31From James Madison to William Bradford, 1 April 1774 (Madison Papers)
I have another favour to acknowledge in the receipt of your kind Letter of March the 4th. I did not intend to have written again to you before I obtained a nearer communication with you but you have too much interest in my inclinations ever to be denied a request. Mr. Brackenridge’s illness gives me great uneasiness: I think he would be a loss to America: His merit is rated so high by me that...
32From James Madison to William Bradford, 1 July 1774 (Madison Papers)
I am once more got into my native land and into the possession of my customary enjoyments Solitude and Contemplation, though I must confess not a little disturbed by the sound of War blood and plunder on the one Hand and the Threats of Slavery and Oppression on the Other. From the best accounts I can obtain from our Frontiers The Savages are determined in the extirpation of the Inhabitants,...
33To James Madison from William Bradford, 1 August 1774 (Madison Papers)
I am sorry to find your letter confirms the accounts we have received of the depredations of the Indians; which I hope was a slight & private quarrell with Cressop & others; for such accounts as these generally increase in horror as the distance increases. I am apprehensive the death of Sir William Johnston (of which you must undoubtedly have heard[) will] be attended with disagreeable...
34From James Madison to William Bradford, 23 August 1774 (Madison Papers)
The receipt of your’s of the first inst. was peculiarly acceptable to me; the enjoyment of your Company at Philada. has so revived & increased my pristine Affection for you, that I found great pleasure in that token of you[r] Affectionate Kindness. And tho’ it is with the utmost chearfulness I emancipate you from the bondage of a punctual correspondence yet I find I cannot do without an...
35Indenture, 22 September 1774 (Madison Papers)
This Indenture made the twenty Second day of September in the year of our [Lord] one thousand Seven hundred and Seventy four Between James Madison of the County of Orange and Nelly his wife of the one part and James Madison Junior of the said County of the other part Witnesseth that the said James Madison and Nelly his wife for and in Consideration of the Sum of Thirty pounds Current money of...
36To James Madison from William Bradford, 17 October 1774 (Madison Papers)
My silence has been long & perhaps you will tell me unkind; but I plead your release from strict pu[n]ctuality in bar to any reproofs of that sort: And do not think that I plead this because I [have] no better plea: but because It would take up more time than I can spare to tell you all the causes of my silence: yet they may be comprehended in two word[s] Sickness & Business. But tho they...
37From James Madison to William Bradford, 26 November 1774 (Madison Papers)
The pamphlets & letters you sent me were safely delivered about ten days after the date of them. I esteem it a singular favor that you should be so thoughtfull of obliging me at a time when your attention must necessarally have been employed on many more important considerations. Your readiness also to serve me on any future occasion demands my acknowledgments. I have no acquaintance in...
38To James Madison from William Bradford, 4 January 1775 (Madison Papers)
Agreeable to your request I waited on Mr Dunlap & stopd your paper [?] ours now follows [?] [ Got Ferguson at Bell’s and will send it as soon as possible etc] With regard to the Complaints of New-England Baptist I can learn nothing. I believe there was none. I suppose you have by this time read the Journal of the Congress by which you will see the Secresy was one of their first resolves; they...
39From James Madison to William Bradford, 20 January 1775 (Madison Papers)
Your very acceptable favours by Mr. Rutherford arrived safe but I perceived by the date, had a very tedious passage which perhaps may be attributed to the craziness of the Vessel in which you embarked them. I ought to mention in particular that I did not receive them till after I wrote my last as an apology for my not then acknowledging it I entirely acquiesce in your Opinion of our friend...
40To James Madison from William Bradford, [3–6? March] 1775 (Madison Papers)
I would have answered your most acceptable epistle of the 20 Jany had not the conclusion given me hopes of “eer long hearing from you again.” You must have received a letter I wrote in the beginning of Jany. soon after you dispatched your last unless it be as long on its Voyage as the one I sent by Rutherford was. I thank you for Logan’s speech. I admire the nervous & untutor’d eloquence of...
41From James Madison to William Bradford, [early March] 1775 (Madison Papers)
I intend to throw this in the way of Mr David Hoopes who I hear is setting out for Philada. As it is uncertain whether he may get it I shall only return a short answer to yours of Jany 4th. [Mr Dunlap’s mistake about price of his paper—the 2 Vol. of Papers too dear & vide lit.] We had a report here a few days [ago] that the New Yorkers had again given way & that the assembly had voted the...
42From James Madison to William Bradford, 17 March 1775 (Madison Papers)
This I expect will be delivered to you by the Revd. Mr Samuel Smith who will inform you of every thing respecting our affairs that I could let you know by Letter. I wrote to you very lately by Mr David Hoops in answer to yours contain[in]g a few lines from Mr Irvin. If it should fail of coming to you it will be proper I should know of it because I there mentioned what I desired as to Dunlap &...
43To James Madison from William Bradford, 4 April 1775 (Madison Papers)
Though the business that at present surrounds me on every side, makes writing inconvenient, yet I cannot let Mr. Hoops return without a few Lines to one I value so much. [Mr Dunlap’s paper &c] I send with this Furguson which I could not get for less than 12/ tho’ you will perceive it is somewhat soil’d. I also send the friendly address &c. & The other side of the Question. I dare not add more...
44From James Madison to William Bradford, 9 May 1775 (Madison Papers)
I this day received your favor by Mr Hoopes but have not yet got the articles I find came along with it. Mr Hoopes lives at no very great distance so that I shall not be long without them. We have lately had a great alarm here about the Governor’s removing a large quantity of powder from our magazine and conveying it on board a ship of war: Not less [than] 600 men well armed and mounted...
45Address to Captain Patrick Henry and the Gentlemen Independents of Hanover, 9 May 1775 (Madison Papers)
The committee for Orange county, met on Tuesday the 9th of May, taking into their consideration the removal of the powder from the publick magazine, and the compensation obtained by the independent company of Hanover; and observing also, that the receipt given by Capt. Patrick Henry , to his Majesty’s Receiver General, refers the final disposal of the money to the next Colony Convention, came...
46To James Madison from William Bradford, 2 June 1775 (Madison Papers)
I have two of your epistolary favours to acknowledge[,] the one handed to me by the Revd Mr Smith, some time ago & the other since by Patrick Henry Esqr. I also received 22/6. & as it exceeds what Ferguson &c Cost I shall consider you as the Cestui que Use of the surplus. I have but little to tell you of the Congress; they keep their proceeding so secret that scarce any thing transpires but...
47From James Madison to William Bradford, 19 June 1775 (Madison Papers)
I received another acceptable pledge of your friendship two days ago in a letter dated June 2d. and, as usual, must begin this by discharging a debt of Gratitude to which the further accounts I have of your friendly services and intentions intitle you. I hope I have an inexhaustible fund of that however destitute I may be of other virtues. But I assure you I am often grieved at reflecting that...
48To James Madison from William Bradford, 10 July 1775 (Madison Papers)
I did intend to have delayed writing to you till Mr Smith’s return to Virginia; but I believe that will not be early & I am not fond of delaying the discharge of an Epistolary debt. He was married last week to Miss Anna Witherspoon & proposes to spend some time at Princeton & at his fathers. He desired me to mention this to you lest you should suppose he had returned without calling upon you....
49To James Madison from William Bradford, [18] July 1775 (Madison Papers)
I wrote to you last week by the post. Mr Smith gives me an opportunity of sending you a few more lines which friendship will not allow me to neglect. I have seen the address to the six confederate indian Nations. It sets forth that our fathers left britain on the faith of Contracts which have been faithfully observed on our part, that the king’s ministers grew jealous of us, that they sent...
50From James Madison to William Bradford, 28 July 1775 (Madison Papers)
I received your favor of the 10th. inst. and have since had a sight of the declaration and Address from the Congress. I must concur with you in every encomium that can be bestowed on them, particularly the last mentioned which for true Eloquence may vie with the most applauded Oration of Tully himself. These performances must be chiefly owing to a few illustrious writers of that body. Is it...
51Commission as Colonel of Orange County Militia, 2 October 1775 (Madison Papers)
By Virtue of the Power and Authority invested in us, by the Delegates and Representatives of the several Counties and Corporations in General Convention assembled, we, reposing especial Trust and Confidence in your Patriotism, Fidelity, Courage, and good Conduct, do, by these Presents, constitute and appoint you to be Colonel of the Militia of the County of Orange ; and you are therefore...
I hereby Certify, that Jas. Madison Jr, And William Moore Esqrs., Are duly Elected Delegates, for the Sd. County, to Serve in General Convention, for one year then Next following, Given Under my hand, and Seal, this 25th Day of April, 1776, Salutem Sciatis —that is, “Greeting. Let it be known.” The Convention of July 1775 at Richmond provided that on the regular “court day” in April of each...
53Case of William Aylett, [8–22 May] 1776 (Madison Papers)
[8–22 May 1776] When JM, a delegate from Orange County, took his seat in this Convention on 8 May 1776, he was at once appointed to the Committee of Privileges and Elections. This large group, ultimately numbering nearly half of the 130 delegates, concerned itself primarily with the validity of their election and with alleged instances of individual Virginians manifesting disloyalty to the...
54Editorial Note (Madison Papers)
When JM returned to Virginia in 1772, after three years at the College of New Jersey, the colony was in the throes of a religious revival. Baptist preachers, usually zealous but unlettered, itinerated through the province paying little heed to the statutes regulating the holding of religious services. This disregard of law was compounded by derogatory attacks on the Established Church. As...
55George Mason’s Proposed Declaration of Rights, [ca. 20–25 May 1776] (Madison Papers)
This document is probably the paper mentioned by Thomas L. Lee in his letter of 1 June 1776 to his brother, Richard Henry Lee , then in Philadelphia attending the Second Continental Congress: “I enclosed you by last post a copy of our declaration of rights nearly as it come through the committee” (Kate M. Rowland, Life of George Mason , I, 240). The articles in this copy are unnumbered. They...
56Committee’s Proposed Article on Religion, [27–28 May 1776] (Madison Papers)
When the committee laid its amended draft of George Mason’s proposed Declaration of Rights before the Convention on 27 May, that body ordered it “to be committed to a committee of the whole Convention” and “ Resolved , that this Convention will on Wednesday next [29 May], resolve itself into a committee on the said declaration; and that, in the mean time, the same be printed, for the perusal...
57Madison’s Amendments to the Declaration of Rights, [29 May–12 June 1776] (Madison Papers)
There is no certain evidence known to the editors which fixes the time when either JM’s first or second amendment was laid before the Convention or its committee of the whole. The official journal of the Convention merely reveals that the drafting committee’s report, having been printed, was debated on 29 and 30 May and 3, 4, 5, and 11 June 1776. The session of 11 June seems to be the most...
58Article on Religion Adopted by Convention, [12 June 1776] (Madison Papers)
16. That religion, or the duty which we owe to our Creator , and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and therefore, all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and that it is the mutual duty of all to practise Christian forbearance, love, and charity, towards each other.
59Independence and Constitution of Virginia, [1827?] (Madison Papers)
[1827?] Although the date when JM prepared this manuscript must remain uncertain, it could well have been written in the autumn of 1827, during his exchange of letters with George Mason’s grandson about the Virginia Declaration of Rights and first Form of Government, and at a time when a revision of the state constitution was much in the public mind. The manuscript has considerable unity of...
60Notes (Madison Papers)
For many years everyone interested in the Declaration of Rights, including JM, believed that Mason’s first draft of it was a paper in his hand, bearing the caption, “Copy of the first Daught [ sic ] by GM.” This paper has been reproduced in facsimile at least twice—once between p. 240 and p. 241 of Vol. I of Kate M. Rowland, Life of George Mason , and again in Virginia Cavalcade , I [1951],...
61To James Madison from William Bradford, 20 May 1776—Summary (Madison Papers)
20 May 1776 . In “A Memorandum Book and Register, for the months of May & June 1776,” now in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, William Bradford wrote on 20 May: “… went to the town meeting where notwithstanding the badness of the day ther was a great number of inhabitants & it was resolved 1. That the present Government was inefficient 2. That the Assembly could not legally form a new...
62From James Madison to William Bradford, [ca. 21 May] 1776—Summary (Madison Papers)
Ca. 21 May 1776 . In “A Memorandum Book,” Bradford noted on 28 May 1776: “This morning I recieved a Letter from Mr Maddison who is a member of the Virginia Convention, informing me of the declaration of Independency made by that body.” Since the resolution calling upon the delegates of Virginia in the Second Continental Congress to propose that “the United Colonies” be declared “free and...
63From James Madison to James Madison, Sr., [1–15 June] 1776 (Madison Papers)
would be adviseable to make the best terms you can with him. I intend to apply myself to him on my return home. I have not had an opportunity since I red. your last of taking the opinion of Col Pendleton on Ignatius’s Queries, but I shall speak to him on the subject as soon as I can find him at leasure, which his close engagement in business occasions to be not very often the case. Col. Henry...
64To James Madison from William Bradford, 3 June 1776—Summary (Madison Papers)
3 June 1776 . In his “Memorandum Book” (see 20 May 1776) Bradford wrote: “As my friend Maddison had desired me in his last to give him a sketch of the Constitution of this province and of that of Connecticut which might be useful to him as a member of Convention, I determined to return an early answer & wrote a rough draught of a Letter for that purpose. The constitution of Connecticut I...
65From James Madison to James Madison, Sr., 27 June 1776 (Madison Papers)
I this day disposed of the Bill of Exchange I brought down to Col. Zane at 42%. and filled up the Blank for the sum with £.180. I take this earliest opportunity of acquainting you with it that no inconvenience may arise from your making any engagements inconsistent with the sale I have made. I was unwilling to take so low a price for the Bill but thought it the best that could be done at this...
66Case of Unsettled Claims from Dunmore’s War, 9 December 1776 (Madison Papers)
On 29 June 1776, immediately after adopting the “form of government,” or state constitution, which it had framed, the Virginia Convention heeded the eleventh and twenty-second articles by electing a governor (Patrick Henry) and eight members of the Council of State. JM acted as one of the four tellers for each of these elections ( Proceedings of the Convention , May 1776, pp. 78–79; Hening,...
67From James Madison to James Madison, Sr., [29] March 1777 (Madison Papers)
The family have been pretty well since you left us except Anthony. He was taken on Wednesday morning with a strong Ague succeeded by a high fever and accompanied with a pain in his Stomach and side. The Swelling in his Arm also increased very considerably and became hard and painful. I was a good deal at a loss in what manner to proceed with him being unable to form any Judgmt. of the nature...
68Defeated for Election to Virginia House of Delegates, [24 April] 1777 (Madison Papers)
In the election of Delegates to the Legislature for the ensuing year (1777), he was an unsuccessful candidate. Previous to the Revolution the election of the County representatives was as in England, septennial, and it was as there, the usage, for the Candidates to recommend themselves to the voters, not only by personal solicitation, but by the corrupting influence of spirituous liquors, and...
69To James Madison from Samuel Stanhope Smith, [November 1777–August 1778] (Madison Papers)
This is the first time I have had an opportunity to write to you since your election to your new & honourable office. I rejoice that your country has been able, in spite of all your modesty, to discern your merits; & that she has had virtue enough to place you in a station where your talents will not be useless to her. Altho I could wish you had the same opinion of yourself that others have, &...
70The Madison Family Tree (Madison Papers)
This family tree, framed under glass, is in LC: Madison Miscellany. For reasons given below, JM could hardly have prepared the chart earlier than the close of 1813 or later than September 1819. He apparently left among his papers at the time of his death a brief statement about his forebears. This document, now lost, came into the possession of his niece, Mrs. Lucie Hartwell Conway. She...
71Petition of Orange County Planters to the Virginia House of Delegates, [ca. 5 December] 1777 (Madison Papers)
The Petition of the Inhabitants of the County of Orange Hum[b]ly Sheweth That your Petitioners having nothing so much at heart as the Liberty and Independance of their Country are Extreamly Anxious to See every regulation take place that may be Conducive to their Final Establishment. That convinced of the Expediency at all times and the indispensible Necessity at Present of improving our...
72Session of Virginia Council of State, 14 January 1778 (Madison Papers)
The eleventh article of Virginia’s Form of Government ( Hening, Statutes William Waller Hening, ed., The Statutes at Large; being a Collection of all the Laws of Virginia, from the First Session of the Legislature, in the Year 1619 (13 vols.; Richmond and Philadelphia, 1819–23). , IX, 116) provided for a Privy Council, or Council of State, of eight members to be chosen by the legislature....
73Patrick Henry in Council to Virginia Delegates in Congress, 20 January 1778 (Madison Papers)
Francis Lightfoot Lee Esquirs Letter for the Committee on the Subject of provisions filled me with Concern & astonishment. I applied to the Deputy Commissary General to furnish some Active persons for throwing an instant Supply of Provisions to the Army to answer the present Exigency. I was told by him that he could get none such immediately but he would write to his Deputy to do the Business....
74From James Madison to James Madison, Sr., 23 January 1778 (Madison Papers)
I got safe to this place on Tuesday following the day I left home, and at the earnest invitation of my Kinsman Mr. Madison have taken my lodgings in a Room of the Presidents house, which is a much better accom[mo]dation than I could have promised myself. It would be very agreeable to me if I were enabled by such rarities as our part of the Country furnishes, particularly dried fruit &tc which...
75Session of Virginia Council of State, 23 January 1778 (Madison Papers)
The Governor with the Advice of the Council, issued the following Warrants upon the Treasurer for the Bounty of the Draughts to be made in the Several Counties agreeable to Act of Assembly for filling up the fifteen Virginia Regiments. A Warrant for one hundred & three pounds ten Shillings payable to William Moore Esquire on account of Orange Draughts. The General Assembly having empowered the...
76Session of Virginia Council of State, 12 February 1778 (Madison Papers)
present Dudley Digges David Jameson & } Esquires John Blair James Madison jr The Express sent with a Letter written by the Board Yesterday to the president of the Council at Rosewell being returned & unable to Cross York river by the Wind; and sundry other Matters of Importance presenting for the Consideration of the Council, a Letter was written to the Governor by Express informing him...
77Session of Virginia Council of State, 13 February 1778 (Madison Papers)
present Dudley Digges Esquire Lieutenant Governor John Blair David Jameson & Nathaniel Harrison James Madison jr Esquires A Warrant was issued by the Lieutenant Governor with the Advice of the Council, for one hundred pounds payable to Colonel Thomas Marshall upon Account for forwarding the recruiting his Regiment of State Artillery The Lieutenant Governor having in the absence of the Governor...
78Session of Virginia Council of State, 27 February 1778 (Madison Papers)
present His Excellency; Dudley Digges James Madison jr John Blair And David Jameson Bolling Stark Esquires On Considering the proceedings of a general Court Martial of Militia Officers held in Louisa County on Richard Anderson Esquire County Lieutenant: the Board approve the Sentence of the Court Martial & advise His Excellency to discontinue the said Richard Anderson as County Lieutenant...
79From James Madison to James Madison, Sr., 6 March 1778 (Madison Papers)
Since I wrote to you by Mr. Cave I have taken the freedom to give an order on Mr. Lee who is at present at Nants for the money due to you in favour of the Revd. Mr. Madison who wanted to procure from Europe a few literary curiosities by means of a French Gentleman just setting out on public Business for this State, addressed to the management of Mr. Lee. I take the opportunity by Mr: Harrison...
80From James Madison to William Bradford, 23 March 1778 (Madison Papers)
An Express being just setting off for Head Quarters, I cannot help imparting to you some very agreeable intelligence just recd. A Capt. of a Letter of Marke Vessel from thi[s] State, writes to the Govr. from Cheasepeak Bay that he left Martinique on the 23 Ult. that Letters had been recd. there from France as lat[e] as 1st. from sundry respectable Merchts. relating that the French Court had...