1Record of Birth and Baptism of James Madison, Jr., [16 March] 1751 (Madison Papers)
James Madison junr. was born on Tuesday Night at 12 o’Clock it being the last of the 5th. & begining of the 6th. day of March 1750–1 & was Baptized by the Revd. Mr. Wm. Davis, Mar. 31. 1751 and had for God-Fathers Mr. John Moore & Mr. Jonatn. Gibson & for God-Mothers Mrs. Rebecca Moore, Miss Judith Catlett and Miss Elizabeth Catlett. The 1759 publication date of the Bible indicates that this...
2Commonplace Book, 1759–1772 (Madison Papers)
This manuscript volume is in part a copybook and in part a notebook, all written by JM in his youth with the exception of the final six lines. On the one hand, there are nearly accurate transcriptions of poetry from two magazines, and, on the other, notes upon selections from three fairly difficult books, supplemented by JM’s comments and other interpolations. At the top of the first page of...
3Notes on a Brief System of Logick, 1766–1772 (Madison Papers)
MS ( LC : Madison Miscellany). One hundred and twenty-two pages of this copybook are filled with writing in JM’s youthful hand. They are preceded by four almost blank pages and followed by fourteen others devoted to the drawings described in the editorial note below. JM’s great-nephew, James Madison Cutts II, gave this manuscript to the Library of Congress in 1881. On the manuscript’s...
4From James Madison to Reverend Thomas Martin, 10 August 1769 (Madison Papers)
I am not a little affected at hearing of your misfortune, but cannot but hope the cure may be so far accomplished as to render your journey not inconvenient. Your kind Advice & friendly cautions are a favour that shall be always gratefully remembered, & I must beg leave to assure you that my happiness, which you and your brother so ardently wish for, will be greatly augmented by both your...
5From James Madison to James Madison, Sr., 30 September 1769 (Madison Papers)
I recieved your letter by Mr. Rosekrans, and wrote an Answer; but as it is probable this will arrive sooner which I now write by Doctor Witherspoon, I shall repeat some circumstances to avoid obscurity. On Wednesday last we had the annual commencement. Eighteen young gentlemen took their Batchelors’ degrees, and a considerable number their Masters Degrees; the Degree of Doctor of Law was...
6From James Madison to Richard Paterson, 24 March 1770 (Madison Papers)
Recievd of Mr. Richard Patterson by order of Mr. Adam Hoops twenty two Shillings and six pence on acct. of Mr. Robert Patterson. Richard Paterson’s mercantile establishment in Princeton, situated on Main Street next to the well-known tavern of Jacob Hyer at the sign of Hudibras, appears to have had an important place in the life of the college. Paterson (d. 1781) was the father of William...
7From James Madison to Richard Paterson, 3 April 1770 (Madison Papers)
Mr. Richard Patterson Please to let the bearer Mr. Wm. Livingston have fifteen Shillings on acct of your Obliged Humble Servant The date was written over by JM. He may have intended it to be “April 1.” On the back of this draft is the endorsement: “Received this 4 of April 1770 of Richd. Paterson the sum of fifeteen shillings on Acct. of James Madison by me. William S. Livingston.”...
8From James Madison to James Madison, Sr., 23 July 1770 (Madison Papers)
I reciev’d yours dated June 4th. & have applied to Mr. Hoops as you directed; he says you must suit yourself in paying him, & if you should let him have a bill of Exchange it must be on your own terms: Forty Pounds £40. New Jersey Currency is the Sum I shall have of him before I get home. my frugality has not been able to keep it below that, consistant with my staying here to the best...
9Notes on Commentary on the Bible, 1770–1773 (Madison Papers)
MS ( LC : Madison Papers). With the exception of the extracts from Proverbs, these notes are quoted verbatim, or almost verbatim, from William Burkitt, Expository Notes, with Practical Observations, on the New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ , first printed posthumously in London in 1724. The pagination of the editorial footnotes is taken from the sixteenth edition of this work,...
10From James Madison to John Boyle, 17 May 1771 (Madison Papers)
I wrote to you not long since by Mr. Armstrong but as it is uncertain whether you have seen him, I take this opportunity by Mr. Wallace to acquaint you with a mistake you made in a piece of Cloth I bought of you last winter, occasioned I believe by your giving me the remnant accidentantly instead of the measured piece. When I carried it to the Taylors I found it to be one whole yard short of...
11Collegiate Doggerel, [June 1771–April 1772] (Madison Papers)
Copy by William Bradford in the notebook among his papers in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Filling the first half of this eighty-five page notebook is “Father Bombo’s Pilgrimage to Mecca in Arabia, Volume II,” by Hugh H. Brackenridge and Philip Freneau. This is printed in Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography , LXVI (1942), 461–78. The doggerel in the remainder of the...
12From James Madison to James Madison, Sr., 9 October 1771 (Madison Papers)
In obedience to your requests I hereby send you an answer to your’s of the 25th. of Sept. which I recieved this morning. My Letter by Dr. Witherspoon who left this place yesterday week contains most of what you desire to be informed of. I am exceedingly rejoiced to hear of the happy deliverance of my Mother & would fain hope your rheumatic pains will not continue much longer. The Bill of...
13Notes on Salkeld, 1771–1774 (Madison Papers)
In an autobiographical sketch sent to James Kirke Paulding in January 1832 (LC: William C. Rives Papers), JM stated that, following his graduation from the College of New Jersey in the autumn of 1771, he devoted much of his time, both at Princeton and later at Montpelier, to a “course of reading” which “mingled miscellaneous subjects with the subjects intended to qualify him for the Bar.” JM...
14To James Madison from William Bradford, [13] October 1772 (Madison Papers)
FC (Historical Society of Pennsylvania). The RC is not known to exist. Given below is the text of the first letter copied by William Bradford in his commonplace book. On page 1 of this notebook he wrote, “Letters to and From Mr. James Maddison jr. From October the seventh 1772 to July 28th … 1775 inclusive.” Unaccountably, Bradford misdated the present letter “October 7th 1773.” JM’s reply of...
15From James Madison to William Bradford, 9 November 1772 (Madison Papers)
You moralize so prettily that if I were to judge from some parts of your letter of October 13 I should take you for an old Philosopher that had experienced the emptiness of Earthly Happiness. And I am very glad that you have so early seen through the romantic paintings with which the World is sometimes set off by the sprightly imaginations of the Ingenious. You have happily supplied by reading...
16To James Madison from Philip Freneau, 22 November 1772 (Madison Papers)
If I am not wrongly informed by my memory, I have not seen you since last April. you may recollect I was then undertaking a School at Flatbush on Long Island. I did enter upon the business it is certain and continued in it thirteen days—but—“Long Island I have bid adieu, with all its bruitish brainless crew. The youth of that detested place, are void of reason and of grace, From Flushing hills...
17To James Madison from William Bradford, 1 March 1773 (Madison Papers)
You will pardon me for not writing sooner when I inform you that ever since I received your agreeable letter I have [been] roving from place to place without being able to find time to answer it. But I need make no apology, as I know your Goodness will excuse me without one. Puntuality [in] answering a letter is what Pope justly call[s] the ceremonial part of friendship which those who have a...
18From James Madison to William Bradford, 28 April 1773 (Madison Papers)
I received your Letter dated March the 1st. about a Week ago and It is not more to obey your demands, than to fulfill my own desires that I give you this early answer. I am glad you disclaim all punctiliousness in our correspondence. For my own part I confess I have not the face to perform ceremony in person and I equally detest it on paper though as Tully says It cannot blush. Friendship like...
19To James Madison from William Bradford, 27 May 1773 (Madison Papers)
Tis with pleasure I find myself able to give you ample information concerning your Nassovian Friends, many of whom are now in town attending the Synod. Mr. Ervin has been sometime licensed & I hear is very popular in the back parts of Pennsylvania. He has lately commenced a strict Cadoganite; yet [in] spite of Cadogan his health is much impaired and he seems to be in the first stage of a...
20From James Madison to William Bradford, 10 June 1773 (Madison Papers)
I had the pleasure of Mr Wallace’s Company & your letter on Tuesday last. He left me to Day but not without requesting me to make mention of his kind remembrance of you when I should write to you. He professes a warm affection for you and you know the sincerity of his professions. I am much obliged to you for your information concerning my friends. I received a Line or two with yours from Mrss...
21Indenture, 16 June 1773—Summary (Madison Papers)
16 June 1773 . JM, James Madison, Sr., Ambrose Madison, and Francis Madison were witnesses to a deed of sale of a farm in Orange County to Henry Gaines by William and Mary Daingerfield. These witnesses, with the exception of James Madison, Sr., also attested a receipt whereby William Daingerfield acknowledged that he had been paid £28 by Gaines for the property. Strangely, £78 is the price...
22To James Madison from William Bradford, 12 August 1773 (Madison Papers)
I have just returned here from Philada where I have been this week past in a constant hurry occasioned by the marriage of a Sister. I now sit down to answer your agreeable Letter which I could not do sooner altho I greatly desired it; but I hope you will not follow a bad example but reprove my long delay by an early answer; for as I expect soon to determine what profession I shall engage in...
23From James Madison to William Bradford, 5–6 September 1773 (Madison Papers)
If I did not love you too well to scold at you I should begin this with upbraiding your long silence contrary to your express promise and my earnest Solicitations. The Bundle of Pamplets you sent by the Post has miscarried[.] I would not trouble you with sending them again but perhaps if you would enquire of the Post they might still be discovered. I expect this will be handed to you by Mr....
24To James Madison from William Bradford, 24 September 1773 (Madison Papers)
I was on the point of expostulating with you for you[r] long silence when I receiv’d your[s] of Sept 6 by the hands of our worthy friend mr Ervin. I am surprized & chagrined to find you have not received a letter I wrote about six weeks ago. You may remember you promised to give me you[r] sentiments about my employing my talents provided I explained myself more fully upon that head. Eager to...
25From James Madison to William Bradford, 25 September 1773 (Madison Papers)
I received yours of the 12 August and give you this repeated Testimony of my punctuality. I got your letter to Mr Wallace at the same time much worn and abused. I have given it a new coat & shall forward it as soon as a safe Opportunity serves. Since you first hinted to me your suspence as to the settled business of your life, I have partook of your anxiety & [though it] has been often in my...
26To James Madison from William Bradford, 5 November 1773 (Madison Papers)
Your last reached me in a very happy time as I was on the point of determining what profession I would choose & absolutely fixing my choice which had long been wavering between law & trade! As your sentiments coincided with those of my [other] friends I have begun the study of the law
27From James Madison to William Bradford, 1 December 1773 (Madison Papers)
I have had the gratification of receiving both your letters, and the Pamphlets sent by Wilkinson. It is a reflection I am naturally led into whenever I write to you that I always have occasion to be returning my thanks for some kindness received without being able to retaliate. Gratitude is the only fund I can pay you out of which I am sensible your generosity accepts as sufficient: but at the...
28To James Madison from William Bradford, 25 December 1773 (Madison Papers)
The gratefull manner in which you mention the few trifles I sent you gives me a most sensible pleasure as it [is] a new proof of you[r] friendship. Beleive me my freind I esteem it [a] favor that you put it in my power to oblige; & therefore the best way of showing your gratitude will be to command me freely when I have it in my power to serve you. I am glad to hear you intend to cultivate an...
29From James Madison to William Bradford, 24 January 1774 (Madison Papers)
Yours of the 25 of last month came into my hands a few days past. It gave singular pleasure not only because of the kindness expressed in it but because I had reason to apprehend the letter you recd. last from me had miscarried and I should fail in procuring the intelligence I wanted before the Trip I design in the Spring. I congratulate you on your heroic proceedings in Philada. with regard...
30To James Madison from William Bradford, 4 March 1774 (Madison Papers)
I purposely delayed answering yours of January 24th to this time that I might be better able to give you the Intelligence you wanted. I hope however it will reach you before you set out and perhaps time enough to be answered. I agree with you that a Student of Law should not to[o] much indulge his taste for polite-Learning as it has a tendency to make the mind averse to severer Studies. Yet...