley’s son.

John Payne Todd only outlived his mother by two and a half years. He died in Washington in January 1852. In the last decade of his life, he began to construct a series of dwellings which he named Toddsberthe, on land near Montpelier. Our research indicates he hoped his mother would spend her final years with him at Toddsberthe.  He spent extravagant amounts of money to construct this home, despite his heavy debt.  Todd’s outlandish design included a ballroom,  rotunda, and several other rooms that suggest grandiose intentions which were never fully carried out. Some of the buildings were unfinished and t at least one was damaged by fire when he died.

Following Todd’s death, Toddsberthe  and its contents were sold to satisfy his many creditors. The November 1852 sale liquidated much of Montpelier’s furniture and artwork that  Dolley did not take to Washington in 1844. Family members, including Dolley’s niece  Annie Payne Causten, arranged to purchase some of Dolley’s belongings at the  sale. Causten, was Dolley’s caretaker and companion during the former First Lady’s final years.

At the time of the sale, Annie lived in Washington. Shortly after Dolley Madison’s 1849 death, Annie had married Dr. James H. Causten, Jr., a prominent Washington physician. Surviving letters suggest that her health declined. She died only a few days before Toddsberthe’s sale. Shortly before the sale, she and her husband drafted a memorandum to her father-in-law, James Causten, Sr., to suggest objects to purchase at  Toddsberthe sale. Continue Reading…